Jacob Lansberry '20 | Start Up Major | Business Information Systems Hometown | Andover, MA
LehighSiliconValley has provided me with the incredible opportunity to learn from the experts of the start-up world. Meeting with co-founders, investors and other members of Silicon Valley has opened up my eyes to the unlimited potential that is offered. I entered this program unsure of whether or not I had the physical or mental capacity to run my own company. In only a few days, I began to believe in myself that I possessed the abilities to start and run my own company. Hearing the incredible stories that people like Tim Eades and Tom Gillis had to share inspired me to take the idea of starting my own company or joining a start-up more seriously. I have always had a passion for learning and venturing into uncharted territories and LehighSiliconValley has helped me realize my potential.
One of the best pieces of advice I received is that good people create good products that make great companies. This came from Tom Gillis of the company VMware and it resonated with me because it helped me realize that you have to start with the people before you can even begin to build a product. Since I hope to either start my own company or join a start-up, I will implement this into the workplace to ensure that the employees work well together and can form a strong foundation.
During one of our sessions, Asif Alam of Thomson Reuters said to always remain close to your customers because without your customers your company cannot succeed. As I pursue my interest in working for a start-up, I will keep this close to me at all times. If this idea becomes less important to the company, it will have a very hard time maintaining and creating its customers. I will take this advice wherever I go and will apply it to every job I have to ensure that the customers’ needs are always met.
As is common with many early entrepreneurs, I aspire to work for a company that will help change the world. Knowing that I was part of something that affected something to that scale would help validate all the work I put in. I want to ensure that I gave everything I had and that it paid off in a successful way.
Immediately when I return from LehighSiliconValley, I will continue to learn and pursue hobbies or interests that I have. There were many co-founders that I met that started their company from capitalizing on an opportunity and I will go back to Lehigh with that same mind set. I also plan on reading more books on the entrepreneurial process and how to operate in the start-up world. Tim Eades of vArmour said that he reads as much as he can and I believe that if I read more, it will help me maintain my entrepreneurial mindset and help me identify when there is an idea that I can capitalize on.