On October 5th, 2011, we lost what was – without a doubt – one of the greatest leaders of our generation. At the young age of 56, Steven Paul Jobs’ life was taken after a long, fierce battle with pancreatic cancer. I am not here today to dwell on the sadness of this loss, but rather celebrate the life of one of the most impactful figures in recent history. Through this eulogy, I hope to: 1. Convey the fact that Steve has directly and significantly impacted each and every one of our lives, and 2. Point out some of Steve’s defining characteristics that we should try to emulate as we each embark our own careers and life-paths after college.

There are three things in particular I admire about Steve that I’d like to speak about today. First is his ability to envision. Second, is his ability to ignore. And lastly, is his ability to inspire.

There are many individuals throughout history that we consider “visionaries” – the Wright brothers, Henry Ford, Mark Zuckerberg, to name a few. What they have in common – along with many other visionaries – is that they each invented or reinvented an industry: the Wright brothers with airplanes, Henry Ford with cars, and Mark Zuckerberg with communication. Needless to say, all of the aforementioned innovators have completely changed our lives for the better. Yet, when you look at Steve jobs’ body of work, he is truly in a “visionary” class of his own. Steve didn’t just leave his mark on a single industry- he invented or completely reinvented six separate ones: computers, movies, music, phones, tablets, and retail. He conquered the archaic PC by creating the design-oriented and rebellious Macintosh. He permanently altered the film landscape by founding Pixar and selling it to Disney. He transformed the way we consume music by creating the iTunes store. He completely revolutionized the way we search for and discover information on the go with the iPhone. Then he did that again with the iPad. And throughout the last decade, he has completely altered the retail business for consumer electronics by creating hundreds of magnificent Apple Stores across the globe.

But being a visionary itself is limited. Without the ability to execute on an idea, being a visionary – no matter how revolutionary one’s ideas are – will prove to be fruitless. Steve was known to have a complex personality that often confused the people around him, even his closest friends and co-workers. His most discussed trait was the one people called his “reality distortion field.” Put simply, Steve had the ability to convince himself and others around him to believe almost anything, using a combination of charm, charisma, bravado, and tenacity. When people told him something couldn’t be done, he simply denied it. Similarly, when people approached him with an idea he didn’t believe in, he simply ignored it. He listened to only himself, distorting reality in ways that aligned with his beliefs. He became well known for his opposition to conducting market research, believing that consumers had no idea what they wanted, but rather HE knew exactly what they wanted. And he was right. His ability to ignore critics and skeptics was ultimately the most crucial aspect of his creativity that led him to conceive amazing consumer products time and time again. As Steve said before he passed, “Innovation is saying “no” to 1,000 things.”

Although it was subject to a lot of criticism, Steve’s reality distortion field was also acknowledged as being his primary way of instilling the idea that the impossible was, in fact, possible. It was a part of his incredibly powerful ability to inspire, a characteristic of his that I admire dearly. Perhaps the most famous story of Steve’s inspiration is when he approached then-Pepsi President John Sculley to offer him a position as Apple’s CEO. Steve was a superstar when it came to inspiration, knowing just the right things to say to appeal to another’s most important values and emotions. As legend has it, Steve approached John and asked him, “Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugar water — or do you want to change the world?” With just once sentence, Steve had convinced John to resign from Pepsi and join him at Apple.

As we all continue to pursue our dreams and careers, it is important that we keep these ideals in our minds. We shouldn’t be afraid to envision ideas we believe can change the world, and we should do so over and over again. We shouldn’t be afraid to defend and execute on these ideas of ours, even when some of the closest people in our lives will doubt us. Just ignore them. Finally, we shouldn’t be afraid to take our ideas and our passions, and use them to inspire others, in addition to inspiring ourselves. As Steve once said, “have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become.”

We all hear everyday about the big successes happening in tech- whether it’s company X raising a big round, company Y being acquired, or company Z getting ready for their mega IPO. And although these success stories – made ever popular by the TechCrunches of the world – have encouraged thousands of new people to jump into the world of startups, it’s extremely important to note that startups are not all that sexy. In fact, there’s very little sexiness involved in working at a startup other than announcing your new round (if you even get that far), and even then you’re only putting more pressure on yourself to perform for investors.

Because hardships and failures go so unspoken about in the tech scene (in comparison to the rare successes), Schuyler Brown has taken the initiative to publicize many of the struggles founders face by creating Founders@Fail. Founders@Fail’s mission – taken straight from their website – is to help aspiring entrepreneurs “Learn practical tips to overcome any mistake from the founders who made them in the first place. There’s no sugarcoating and no spin. The stories may not be pretty, but they’ll ensure you’re better prepared if your funding falls through or your CTO quits.” In other words, Founders@Fail brings founders to speak to audiences about their struggles and how to overcome them. Although it’s not the “sexiest” topic, it’s perhaps the most useful one that many people seem to ignore.

With that said, the NYU Entrepreneurs Network has decided to team up with Founders@Fail for the first Speaker Series of the year. The featured guest speaker will be Russ D’Souza, a co-founder of SeatGeek, which is the world’s largest ticket search engine (and has raised just under $4,000,000). Russ is a Dartmouth graduate who worked at Monitor Consulting Group prior to founding SeatGeek, where he currently manages business development and customer acquisition. Additionally, he has founded and sold two previous startups. With his wealth of experience, the NYUEN feels fortunate to have Russ speak on campus and is extremely excited for this event. We’d love for you to join us! (Students get in FREE with the discount code: student4life)

WHEN: 7PM Monday September 24th

WHERE: Henry Kaufman Management Center (Stern)
44 West 4th street
room number 11-185

**Discount Code: student4life **

RSVP here: http://foundersatfail.com/events/

Since returning from my leave of absence last semester, I’ve noticed a bunch of changes occurring at school this semester. Some examples include: more essays (have already written more this semester than I have in my first two years); more tech / entrepreneurship events (seems like there is at least one big-name speaker or a mass hackathon in either Stern or Poly on a weekly basis); and more cleverly-named food trucks (Gorilla Cheese? Frying Dutchmen?). But perhaps the biggest and most significant change I’ve seen at school is the prevalence of case studies being used in classes, along with the simultaneous abandonment of textbooks.

In fact, all four of my classes this semester (Entrepreneurial Finance, Business Law, Management, and International Studies) have required me to read (and purchase) several cases that became the central topic of discussion for a period of time. What caught my attention even more was that I wasn’t alone- most of my friends at school, across many different courses, had the same requirement to purchase HBR Course Packets instead of a textbook (for 3/4 classes, I had to purchase an entire Course Packet of case studies from Harvard’s site http://hbr.org/). What’s even more astounding is that most of these people were actually enjoying their reading assignments and, as a result, were participating better in class and remaining up to date on the curriculum. (This was something I definitely noticed about myself, too.)

So I asked myself: why are case studies a more effective way of learning than textbooks? Here are my thoughts: as opposed to the monotonous, lecture-style tone of textbooks, case studies are awesome. They satisfy every craving that students desire from their education. As students, we want three things: 1. We want to be engaged by the material, not lectured to death. 2. We don’t want to memorize formulas, definitions, methods and techniques- rather, we want to learn these things in the context of proven examples. And most importantly, 3. We want to receive “real-world” knowledge- stuff that we think will actually be applicable in a job setting. Case studies satisfy each of these criteria. They engage us through a story, convey methodology through that story, and then challenge us to utilize this methodology in a real-world setting by ending the case with a “what should company X do next?” type of question.

To me, this is a huge structural shift taking place in education- one that will have a significant impact on the future market for textbooks. While there is so much focus on new ways to purchase, share or sell textbooks, there is no doubt in my mind that this is an inefficient market; put simply, cases are just a much better (and cheaper) way of learning and teaching material. And although the argument can be made that textbooks are important for foundational courses, I have yet to view them as a necessary part of any course I’ve taken thus far.

This presents a big problem (or as I would like to say, a big opportunity)- students individually spend thousands of dollars a year (and collectively, billions) on books that are slowly becoming outdated (solely because these books have been “required” for each course). Yet, there is now an alternative and superior form of cheaper education materials that are easily accessible on the internet (the average case costs about $3-$5). Finally, it seems like universities are starting to take notice and shift these textbook requirements to Course Packet requirements. What’s shocking to me is that no one seems to be addressing this apparent shift in the market besides for a single non-profit organization: Harvard.

It’s no secret that Harvard has been publishing case studies for awhile now- yet I don’t think many people recognize how big of a business opportunity this has become. Right now, it seems like case studies are prominent solely in professional studies courses (i.e. business & law), but there’s no reason why they cannot be written and used for general studies courses as well. Why can’t history, literature and science classes adopt case studies to learn about certain regions, authors and discoveries? To me, this seems like a very sensible application of case studies and is therefore a large growth opportunity.

As a student, I want to make sure that my education provides me with a skill set to make an immediate impact at the next level. Textbooks have conventionally been viewed as the standard way to teach students information, yet I believe that case studies are the future of practical, real-world education at universities- and I think that Stern’s transition to a heavier focus on case studies indicates their agreement with the previous statement. With such a big market opportunity, it surprises me that no one else has jumped into this space to try and compete with Harvard and perhaps grab a slice of a very lucrative market.

Lately, I’ve been reading the Harvard Business Review (HBR) series called “On Strategy.” It’s a compilation of essays written by Harvard professors defining “strategy” and explaining different methods of execution. I wouldn’t say it’s a must-read, but there are definitely some very interesting points to glean from the readings. I’d like to highlight one of those points in this post.

Before technology and the internet became so prevalent in our society, having great strategy was equivalent to achieving operational effectiveness. The more efficient you were (with costs, time, waste, etc.), the better strategy you had. This is why, in the 70’s and 80’s, the Japanese were at the forefront of production. Using practices such as Total Quality Management (TQM), the Japanese were able to decrease costs while simultaneously increasing product quality. And because there was essentially no transparency in the markets, the Japanese were able to successfully sustain this competitive advantage over other countries.

But enter technology in the 90’s & 00’s and the game completely changed. Why? Because once competitors discovered TQM and other methods of operational effectiveness deployed by the Japanese (via increased transparency), they were able to replicate these practices and create similar goods at similar levels of efficiency (thereby erasing this competitive advantage). What’s even more interesting is that other countries have been able to gain and sustain a competitive advantage over the Japanese. How? Because these countries have been extremely innovative, by means of differentiation and specialization, while Japan has remained concerned only about operational effectiveness.

In the modern economy, operational effectiveness is not enough. First-mover’s advantage is fleeting- just because you got to market or implemented some practices first, doesn’t mean that your product and operational tactics cannot be replicated. But what *IS* sustainable is a specialization or differentiating factor, a “secret sauce” in your company that competitors cannot replicate. Sure, the first and second and Nth competitor to jump into your space will try to imitate what you’re doing, but if you continue to innovate - if you continue to truly differentiate yourself rather than merely producing things more efficiently - then your competitors will never be able to duplicate your success.

Yesterday, I used Uber for the first time. For those of you who don’t know what Uber is, it’s an app that enables you to order a car service to wherever you are. The ride is charged directly to the credit card you have on file with the service and the receipt is emailed to you.

I hadn’t previously tried Uber, mainly because it’s a bit pricey and I haven’t had too much trouble hailing a regular cab. But Uber isn’t a replacement for regular cabs- it’s completely different. Uber is an affordable luxury that combines elements of convenience, relaxation and, most importantly, emotion. The way I see it, the reason they’re doing so well (they just announced another $40mil in funding from Menlo Ventures, Jeff Bezos and Goldman Sachs) is because using Uber’s service isn’t just a ride- it’s an emotional experience.

The driver pulls up in a luxury vehicle (mine was a Mercedes Benz) and makes you feel like he’s your personal driver. He chats with you rather than yelling some crazy language into an earpiece the entire time. He takes you door-to-door at a normal pace without any sudden stops or starts. He says thank you and wishes you a good day/night. And you don’t need to feel pressured to give a good tip because it’s already included in the service. The moment you step out of the car, you feel like you just had a cool, pleasurable experience. You feel relaxed. You feel special. And feeling special evokes emotion that most people want to experience over and over and over again.

To me, that’s the most important aspect of Uber, as well as to a handful of other consumer-facing startups we’ve recently seen make big splashes in the news. Pinterest (raised $37mil this year), a virtual pinboard, evokes the emotions of inspiration and discovery. Fab (just raised $40mil), a members-only flash sales site for daily design inspirations, evokes the emotions of elegance and exclusivity. Instagram (raised $7mil earlier this year and was just named “App of the Year” by Apple) evokes the emotions of serenity and awe. My belief is as follows: products that can sustainably elicit positive emotions from their users are very likely to succeed.

That is why I’m so excited about startups like Piictu and SideTour (disclosure: both are RRE companies)- because both of these products give their users a fun AND emotional experience. It’s also why I’m psyched about educational startups like Skillshare and Coursekit (both non-RRE)- because both are adding an emotional layer to something that simply had none before.

Ultimately, human actions are based on emotion. If someone upsets or angers you, then you try to avoid them. If someone is fun but has no emotional appeal to you, then he/she will get boring after awhile. But if someone excites you or makes you happy or gives you that warm, fuzzy feeling on a consistent basis, you will always want to be around them. The same holds true for products- if they trigger positive emotions, more often than not, you’ll want to use them again and again.

Today, I’m absolutely thrilled to announce that I have joined RRE Ventures as an intern.

If you ask a VC the main thing they look for when making an investment, the first response you’ll get is “a great team.” To me, this holds true when making a career/lifestyle decision- so it was obvious to me awhile ago, when I first met Stuart Ellman and Adam Ludwin, that I wanted to work for RRE. Simply put, there is no team I’d rather invest my time and energy with than the one RRE has constructed. As individuals, the entire team has been extremely helpful and insightful in many instances. As a firm, they have established an impeccable reputation as a result of their incredible vision and investment expertise. Furthermore, their constant activity in the NY tech scene has earned RRE the respect of the entire startup community.

I’ve heard time and time again that being a young VC is extremely challenging, but I know that I’m up for the test. I hope that my hunger, passion and hustle will continue to allow me to overcome hurdles, find the best entrepreneurs building amazing companies, and ultimately be a big value add to the entire RRE team.

I could not be more grateful and excited for this opportunity.

This post was inspired by a post I saw yesterday titled “So you want to be a VC?”

Recently, I’ve had a bunch of people reach out to me about becoming a TechStars associate. I’ve generally been receiving the same types of questions from most people, so I figured I’d write a blog post outlining the key points I’ve been touching upon.

1. There is NO conventional path to becoming a TechStars associate. It’s not like, “if you do X, Y and Z then you’ll get the position.” From what I can recall, every associate I worked with took a very different path to getting the position. I can personally say that I was fortunate enough to be in a ‘right place, right time’ scenario. With that said…

2. It obviously doesn’t hurt to have a tech/business background and a proven passion for the space. I had past experience in technology finance and had also worked for a startup and on my own startup. I also attended a ton of tech events/meetups around the city that proved to be a big difference-maker for me. A lot of people say they are passionate about startups and technology, but you need to have these types of experiences to prove it.

3. The mission statement of a TechStars associate is “to add value to the companies in the program.” Nothing else. You don’t try to work at TechStars to “break into the startup ecosystem” when you can do that by working for a startup or going to events. You also don’t go to work at TechStars to “learn” - the companies are not there to help you out, it’s completely vice versa. With that said…

4. TechStars will be the #1 learning and networking experience you have encountered. While your main goal is to “add value” to the companies, the natural byproduct of that is undertaking incredible projects that will have a significant impact. You will essentially act as an extra employee for 1-6 startups. That means you will participate in team & mentor meetings, work on various projects, and learn a ton from the brilliant founders and mentors who visit the office on a daily basis.

5. There are NO typical “day to day” tasks for a TechStars associate. One day you’ll be working on gamification strategies, the next day you’ll be out of the office pitching people on a product. Off the top of my head, here are some tasks/projects I remember completing: created a spreadsheet with all mentor information, helped two companies with their initial rollout, helped one company with sales, helped two companies with bus dev- you get the point. Every day is different, which is one of the best parts of the program. You’re constantly doing new things which means you will always be excited / challenged. With that said…

6. Not every task will be “sexy.” If I had to guess, I’d say I set up and put away chairs for events almost every single day. Glorious? No. Appreciated? YES. The little things you do for the program and the founders will enable you to receive the bigger and better projects. Because…

7. What you put into the program is exactly what you’ll get out of it, if not more. The more you hustle, the more respect you’ll get. The more respect, the more trust. The more trust, the better projects. At the end of the day, being a great TechStars associate comes down to taking initiative- looking for problems companies are having and utilizing your strengths to try and make an impact where you can. If you hustle and are passionate about your work, you will have a very successful experience at TechStars. I can personally say that it was the best 3 months of my life and I will never forget the people I met, the things I learned, and the path it has set me on for the future.

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me. Good luck to all in pursuit of the position!

There are two weeks left of the TechStars summer program. The companies have all progressed a ton and are looking great. There have been countless meetings, pitch practices and latenights- but it is now time to finish strong.

The next two weeks of work will dictate who comes out of the program with a lot of buzz, evangelism and money. These weeks may not make or break a company, but it sure couldn’t hurt to have great publicity coming out of the most examined TechStars class yet. I’m both excited and intrigued to see who will capitalize most on this incredible opportunity.

Haven’t blogged in a little while because work has been so damn busy. Now that we’re out of the “mentor dating” period and in product mode at TechStars, the teams are all on the gas peddle and working towards that looming thing we call “Demo Day.”

Demo Day is now less than 7 weeks away and each company is at its own stage and has its own challenges. Some are raising funding while others have already closed rounds and are focused on growing their user-base. Some are rolling out by for an upcoming deadline while others are taking time to bring on the right strategic partners.

Overall, it’s very cool to see these 12 companies evolve- and I’m only growing increasingly more excited because a bunch are rolling out as we speak or in the near future. It’s amazing how quickly these weeks go by. But what’s even more amazing is how big of a difference just one week can make in the life of a startup. One well-executed partnership, one new addictive feature, one new employee (among many other things) can all radically change the outlook for a startup.

People often ask me why I’m so infatuated with entrepreneurship. I want to share two quotes from recent blog posts that convey exactly what I love about the space- on both sides of the table.

“Work with people you like and believe in and who get you revved up. The rest will fall into place.”

-David Tisch

“Four portfolio companies. Each at a different stage. Each in a different business. Each with a different team. All doing great things. It’s this ability to engage meaningfully with many interesting teams and businesses in a single day that makes the venture capital business the perfect job for me. I love it.”

-Fred Wilson