Straight from the Hearth: Lemonade Stands
Dear readers,
Shaw Zeider here, one of FORGE's new interns, dropping in with a guest edition of Straight from the Hearth.
Why do we visit children’s lemonade stands? The answer may be simple, we want lemonade. If this is the case, why not go to a fast-food restaurant? They have health standards, accept credit cards, and most importantly probably have better lemonade. In fact, I would argue a lemonade stand might be one of the worst places to purchase quality lemonade. But we don’t go to lemonade stands for quality or convenience, we go to support children’s entrepreneurial spirit. We feel better knowing that our few dollars went to support a kid’s entrepreneurial beginnings rather than the pockets of some F500 executive.
And at FORGE, we try to harness that entrepreneurial spirit by supporting startups in the same way one would support a lemonade stand.
In other words, starting up the startup. As I settle into the intern role at FORGE, I feel as I am onboarding as a personal cohort. The knowledge I am gaining from speaking with so many amazing individuals is invaluable.
Coming from someone with a very fresh perspective on startups and early-stage venture capital, my experience with FORGE will enable me to learn a few key points through this internship:
- Seeing the process of an idea turn into a product then into a company
- Understanding how different founders think and work
- Being able to see projects and processes I had an impact on grow and blossom
- Having a role in how FORGE evolves
Seeing the process of an idea turn into a product then into a company
This one is self-explanatory. The process of entrepreneurship fascinates me and having a frontline seat to it all is an incredible opportunity. The natural progression of these startups is something I will be following closely.
Understanding how different founders think and work
A great part about being able to interact with all these different founders is the ability to understand their work styles. One shared trait they all have is enthusiasm for their projects and ideas. After that, different founders have very diverse and different perspectives on work-life balance, growth timelines, and much more. Getting a better idea of how founders work helps me work better with them. This also aids in my personal by empowering me to pick up on the aspects I think are beneficial and applying them to myself.
Being able to see projects and processes I had an impact on grow and blossom
This is quite similar to the first bullet point. The process of seeing the growth of the things you worked on is incredibly rewarding. And because FORGE is relatively new, the actions done now have such a large impact. Being able to say you made a positive difference is incredibly fulfilling.
How FORGE evolves
This is the part I am most excited about. FORGE can and will become something amazing in the coming months and couldn’t be more eager to see how it evolves. The plans we have now, and the growth trajectory is immense, and by May I can’t wait to see what will become of FORGE.
With that being said, let’s make some lemonade.
- Shaw Zeider, FORGE Intern
Shaw Zeider, one of FORGE's new interns,
is a sophomore majoring in Finance and
Management Information Systems.
We are excited to be able to give voice to our students and learn from their perspective in this month's straight from the hearth column!