- Am I an entrepreneur?
Anyone can be an entrepreneur. All people, disciplines, and walks of life can have insights and solutions for problems that can be solved by applying business models and critical thinking. Entrepreneurial thinking is creating value for others by solving their problems. I personally have never created a startup or been involved in establishing a new business, but I look forward to using the skills I have learned from ODU to one day being able to be part of a great project.
- What is success?
Success as an entrepreneur is to create a business model that consistently and repeatably creates value for customers that can solve problems in the world or marketplace. Successful startups can consider and execute all of the nine elements of a business model. They identify their customer segments and know who they are selling to. They understand and explain their value proposition so that customers understand their product and why it is the best choice to purchase. Successful startups know the correct channels to deliver their product. They consider their customer relationships and how the product makes customers feel. Cost structures are considered and managed to provide the lowest operational costs that provide the most benefit to the company. Key resources and activities are identified to provide assets needed to function and goals that must be met to create value and operate the startup. Key partnerships are developed to align with other organizations. And identifying the revenue streams that will allow customers to pay for the value the product create. If a startup can solve and consider these nine elements of the business plan, they have a high chance of success in the marketplace.
- Am I a self-starter? How well do I follow through on my ideas?
Because of my history being an online student at Old Dominion I do believe I am a self-starter. Taking college courses online requires the ability to create and stay on track of schedules, to create systems to complete coursework, to learn ways to solve problems when a teacher or advisor is not available. Online students often must rely heavily on their own problem solving and discover multiple resources for help understanding topics or coursework. These requirements create a need for a student to follow through on all their plans. If you make a schedule but don’t keep it, you will not be a successful student. This trait translates out to other areas of life and is directly applicable to entrepreneurship.
- How does ODU view entrepreneurship?
ODU views entrepreneurship as being open to all people regardless of where they are professionally or educationally starting from. It is seen as a process that can benefit from collaboration and support by various disciplines and industries. Entrepreneurs at ODU can work with other students and develop solutions, and business plans for the various problems facing the market and society. Through ODU’s Strome Entrepreneurial Center you can access multiple resources that teach entrepreneurial skills, provide research on various economic or technical issues, and assist startups with mentoring and networking from existing business leaders.
- What is my role in this ecosystem?
My role in the ecosystem is to help translate cybersecurity business topics and problems into solutions that can be achieved economically. I take my understanding of technology, and of various threats, and provide solutions on how to implement secure technology and counter threat actors. This requires technical skills as well as communication skills, and research skills to fully realize. As with most aspects in business and cybersecurity, a team of people will need to work together to execute these roles and achieve these goals.