Each November, a week is set aside to celebrate innovators who create jobs in their companies. Many of ASU's budding entrepreneurs were present at SkySong in Scottsdale Monday night to kick off Global Entrepreneurship Week.
Rotem Perelmuter, CEO of social recruiting company Top Prospect, was the event’s keynote speaker. In his address to a crowd of students, faculty, alumni and community members, Perelmuter shared his three steps to success.
“You need to think disruptive, believe in your idea and be persistent,” Perelmuter said.
Success is no stranger to the entrepreneurs who earned degrees from ASU. Gordon McConnell, the executive director of ASU Venture Catalyst, said over the last seven years, the University has spun out 48 successful companies.
Much of this success can be traced back to ASU’s startup programs.
The Edson Student Entrepreneur Initiative program provides funding, office space and mentoring to each of the student startups it supports each year. Typically, 10 percent of the applicants make the cut; of the approximately 250 teams that applied last spring, 26 are receiving help through the program.
Three of this year’s Edson companies are competing on a large scale; reNature, a waste management company, and Ellens Technologies, a mobile application that helps veterinarians make diagnoses, are participating in the Startup Open and Stephanie Lee, the founder of Bébé Ecoposh, is in the running for a Global Student Entrepreneur award.
Along with the Edson Student Entrepreneur Initiative, ASU Venture Catalyst and the Alumni Entrepreneurs Club co-sponsored the event.
“Tonight is all about supporting entrepreneurs,” said Brent Sebold, the program manager of the Edson Student Entrepreneur Initiative.
ASU Venture Catalyst — created from a $1 million grant from the state — helps faculty, staff and community members begin their high-potential start-ups.
“It was only founded last year, so we don’t have a huge success story yet,” said Meagan Garrett, the marketing and communications manager at ASU SkySong.
The event marked the official beginning of the Alumni Entrepreneurs Club. Keith Aspinall, the founder of the club, is the research and analytics manager at ASU SkySong.
“Our club is an umbrella that provides support,” Aspinall said. This support includes mentoring and networking.
Perelmuter’s company, Top Prospect, stresses networking. The San Francisco-based company launched early this year as a social recruiting company.
“We base it off of the whole idea that hiring through referral leads to happier, more productive employees,” Perelmuter said.
He discussed his experiences as an entrepreneur, beginning with Imagine Radio. The company was a kind of forerunner to Pandora, he said. After selling Imagine Radio to MTV, Perelmuter went on to create Top Prospect.
Biomedical engineering junior Gabrielle Palermo said she enjoyed hearing Perelmuter’s success stories.
Palermo participates in the Edson Student Entrepreneur Initiative. Her company, G3Box, will turn shipping containers into medical clinics. A prototype is scheduled to be shipped to Kenya in April.
“I wasn’t necessarily interested in business,” Palermo said. “I think it shows we need to reach out and try different things.”
Reach the reporter at julia.shumway@asu.edu or follow @JMShumway on Twitter.
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