[Eecs_mscs] Dan Snyder Keynote; $500 scholarship opportunity

Wed Nov 3 08:41:17 EDT 2021

Please see below and attached.
Best regards,
Dr.J

From: Benedict, Paul <benedict at ohio.edu<mailto:benedict at ohio.edu>>
Sent: Wednesday, November 3, 2021 8:24 AM
To: Benedict, Paul <benedict at ohio.edu<mailto:benedict at ohio.edu>>
Subject: Dan Snyder Keynote; $500 scholarship opportunity

Dear colleagues,

Please forgive the email blast (and it's length). I'm sure you're all stretched too thin this semester. I have two opportunities for engineering students, and I would be grateful if you would share this with them in the manner you see fit. We're working with UCM to get the word out and trying to make this a campus-wide and national push, but as you probably know, nothing beats hearing it directly from the faculty and staff. You could share the attached slides in class or via Teams/Blackboard and not have to read any more, but for more context...

The opportunities are...

  1.  Dan Snyder, Global Entrepreneurship Week keynote and Q&A, Mon. Nov. 7 at 7pm in Baker Ballroom
  2.  "I am an entrepreneur" video campaign. Students submit 40-second video saying how they've been entrepreneurial for a chance at a $500 scholarship. They might feel imposter syndrome, but anyone who creates for good is an entrepreneur.

First, the Dan Snyder event... We are very lucky to welcome Dan Snyder to campus on Monday, November 8 (7pm, Baker Ballroom) to keynote Global Entrepreneurship Week for us. As you may know, Dan is an alumnus and founder & CEO of Lower.com. Some of the reasons why your students might want to attend this talk:

  1.  No company in the world has hired more OU grads in the last 2 years than Lower
  2.  Dan was named by Glassdoor the #4 CEO in the country to work for.
  3.  Lower has funded more than $18 billion in loans since its founding in 2014. Growing like crazy. More than 1700 employees now. It's a fintech company. They need engineers.
  4.  The company bootstrapped all of its growth until 2021, when it raised the largest Series A in the history of Ohio ($100 million). For students who don't know, Series A just means the first round of venture capital in a company. That size of a first round is literally unprecedented in the State of Ohio and extremely rare even for Silicon Valley.
  5.  Critically for soccer fans, as part of Lower's effort to pour rocket fuel in a growth engine, it became the title sponsor of the Columbus Crew's new stadium (Lower.com Field)
  6.  I can't really broadcast this, but if Dan Snyder's not a billionaire yet, he's very close. If Lower's trajectory continues (lots of reasons to think it will barring a housing crash), there's a very good chance that Dan is the wealthiest living Bobcat within the next few years. Having refinanced myself with Lower, I'd be willing to make that bet with anyone. I don't know about you guys, but I haven't been in the room from too many billionaires in my life. It's kinda fun and you realize they're just people mostly like the rest of us.

Second, the "I am an Entrepreneur" video campaign... Throughout Global Entrepreneurship Week (November 8-12), we're asking students (and alums) to share how they've been entrepreneurial in a 40-second video. We'll be awarding at least two $500 scholarships to two students at random for their submissions. If they scan the QR code in the attached slide, they'll go to https://www.ohio.edu/entrepreneurship/gew to learn more.

Also, if you're willing to add verbally or in an announcement...

Entrepreneurship is not just Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk and appearing on Shark Tank. And thank goodness for that. You might not be willing to admit it, but just about ALL of you are entrepreneurs. You might feel some degree of imposter syndrome. I (Paul) know people who've built million dollar enterprises from scratch who refuse to call themselves entrepreneurs. But that's ridiculous. If you're conceiving of an idea and bringing it to life, you're an entrepreneur. If you CREATE FOR GOOD, you are an entrepreneur. We hope you'll share your stories!

Thanks in advance for your time. Sorry for the long email. If you've gotten this far (and even if you didn't), my sincere thanks. Hopefully you know this, but the Center for Entrepreneurship exists to serve the ENTIRE Ohio University community. If I/we can EVER do anything to support you and your students, please don't hesitate to ask. I'm always happy to get coffee and explore possibilities.

Have a great final month of the semester.
Go Bobcats!
Paul

--

Paul Benedict
Director, Center for Entrepreneurship
Claudia Brandenburg Kotchka Faculty Fellow
740.707.1303
Let's meet - Pick a time here<https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fcalendly.com%2Fpbenedict&data=04%7C01%7Cjadwisie%40ohio.edu%7C6019b770bd3046de5a1b08d99ec6e389%7Cf3308007477c4a70888934611817c55a%7C0%7C0%7C637715399344417811%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=8N1p66g5p%2BAxNfO7Xs0N9FnmSDF4gGPwU33OhV6GQAY%3D&reserved=0>
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