Kindling Students Entrepreneurial Fire - Julie Samson

Julie Samson, is the Executive Director of the Scheinfeld Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Santa Barbara City College, met with host Mark Sylvester to talk about the excitement of working with energetic young entrepreneurs. Julie also is the regional representative of the Small Business Development Corporation and the Deputy Sector Navigator of the CITD, focusing on Global Trade and Logistics. I'm in love with the spark of the students.” Topics included; Building a tight loop between the school and the business community The New Venture Challenge and how it's inclusion of local High Schools is making a difference in the startup community Cultivating hands-on experiences for the students The Enterprise Launch Class - 16 weeks to launch a new business idea How she sorts down to the best 10-12 ideas, then forms teams to validate the concepts The best part of the class for her? When she experiences the students excitement after they've met with real customers Great success story, Lifecycle Gardens, and how Justin's idea morphed over time - as all businesses do The 5 Metrics used by the SBDC to gauge business potential (Ray Bowman, Director of the SBDC in Ventura was on 805conversations talking more about the program - listen) How to determine if the founder has the fire needed to make the company successful What motivates new customers today is a sense of belonging to the brand How to find the consciousness and soul of the business Julie is genuinely excited about working with startups and entrepreneurs. This conversation would have played well on video so you could have seen her face as she talked about the work she's doing.