Lessons Learned From a Failed Ivy League Entrepreneur

A "Case Story" By Chris Cononico
 

Introduction

“Anyone [can be an entrepreneur] who wants to experience the deep, dark canyons of uncertainty and ambiguity; and who wants to walk the breathtaking highlands of success. But I caution, do not plan to walk the latter, until you have experienced the former.” -- An Entrepreneur

As a 21-year old college student at Wharton, the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, I embraced the ideals of entrepreneurship so whole-heartedly I started my own company. My classmates and I managed the company for two and a half years and it became our full time job after graduation. We thought we had taken enough business classes and listened to enough lectures to feel confident about being self-employed. We wrote a business plan and believed we had a unique concept, a strong management team, and a viable “business model.”

Unfortunately, despite some initial success, my business eventually shut down. Our fate isn’t surprising when you consider the challenges faced by entrepreneurs starting new companies. What is surprising, however, is the amount of trouble we almost got into. By the time we dissolved our corporation, my company was being bashed in local newspapers across the country and our attorney was conducting a conference call with 35 Attorneys General, which felt like more attention than Microsoft received that year for its alleged monopolistic practices.

Like many entrepreneurs, we lost a lot of money invested by friends and family. All told, we lost nearly a million dollars. That’s not even considering the opportunity costs of the jobs we turned away as college seniors. Instead of earning salaries and benefits in corporate America, we survived on the pittances we paid to ourselves. For two years, we lived in our offices, sleeping on the floors, working day and night with no personal lives. In the end it seemed as if those sacrifices had been for nothing.

In many ways, this story is about a group of students with ambition and "street smarts," but who also lacked the maturity to grow a sustainable business.   As a young entrepreneur, I aspired to be "self-made," to "stake my own claim," and to be "my own boss." I didn't want to "settle" for anything and entrepreneurship became my way to escape having an ordinary career. The fact that Michael Dell and Bill Gates were college students when they started their businesses seemed to prove that entrepreneurship held unlimited potential for young people.

In writing this manuscript, I am not trying to preach to anyone about entrepreneurship. I made my mistakes, and I'm sure you'll make yours. Instead, I wish to share my lessons.  Simply stated, entrepreneurial success isn't just about core competencies, competitive advantages, and market trends.  Beyond the extrinsic analysis is the need for every founder to have an exceptionally high level of self-awareness.  That's where I fell short.  I didn't know who I was or what I stood for and it cost my company dearly.

In telling my story, I have recounted the events in ways that resemble a case study, but with added layers of personal insight. It's told from my perspective and no one else's. I have reviewed notes, records, and newspaper stories, interviewed some of the participants, and relied heavily on my own recollections. If you talk to other people involved with the events described, they may recount the story differently, and, ultimately, may have been affected in completely different ways. I am just recounting the story exactly how I remember it.
 

Copyright  2005 by Chris Cononico
All rights reserved. No part of this manuscript may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.