Here in the alumni office, we recently received this delightful email:

“My name is Laura and I work for NerdScholar, a financial literacy website for students. To celebrate small business month this May we featured our favorite entrepreneurship alumni networks and found that Evergreen’s is one of the best out there. Check out the piece…”

The Evergreen Alumni Entrepreneurs Directory

Well isn’t that nice!  If you go to NerdScholar, you may be as delighted as we are to see The Evergreen Alumni Entrepreneurs Directory listed along with those of Cornell, Emory, Georgetown and University of Washington. Gosh.

Laura also asked for three pieces of advice from three entrepeneurial Greeners.  Here’s what we sent:

From Craig Chance ’81, President, Columbia Bank
Entrepreneurs by nature are optimistic, however, do not be blinded by aggressive optimism.  Realistically assess risks, develop a strategy for mitigating them, and be prepared to implement alternative actions if things are not working  as anticipated in the first plan.

From David Shaw, Member of the Evergreen Faculty
Never launch a business or new venture without an existing customer.

From  Addie Wood ’09, Community Financial Resources, Columbia Bank
Regardless of where you are in your career or business venture, try not to lose sight of what inspired you to enter into that field and of the experiences you encountered along the way.  When times get tough, it will be those very inspirations and experiences that help you create innovative ways to, not only make it through, but be even more resilient once you get to the other side.

How about the rest of you entrepreneurial spirits ?  Give us your best piece of advice. We’ll pass them on to faculty members who are teaching in this area.