Inna Grant

HADM 4125
Celebration Reflection

I thoroughly enjoyed my opportunity to attend Entrepreneurship Celebration. Not only

was it my first time going there, it was also actually the first time I had even heard about this
celebration. Three years on campus and two years as a business student in Dyson, and no one
had ever even mentioned this celebration to me before! For class, I opted to attend the lunch that
was held during class time, since my schedule is packed otherwise on Thursdays. The lunch was
about startups and how to take your idea from ideation all the way to fruition. They had four
different companies, all either affiliated somehow with Cornell or started by a Cornellian, and
each company was in a different stage of growth: ideation, seed, funded, and fruition. It was
fascinating to hear about these entrepreneurs’ experiences and how Cornell helped them in some
way, and it was also really interesting to see the perspective of the different stages of growth and
how they’re trying to get to the next level.
I took a lot of value from the session, and I think I can apply it to my path beyond
Cornell, although maybe not my path at Cornell currently. I learned about the struggles that
entrepreneurs face, and how even with a great idea, it’s still difficult to try and forge a path ahead
when you don’t have the right resources. The session also opened my eyes to the different kinds
of spaces where you can be an entrepreneur; even as a doctor, Jeremy Wiygul had come up with
his idea and is now trying to change his own niche profession of pediatric urology, and now was
moving into the whole urology space. I think this just reminded me that no matter how little an
idea seems to be, or how niche you may find yourself, you can still make a tremendous impact
for the people that you do affect. It was also really interesting to see how what you might think is
a little improvement, like Geegah’s fingerprint scanner, can actually have much larger
implications and the science behind it can be used for so much greater good than originally
intended. I think it’s important to be able to see things like this and realize that change can come
in all forms and in sometimes totally unintended ways.
This event wasn’t specifically catered to social entrepreneurship, but there were elements
of it in some of the companies, like how Pelex is trying to change the stigma around urinary tract
infections and bring about good for people in the world. I would have loved to have been able to
talk to some of the entrepreneurs and others that were there to hear more about their experiences
and possibly get some new contacts, but I unfortunately had a class, so I had to leave early.
However, I did get a chance to network at other events I attended, like at the E-Lab Demo Day
and at the Student Business of the Year Recognition Lunch, which I will be discussing in my
extra credit Networking opportunity. I think this celebration event is wonderful, and I cannot
believe that it’s taken so long for me to hear about it. I am definitely walking away with a
different perspective on entrepreneurship and startups, and I’m starting to understand that anyone
who wants to be an entrepreneur, can be one, and Cornell really helps you get on your feet if
that’s something you desire. While I don’t think I will come up with any start-up ideas in the
next month, I do see myself in that space in the future, and I know that the things I learned from
this lunch and from other events I attended will help set me on my path. It was also humbling to
see students, even younger than me, who are doing such amazing things and who aren’t afraid of
failure, and I think that’s really what’s most important.