Erik Hanberg, Guest Speaker

While us the class had the chance to see and hear from an active entrepreneur (aside from our own instructor, of course), we got to also meet Mr. Erik Hanberg. Erik's take on things seem widely different than Derek Young's, Hanberg had more meaning behind his ventures, he had ideas and creations and passions that he wanted to make a living on, and he told us about his journey to sell his ideas from starting a theater company to selling his own written novels as ebooks. Hanberg made the point to tell us how important shipping a product is, getting an idea out the door and making it known to the world. He also talked about some advice to share about making a living off your biggest hobbies or passions, counting the benefits you have from being well practiced and/or very interested in something.

Hanberg embarked this quote upon the class: "The new laziness has nothing to do with physical labor and everything to do with fear. If you're not going to make sales calls or invent that innovation or push that insight, you're not avoiding it because you need physical rest.. you're hiding out because you're afraid of expending emotional labor".

I believe what Mr. Hanberg was trying to say was that most of the reluctance to do what we have to do lies in how we perceive the labor to be, not at all requiring real physical work but more of a mental headache, and we feel if a job were to cause us such headache and stress it's best to forget about it and not even bother, it's a fear of not doing well in something you think is going to be difficult, and then beating yourself up about it when you haven't bothered to take the first steps to try this new thing you always wanted to do.

This resonates with me somewhat on a personal level, I had a good talk with Mr. Hanberg after his presentation on how I myself can get that kind of motivation; his answer was simple and I 110% agree with it: You just gotta do it. You. You have to put in the time and effort if you want your efforts to bear fruit, you have to find when and where you can work on something, and complete it from start to finish, whether it be a book, a movie, etc.

Mr. Hanberg also has started/been apart of some companies and businesses, these include:

- Side x Side: his current full time job
- The Horatio: a theater company, ran out of money
- Exit133: a company started and ran by Derek Young
- Suite133: gave this company back to his partners.

Derek Young, Guest Speaker

Earlier this week Tacoma entrepreneur and business-man Derek Young came to class to talk about his experiences in creating start-ups and running companies. Young started out as a Biology major who had independent interests in technology and coding, something he pursued and learned on his own aside from his biology degree. After working at REI for 10 years, Young produced software which slowly started to become popular, inciting him to start up his company, and left REI after obtaining his MBA in biology, showing "no fear in his endeavor". 

Throughout the years Young has started and closed many companies, claiming that he likes to try out things to see if it works out, and if they don't he can always get back on his feet. Young reclaims that he enjoyed his time living and working in London, mentioning that the constant flights back-and-forth had been very exhausting and decided it'd be the best move for him and his significant-other. The companies that Young would start would often be smaller companies working for another company, which in turn would also have an even smaller company working for his small company. Young believes that creating things: "is awesome", he often creates programs catered for his own personal use, that are often seen as useful and/or benefit many others, some even making the demands that motivate the supply for such products, and towards creating another startup. 

Young had many good advice to give to the classroom, commenting that "Companies grow well with a variety in management. Fresh, new minds can benefit a company more than that of the old founders,...running businesses is always something that have mistakes and always growing from these mistakes." Currently, Mr. Young has a handful of companies he works at/on/ is a partner of, these include: 

http://www.tacomarunners.com/

http://www.seasonalview.com/

http://www.exit133.com/

3 BUSINESS IDEAS:




1. Corporation which distributes products of convenience that are used in other countries in america (Magic wands, heated toilet seats/ automated bidet, mostly products from japan and other European countries which provide more convenience to the general public)

2. Open a internet cafe/arcade, providing high performance computers, LAN capabilities, multiple tvs, console and arcade sets, open bar, food services, and snacks available. Hold local tournaments for games and etc. Birthday parties are great here.

3. Something related to weed. a Washington"coffee" shop or bakery.

4.(optional if one of the previous plan is not suitable): Video game company.