The U’s E-Club may stand for excellence, but it’s mostly about entrepreneurship.
The E-Club is a group of young entrepreneurs who strive to get better jobs or create their own companies. Tim Cooley, president of the club and a business administration graduate student, said the club’s goal is to “just get you one dollar of revenue.”
Troy D’Ambrosio, the executive director of the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute Center, said the club has a full calendar of events throughout this semester, including lectures such as “How to Build a Start-Up” and “How to Build a Prototype.”
The club is open to students of all majors, and D’Ambrosio wants as many different ideas and innovative thinkers to join as possible.
“A goal is to get more students across campus to the events,” he said. “We want students with their own mindsets.”
Innovation is another platform of the club. Last Thursday, Sept. 11, about 40 members of the E-Club took part in the Jump Start Innovation Tournament for a chance to win part of $10,000 to use in starting a business. The participants divided into groups and came up with ideas for companies. Part of the competition simulated real-life situations, such as paying employees and renting spaces to see how the companies would adapt. At the end, judges tallied up how much money each company would have actually made.
But Adam Rosenberg, a member of the E-Club, said it’s not all about the ideas. It’s also about implementing them in real-life.
“We all extend our services,” he said.
The E-Club is sponsored by eBay, a company started by an entrepreneur in 1995 and now one of the most well-known and most used companies in America. The U’s E-Club will be attending a conference at eBay on Oct. 4. The E-Club is also sponsored by Games 4 Health.
The Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library provides space for the E-Club on Thursdays for their events, but also helps the club throughout the week with quiet study rooms and places to solve problems by writing on the walls. Cooley hopes members and all students take advantage of this and join the club.
“[It will] teach you how to be successful,” he said.
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@JulianneSkrivan