Elon, Gates, Zuckerburg, Bezos,... Petersen (Hawken Project Blog #8)

Hey there! When I began this project three weeks ago, I had a vision. I set out with one goal in mind... get ESTIM8 going. It was through blood, sweat, tears, and laughter that my partner Jalen and I were able to get ESTIM8 to this point. We wanted to get our big idea off the ground. We wanted to get it to the point where we could go to an investor to invest. We had no idea how to do this. If it wasn't for our awesome mentor, John Ours, we wouldn't have gotten as far as we did. He provided much needed guidance. Our main goals were to improve the business plan side and the functionality side of things. I took over the business side of things. I spent hours on hours trying to learn everything I needed to before I could actually do it. I wrote a 20 page business plan and a few really good financial spreadsheets. I think this project was really good for me. I now have the option to continue to pursue ESTIM8 as a business, which I plan to do this summer. Constantly reworking documents and possibly meeting with investors. The only thing lacking about my project was time, if we could have had more time then we could have reached some real milestones. I learned how businesses work and manage themselves by sitting in at Paragon. I learned what goes behind starting up a new business. I learned that I am really excited to pursue the Entrepreneurship and Corporate Innovation major at Indiana University. I would tell Juniors to pick something thats going to have a real product at the end because it will feel much more rewarding at the end. My most important takeaway is that if you fake it, then you will make it. You just need to act like you belong and you'll end up getting really close. I want to close out by thanking Mr. Ours, Mr. McGee, Claudio, Tony, Brett and everyone else at the Paragon Organization for their support, encouragement, and help.