We sat down with members of the 2016 Future Founders Fellowship to hear about their experience growing their startup with Future Founders. The Fellowship is a selective year-long program designed to accelerate the development of the top student entrepreneurs and young entrepreneurial-minded leaders across the United States. Learn more and apply for the Fellowship here: [ Ссылка ]
Interview Transcript:
Tell us about yourself, Jackie.
I’m Jackie. I run Corvus Robotics. Corvus Robotics is a software company that helps warehouses scan inventory using indoor drones that fly without human piloting or anything external.
How did it help you to be in the cohort with Fellows from all around the country?
It helped a lot that my cohort mates were from all over the country. It’s all super duper different and diverse and I would not have gotten to meet these types of entrepreneurs in the same stage as me, but in vastly different industries. And it was really connective for me to see that even though we all look different on the outside, we’re all dealing with the exact same challenges in building a company.
How has the Fellowship helped you grow as an entrepreneur?
The Fellowship has helped me grow as an entrepreneur by providing mentors who are sometimes tough on me and hold me accountable. In addition, there’s a bit of a cohort effect where I’m talking to some of my other friends, seeing how they’re doing, if they’re successful, if they’re less successful with their KPIs and so on. Having this community of people–the mentors who keep me accountable and the cohort who I can challenge myself with–that’s been really essential in driving me forward.
We also sat down with Aaron Gillum, Entrepreneur in Residence at Future Founders, to discuss his time mentoring Jackie during the Fellowship.
Aaron, tell us about your experience being Jackie’s Entrepreneur in Residence during the Fellowship.
Jackie’s full of energy. I think the biggest thing I saw during our time together was how he progressed from understanding he had a great idea in mind to actually bringing it to market and all the challenges that come with that, as well as managing a team to bring that product to market.
