On the 3rd of November, 2014 (Class 18) Comm 101 section 101 was honored to have three notable Sauder Alumni’s as a guest speaker. This did not only make the class much more fun, but it also taught the fundamentals of starting our own business. We had with us the CEO and founder of Tangoo- Paul Davidescu, CEO and founder of Naked Coconut- Paul Gill, and Founder of Sip Soda- Jenifer.A.M. All the speakers told us how they started their business and how they grew their business.
First we had Paul Gill, founder of Naked Coconut speak with us. He started his business about 2 years back, and the main reason of starting his business was because, Paul was frustrated with the lack of trustworthy products in the market. Paul, had just graduated and hopping from one job to another. He was feeling dejected as he quit his first gig and wanted to jump ship again. Dissatisfied with limited responsibilities early in his working life, he hoped to tap into his much criticized lack of patience to jumpstart something more exciting. He then thought of this brilliant idea, by converting coconut oil and aminos to soy free seasoning sauce. After the success of this product, he then wanted to complete the product family, hence he created the organic virgin coconut oil and raw organic coconut nectar. we asked him ho many employees does he have working with him; and he replies; “Me, I and Myself”.
Next, Jenifer.A.M spoke about how she started Sip soda. She said that, she wanted see people enjoy drinking soda but due to the harmful ingredients of soda people refrain from drinking soda. She saw this niche, and wanted to cover this niche with her product, which later was know an sip soda. This is not exactly pop or soda, it is just flavored water with a slight fizz. she also told us about the tragedy she faced while exporting the soda. She lost over $3000 in this tragedy, however, she didn’t give up, instead she suggested all of us to learn from our mistakes and be sure to not commit them in future.
Finally, we had Paul Davidescu- founder and CEO of Tangoo speak to all of us. Paul, went to Barcelona and worked with adidas in his co op and exchange year. This was where his business idea technically came into picture. He wanted to make something out of his business idea, hence after his graduation he started making his business service. Tangoo is an app which allows you to choose your mood and converts that into a filter which will then show you all the possible outing places that matches your mood. Right now, it is a free app but in the future it might be a paid app. And his suggestion to all of us was to build our connections right from day 1 of business school. It was also very fortunate for him and his firm as his business idea will feature one episode of dragons den. I wish him luck!
Overall, it was indeed an informative class, where all of us got to understand the struggle and success of these business individuals. Its not always possible for businesses to be successful in the market, there will always be ups and downs. I am really thankful to the whole Sauder Team, who have made this event happen, nonetheless, i would like to thank all the notable speakers, who have spared some time to speak to all of us.
To view the business websites, click on the links below;