"I knew if I understood the basic element of this massive marketing complex in America, somewhere somehow I could create a company." Jon M. Huntsman, W'59, H'96, founder of Huntsman Chemical, explains how his strong work ethic, formed as the son of a rural school teacher, helped give him confidence that he would eventually lead a successful business.

 » Read the full interview in the March 2008 edition of Get It Started, WEP's quarterly newsletter.
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"[As an entrepreneur] If you sit and articulate all of the risks, you better become a lawyer or an accountant because they're the ones who tell you you can't do things. If you're an entrepreneur you have to throw all of the risk books out of the room." Jon M. Huntsman, W'59, H'96, spent several unglamorous years learning how to run a poultry business before he branched out on his own. By the time Jon Huntsman launched his first venture, Huntsman Container, he felt secure that the odds of success were in his favor.

 » Read the full interview in the March 2008 edition of Get It Started, WEP's quarterly newsletter.
 » See the Video

"What did I learn at Wharton? I learned to listen, to be teachable." Jon M. Huntsman, W'59, H'96, believes that humility leads to an openness to new ideas and learning. Those characteristics, he says, are the building blocks to forming valuable personal relationships that all great businesses depend on.

 » Read the full interview in the March 2008 edition of Get It Started, WEP's quarterly newsletter.
 » See the Video

"[Venture capital] is an apprentice business and it takes a few years to get your sea legs... but people come from all different routes." Bob Greene, W'82, co-founder of Contour Venture Partners, explains how he got into the sometimes mysterious world of venture capital and gives advice to those who may feel they don't have the appropriate background to enter the field.

 » Read the full interview in the December 2007 edition of Get It Started, WEP's quarterly newsletter.
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"It has to be a great idea, a big market opportunity at a price I want to pay. Get us to decide that we want to spend more time [analyzing the business plan]. Nobody makes a “yes” decision immediately." Bob Greene sees hundreds of business plans each year and says entrepreneurs need to understand the process for getting his attention which could potentially lead to his investment interest.

 » Read the full interview in the December 2007 edition of Get It Started, WEP's quarterly newsletter.
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"Back then we used to say 'the Alley.' Back then we thought it was an underserved market opportunity and we think it still is" As a managing partner of Flatiron Partners, Bob Greene was part of the fervent entrepreneurial community in the Flatiron District of New York City known as Silicon Alley in the late 1990s. Greene says the business principles that made the area a good one for venture capitalists a decade ago still hold true today.

 » Read the full interview in the December 2007 edition of Get It Started, WEP's quarterly newsletter.
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"Several times in my career I had to get my hands dirty and immerse myself in a subject I knew nothing about." Joe Segel explains how he overcame a key challenge he faced in launching the Franklin Mint: his lack of industry knowledge.

 » Read the full interview in the October 2007 edition of Get It Started, WEP's quarterly newsletter.
 » See the Video

"I had a landmark meeting with Pete Musser. He said 'Drop everything else' and launch QVC." Joe Segel recalls how legendary VC Pete Musser convinced him to focus on his ideal for an upscale cable TV shopping network. Not only did Segel face a race to go live, but the need for highly innovative financing.

 » Read the full interview in the October 2007 edition of Get It Started, WEP's quarterly newsletter.
 » See the Video

"Never overestimate the universality of your own taste." Among the rules for entrepreneurs to live by, Joe Segel cautions that personal passions are not viable as businesses unless they also find a market.

 » Read the full interview in the October 2007 edition of Get It Started, WEP's quarterly newsletter.
 » See the Video

"I'm not a runner, I'm not a baseball player... but I am a good listener." Jerry Turner (W'57) created American Sporting Goods, one of the most successful sport shoe companies in the world, not from his athletic experience but from listening closely to the needs of his customers.

 » Read the full interview in the Summer, 2007 edition of Get It Started, WEP's quarterly newsletter.
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"I was making [football cleats] for a company called Blue Ribbon Sports and [founder] Phil Knight. Blue Ribbon Sports is the original name of Nike. I realized that there was money to be made making running shoes." Jerry Turner (W'57) explains how manufacturing shoes for Nike led him to develop a revolutionary new running shoe that was lighter and more flexible that is still the standard used today.

 » Read the full interview in the Summer, 2007 edition of Get It Started, WEP's quarterly newsletter.
 » See the Video

"What did Wharton do for us? It shaped us... it was the total environment." Jerry Turner (W'57) looks back on the impact the Wharton School has had on his life.

 » Read the full interview in the Summer, 2007 edition of Get It Started, WEP's quarterly newsletter.
 » See the Video

"Your mind is never off--it's like sports, a constant game." Seth Berger (WG'93), founder of basketball apparel company AND1, explains that entrepreneurship gives him the ability to get immersed in all facets of a business--finance, management, marketing--and provides an adrenaline rush like he finds on the basketball court.

 » Read the full interview in the Spring, 2007 edition of Get It Started, WEP's quarterly newsletter.
 » See the Video

"There are so many products I see and ask, 'How did that make it out there?' Often they come from those who are running a business to make money and not pursuing a passion." Seth Berger (WG'93) strongly believes successful businesses begin with entrepreneurs who have an uncanny understanding of their customers' needs.

 » Read the full interview in the Spring, 2007 edition of Get It Started, WEP's quarterly newsletter.
 » See the Video

"Probably the best thing for me was how bright and intense the Wharton students were... because I realized when I got out into the world these were the people I was going to be competing with." Seth Berger (WG'93) describes the intangible value of the Wharton student experience.

 » Read the full interview in the Spring, 2007 edition of Get It Started, WEP's quarterly newsletter.
 » See the Video

"I didn't have a sugar daddy [to support me]. Wharton gave me courage, a network and time to develop my idea." Farhad Mohit explains the Wharton School was instrumental toward his development as an entrepreneur, one who had limited personal resources.

 » Read the full interview in the Winter, 2007 edition of Get It Started, WEP's quarterly newsletter.
 » See the Video

"Honesty, intelligence, curiosity and passion—if you don’t have that drive... you’re going to get overtaken." Farhad Mohit explains that, when it comes to entrepreneurial success, neither experience nor guile are as valuable as personal drive.

 » Read the full interview in the Winter, 2007 edition of Get It Started, WEP's quarterly newsletter.
 » See the Video

"Total cold call: I went to the mortgage officer at First Federal Savings & Loan and the [lender] said, 'You look like you're in college.' I said, 'I am, at Wharton.' He says, 'I graduated from Wharton--Let's go.'"
As an undergraduate student at Wharton, encouraged by his father, David Marshall (W'61) sought out real estate opportunity in Rockland County, NY and took a brazen approach to securing funding. But to his surprise, he soon learned the Wharton entrepreneurial network was ready to support him.

 » Read the full interview in the Fall, 2006 edition of Get It Started, WEP's quarterly newsletter.
 » See the Video

"Take what the defense gives you."
David Marshall (W'61) has created a winning portfolio of real estate properties by acknowledging inefficiencies in the market and adopting a strategy that counters fleeting trends and boom-bust cycles.

 » Read the full interview in the Fall, 2006 edition of Get It Started, WEP's quarterly newsletter.
 » See the Video

"We spell 'no' Y-E-S... and our sales per square foot are probably 50% higher than anybody [because we] take care of details."
Customer service and constant attention to detail are the surest ways to succeed, says David Marshall (W'61), regardless of geography or industry.

 » Read the full interview in the Fall, 2006 edition of Get It Started, WEP's quarterly newsletter.
 » See the Video

"I don't like to solve new needs, I like to solve existing needs."
Josh Kopelman, who helped found Infonautics, Turntide, and Half.com, explains how he determines which business concepts have the greatest chance to win big in the marketplace.

 » Read the full interview in the Summer, 2006 edition of Get It Started, WEP's quarterly newsletter.
 » See the Video

"There's a window of time in a person's life when they can take [entrepreneurial] risk."
Josh Kopelman believes timing is everything for an entrepreneur, and entrepreneurs who start young, he says, are more willing to take risk that is essential to a growing firm.

 » Read the full interview in the Summer, 2006 edition of Get It Started, WEP's quarterly newsletter.
 » See the Video

"I've interviewed hundreds of people but have never been on a job interview... so I want people I can learn from."
Building a winning entrepreneurial team is one of the key ingredients to a start-up's success. But Josh Kopelman notes he is always looking to acquire skills he and the company lack when evaluating prospective staff members.

 » Read the full interview in the Summer, 2006 edition of Get It Started, WEP's quarterly newsletter.
 » See the Video

"Those are the people that take bullets for the organization." Peter Nicholas (WG'68) explains how he made the dramatic leap to co-founding Boston Scientific, with the help of dedicated colleagues.

 » Read the full interview in the Winter, 2006 edition of Get It Started, WEP's quarterly newsletter.
 » See the Video

"My worry then was that we would be…whipsawed by that system." Clinton administration plans for overhauling the nation's health system created a crisis for Peter Nicholas (WG'68) and Boston Scientific that led to its acquisition strategy and, ironically, to long-term growth.

 » Read the full interview in the Winter, 2006 edition of Get It Started, WEP's quarterly newsletter.
 » See the Video

"Guidant…had some problems and J&J…reacted, in my view, the wrong way." Pharmaceutical powerhouse Johnson & Johnson's interest in Guidant posed a challenge for Peter Nicholas and Boston Scientific—one they eventually surmounted, successfully acquiring the firm for $27 billion.

 » Read the full interview in the Spring, 2006 edition of Get It Started, WEP's quarterly newsletter.
 » See the Video

"My brand as a person has always been known as aggressive, truthful, in your face, a little boisterous…and the agency’s brand mirrors that... You don’t have to be all things to all people."
The brand of Donny Deutsch has succeeded, says Donny Deutsch, the same way other successful brands have: by offering clearly defined values and consistency over time.

 » Read the full interview in the Winter, 2006 edition of Get It Started, WEP's quarterly newsletter.
 » See the Video

"The irony of success is…it gets you to the place where you are insulated and cocooned from the very thing you love the most: the fight."
Donny Deutsch (W'79) explains why a desire to tackle new challenges helped prompt him to sell his highly successful business, which he did, to the tune of $700 million in 2000.

 » Read the full interview in the Winter, 2006 edition of Get It Started, WEP's quarterly newsletter.
 » See the Video

"We were an accidental dotcom success story: with technology you need to pick the right moment---and get out."
Rich Riley (W'96) on how he avoided some of the fatal mis-steps of late 1990’s technology start-up firms and guided Log-Me-On.com to a successful acquisition by Yahoo!.

 » Read the full interview in the Fall, 2005 edition of Get It Started, WEP's quarterly newsletter.
 » See the Video

"When I joined Yahoo! I assumed it would [eventually] become too bureaucratic but…I get to focus on the business strategy and…the infrastructure [issues] are taken care of [for me]."
Rich Riley (W'96) describes how, after seven years, his entrepreneurial ambitions are still met within Yahoo! as a corporate venturer, rather than as the head of a start-up as he once was.

 » Read the full interview in the Fall, 2005 edition of Get It Started, WEP's quarterly newsletter.
 » See the Video

"It’s a Wharton story: My roommate said, 'We can own hospitals.' And I said, 'How is that possible?' It turns out…there is a need."
Alan Miller (WG'60) recalls how he began his entrepreneurial journey.

 » Read the full interview in the Summer, 2005 edition of Get It Started, WEP's quarterly newsletter.
 » See the Video

"We're not against good returns…but [we don’t believe in] growth for growth's sake. That's a short sell."
Alan Miller (WG'60) challenges the notion that public companies must meet lofty growth expectations in order to survive.

 » Read the full interview in the Summer, 2005 edition of Get It Started, WEP's quarterly newsletter.
 » See the Video

"Once we began to look at the array of products…last minute underwear [was less interesting than] last minute air, hotel or cars."
Michelle Peluso (W'93) and Tracey Weber (WG'95) how the original concept for Site59.com evolved.

 » Read the full interview in the Spring, 2005 edition of Get It Started, WEP's quarterly newsletter.
 » See the Video

"September 11th happened and our revenues dropped by 70% immediately."
Michelle Peluso (W'93) describes the difficulties she and her staff faced post-9/11 working mere blocks from Ground Zero in a travel industry devastated by a powerful economic blow.

 » Read the full interview in the Spring, 2005 edition of Get It Started, WEP's quarterly newsletter.
 » See the Video

"It's amazing what risk-taking does to character…when you are making decisions that affect people’s lives."
Michelle Peluso (W'93) and Tracey Weber (WG'95) talk about entrepreneurial risk-taking.

 » Read the full interview in the Spring, 2005 edition of Get It Started, WEP's quarterly newsletter.
 » See the Video

"On the way back from lunch [I was] invited back and introduced to an older gentleman…named Tatsuro Toyoda. [grandson of the company's founder, who would later become president]."
J.D. “Dave” Power (WG'59) talks about how he defied nay-sayers and landed his first and most important client: Toyota.

 » Read the full interview in the Winter, 2005 edition of Get It Started, WEP's quarterly newsletter.
 » See the Video

"Today the airline industry isn’t ready for a customer satisfaction survey."
JD. "Dave" Power describes the unpredictable nature of growing his business—a longtime leader in automotive market research—with forays into the telecom, computer and airline industries.

 » Read the full interview in the Winter, 2005 edition of Get It Started, WEP's quarterly newsletter.
 » See the Video

"I... established a real company for which people should pay real money."
Iqbal Quadir (WG'87) talks about the profit motive inspiring social entrepreneurs like himself.

 » Read the full interview in the Fall, 2004 edition of Get It Started, WEP's quarterly newsletter.
 » See the Video

"We could fish or farm as people have done for thousands of years. But connectivity allows for complex economic activities."
Iqbal Quadir (WG'87) explains how supplying telephones to Bangladeshis can actually serve a greater economic purpose.

 » Read the full interview in the Fall, 2004 edition of Get It Started, WEP's quarterly newsletter.
 » See the Video

"'The harder I work, the luckier I am' - There's a tremendous amount of truth to that."
Bob Goergen (WG'62) talks about the importance of work ethic and core values to entrepreneurial success.

 » Read the full interview in the Summer, 2004 edition of Get It Started, WEP's quarterly newsletter.
 » See the Video

"We were on our way to $1 billion"
Bob Goergen (WG'62) recounts the emergence of Blyth, Inc. as the industry leader in candles and home fragrance products.

 » Read the full interview in the Summer, 2004 edition of Get It Started, WEP's quarterly newsletter.
 » See the Video

"Do not bribe... or they will own you."
Anne Kalin (WG'91) explains the obvious and not so obvious reasons for avoiding corruption in emerging markets.

 » Read the full interview in the Spring, 2004 edition of Get It Started, WEP's quarterly newsletter.
 » See the Video

"Atari had two lives..."
James Furnivall (WG'84) recounts his first-hand experience with one of the most storied tech companies of the past half century.

 » Read the full interview in the Spring, 2004 edition of Get It Started, WEP's quarterly newsletter.
 » See the Video