Peter Cortle, director of eHub, gave a highly informative talk about everything related to startups, from the various stages to the services Cornell provides to support us in these endeavors. From it, I learned the shorthand e-ship, which is great because entrepreneurship is such a cumbersome word. It was also interesting to learn exactly what we can expect from Cornell, like a way to connect with students with different expertise, and what we mostly cannot, like a way to acquire funding for our ideas. It’s fantastic that we get support from people who have themselves been through the process (and been quite successful at it–Peter Cortle founded startuptree).

I still don’t think e-ship is the way to go for me because it certainly all starts with having a good idea, and I have none. Cortle insightfully pointed out that I, especially as a CS major, could always join an established startup, but I feel that most startups also lack good ideas.

I’d also like to say that Professor Avery’s apartment was wonderful. I was really wondering if it looked the same as the suites we lived in, but it did not. My only gripe is that I didn’t find the hot chocolate that the professor had referred to.

Finally, I’d like to finish this off with a poem, just so I can be that guy.

There once was a talk by Cortle
We had a conversation informal
He told us about startups
He told us about the art of
selling your idea,
But I don't foresee a 
future in it for me-a.

– Hartek Sabharwal, 2018