Page 2 - Entrepreneurial Fellowship

Vamos Rafa!! Vamos Orr Entrepreneurial Fellowship!!!

Sunday, September 19, 2010 by Alex Lau

Yesterday was a perfect example of a challenging yet rewarding experience the Orr Entrepreneurial Fellowship provides. I was 30 minutes outside of Valparaiso University Thursday evening driving from Indianapolis for the career fair, when it hit me. I was the lead recruiter for the Orr Fellowship at Valpo. There was not an experienced HR person by my side to be a crutch. Instead, I was given the responsibility alongside my roommate and current Orr Fellow, Max Yoder. This is the perfect example of the types of roles and responsibilities offered to Orr Fellows as part of this program. These are roles that place fellows in challenging situations that help them grow as young professionals.

Another example of this is at Apparatus, a company that has grown immensely in the past 2 years. I was given the opportunity to help create a position for internal processes by planning, implementing, and now, soon to be training a new hire for the position. To have this sense of ownership is quite rewarding.

The 5 points I made for joining the Orr Entrepreneurial Fellowship in my previous blog have all been met or exceeded. But a characteristic I failed to foresee is the entrepreneurial aspect of the fellowship (even though it is part of the name of the program). When I started in June, I focused on the day-to-day work, the small projects I was placed on. 3 months into the fellowship, I can honestly say that my mind has been transformed from this day-to-day mindset to more of a visionary. By that I mean, I'm asking myself questions like, "Where is Apparatus heading? How did it grow from a 1st stage entrepreneurial company to a 2nd stage? And how will it handle expansion to the 3rd stage of entrepreneurial growth?"

I am a believer that people are influenced by their surroundings. Because of the exposure to the business leaders and entrepreneurs of Indianapolis, it is hard to maintain that day-to-day mindset without seeing what is going on as a whole. This has been a truly rewarding experience and is the characteristic of the Orr Fellowship that has enhanced my first occupation out of college.

By the way, I am a tennis/Rafael Nadal fan.

Vamos Orr Entrepreneurial Fellowship!!!

Orr Recruiting Off to a Great Start

Tuesday, September 14, 2010 by Brant Howell

Recently, Bob Reish, Matt Barloh and I attended the first career fair of the season! We traveled north to our Alma mater, The University of Notre Dame, and after spending the morning promoting the Orr Entrepreneurial Fellowship in front of several classes, we moved to the fair to further spread the word about this amazing program.

We met some great candidates and had a ton of fun getting to know many of the good prospects for the Orr Fellowship Class of 2011. We had conversations with people we had asked to come see us, and also a surprising number of folks who sought us out after they had heard of our program from friends.

Many candidates were not specifically looking for entrepreneurial companies or technology jobs in Indianapolis, but when we began discussing the fantastic networking opportunities in Indianapolis, and the high growth start-ups we work with, we could see their interest begin to swell. Of course, many of our best candidates had serious offers from big companies and other prestigious post-graduate programs, so with this strong competition it was even more incredible to see the how their eyes would light up when we discussed the opportunities at the Orr Fellowship. Obviously the advantages the three of us saw in the Orr Fellowship resonate with other people.

The recruiting season is off to a great start but there is still much to do. It is obvious already however that the word is spreading about this great opportunity. With a little luck this recruiting season will be the best yet.

Orr Fellowship Indiana - Interview Process

Sunday, September 12, 2010 by Jill Goldschmidt

So here I am, three months into my first year as an Orr Fellow in the Governor Bob Orr Entrepreneurial Fellowship, and I find myself wondering how I got to this great place in my life. How did I "survive" each round of the recruitment process? How was I selected on Finalist Day to be a part of the largest class of Orr Fellows to date?

The other day, myself and another Orr Fellow went to lunch with the President of our host company, Right On Interactive. As we talked about the early days of the company's existence, the conversation eventually turned to how we were selected on Finalist Day from among 40+ highly qualified individuals. Our curiosity had overcome us at that point. On a lighthearted note, we wanted to know if the interview process was as grueling for him as it was for us. More importantly, we wanted to know how the President of a 4-year-old company chooses the people who he will ultimately entrust his high growth start-up company with. After all, it is the people of a company that carry out its mission and goals, from its delicate infancy to its robust existence.

The brevity of his response surprised me. He simply stated, "Character is what I look for." He went on to say that above everything else he valued the character of a person. Their qualifications, leadership ability, and overall talent, came second. So, as you strive to excel in all academic areas of your life, remember that the strength of your character counts just as much. The two go hand-in-hand.

Food and Fellowship

Wednesday, September 8, 2010 by Kate Carrico

Last night, I was lucky enough to go out to dinner with a group of Orr Fellows to a sushi place on Mass Ave. As we sat devouring our sushi rolls and bartering with each other in an attempt to try all the different varieties, I realized that our conversation covered a lot of topics that are central to the Fellowship.

Nick talked about how he had had dinner with someone he had met at an Indy Hub event, an organization dedicated to post-graduate networking and involvement in Indianapolis. Like Indy Hub, the Orr Fellowship offers new graduates a phenomenal chance to interact with top company executives while also building a network of young professionals.

Matt talked about the upcoming Hackers and Founders meeting, a group of entrepreneurial people that meet up every month to discuss Indianapolis start ups and business ideas. Multiple Fellows have attended the meetings and say they're a great way to feed their entrepreneurial spirit. Matt actually presented a business idea last month and received some great feedback!

Lauren volunteered to organize a casual Fellow get-together for the upcoming Colts game. While all the Fellows may not be huge Colts fans, everyone is so excited to continue developing the inter-Fellow relationships. Especially for those graduates that may have been anxious about moving to a new city and not knowing many people, the Fellows provide a never-ending social calendar and 35 new friends!

Corey and I shared some of the latest happenings at our host company, Compendium. We had a company meeting yesterday and left it with a renewed confidence that we truly are working for one of the best high growth start-ups in Indianapolis. In addition, our departments are collaborating to expand all employees' understanding of HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and web page set up. While our reading assignments kind of feel like school again, we're very thankful that our host company is so dedicated to helping each of us develop our skill sets. I definitely count these learning sessions as a huge benefit of working in a fast growing Indianapolis company!

If our dinner conversation sounds like something you'd like to be a part of, make sure you check out the Orr Fellowship today!

Maximize The Alpha

Tuesday, September 7, 2010 by Trey Buck

In the financial world, the term "alpha" is meant to signify a measure of performance that is adjusted for risk. But how do we measure risk in the real world? Are some entry-level jobs in start-ups more or less risky than others? How can we know when we've found a winner, that coveted "diamond in the ruff"?

Some may say that it is nearly impossible to assess the risks of any new venture considering the volatility of markets, the unpredictable nature of competition, and the influence of shear luck and ingenuity. While some of that may be true, there are certainly places that have been historically more successful than others: the Silicon Valley specifically. But for the last decade or more, the Valley has seen stiff competition, with distinguished post-grad jobs popping up across the nation (and the world).

I would argue that Indiana is one of the places most suited for companies hiring new grads to establish their roots: our cost of living is significantly lower than other states; our central location within the US places almost any major city within a day's drive; and Indiana has managed to keep its state and local government budgets contained while others have moved even closer to bankruptcy.

And these advantages have not gone unnoticed by the entrepreneurial community: Start-Up Indiana is focused on developing high-growth start-ups in the region; Indianapolis now has its own start-up newsletter, Startup Digest, a free service helping entrepreneurs find events that might peak their interests; and the Orr Fellowship which is aimed at finding and growing tomorrows business leaders through placement in entry-level positions in entrepreneurial companies. All of these initiatives are great examples of organizations driving jobs and opportunity within Indiana and sewing the seeds of growth and fortune.

So when thinking about how to evaluate job opportunities, remember to find those places that minimize the risk of failure and maximize the chances of success. Look to the local community and their support for up-and-coming entrepreneurs. Ask questions. Seek guidance. And most importantly, do all you can to maximize the alpha in your life and career.

Oh, the Possibilities!

Monday, September 6, 2010 by Nick Brauer

It’s funny, you know, how everyday life can get in the way. We start out with some sort of plan—even just a short-term intention—yet are later shocked to find we’re somewhere we never intended to be. It’s like going online “just for second” and an hour later finding you’re reading some obscure article about “The Principles of Collective Animal Behavior.” God only knows how you got there.

One day a few years back, out to lunch with a mentor from Kimberly-Clark, I found myself asking how he kept his busy life in order. With a fast-paced career, a wife, a few kids, how did this guy even find a second to talk to me? “I have clear priorities,” he said, “and I stick to them.” Okay, great, I thought. Priorities—I have a million of them, I remarked. He smiled. You have to treat life like a pickle jar, he told me. My writhed face must have confirmed I hadn’t heard the analogy before, because he went on.

Yes, a pickle jar. You have finite time, energy, and resources—that’s the jar. First, you have to fill up the jar with your big rocks—those things most important to you, those that if you accomplished nothing else, you’d still be happy. Next, smaller stones fill in the spaces left between the rocks with those things you’d really like to do. Then, pebbles fill in a little more. And then sand until you think you couldn’t possibly fit another molecule in the jar. Finally, you drown the rocks, pebbles, and sand with water—using those few minutes here and there to accomplish the least important things in your life.

By the end, I was smiling. There it was, the answer—so simple: It’s impossible to have a million number one priorities. And I’ve learned more since then, especially that it’s perfectly okay to let some things fall to the wayside if they don’t align with your priorities. Scott Brenton talked about our priorities as Orr Fellows—first to do outstanding work for the host companies, second to help grow the Fellowship. I would contend being part of an entrepreneurial fellowship is only a part of my life, albeit now a large part. Working at one of the fastest-growing companies in the U.S. certainly demands much of my time, but that’s okay because my work is a top priority for me right now. So I ask, what are your top priorities?

It takes a little reflection to figure out if you’re really spending the majority of your time on your top priorities, but I challenge you to do so. You’ll be happier six months from now when you pause to reflect upon where you’ve ended up. Because perhaps unlike in the past, you’ll be very near where you wanted to be.

The Orr Fellowship provides an opportunity for recent graduates to be placed in fast paced jobs within some of the top entrepreneurial companies in Indianapolis. For more information about the Fellowship program and how to apply, visit www.orrfellowship.org.

What Do Orr Fellows Really Do? - A Day in the Life

Monday, August 30, 2010 by Bryan Povlinski

With school now back in session we're quickly approaching the fall recruiting season. It's an exciting (and somewhat stressful) time for college seniors as they look to secure jobs after graduation. It's also an exciting time for Orr Fellows because we'll be back on campus over the next couple months trying to bring some of the best and brightest in Indiana into our program.

The biggest question that I had through the entire recruiting process when I was looking for entrepreneurial job opportunities in Indiana was - What will I be doing on a daily basis? What kinds of responsibilities will I have and what kinds of things will I need to get done?

8:15-9:00 - Check web analytics
I manage all of the marketing analytics for our corporate web site as well as the 2 ecommerce sites that we run. When I get in on Monday morning I check through the stats from the past week and make a note of any major events or abnormalities. For our corporate site I take a look at all of the networks that Google Analytics has listed as accessing our site and parse those down to actual prospects for our sales team.

9:00-9:30 Make changes to pay-per-click campaign
Through the analytics I can see how our pay-per-click campaigns have been performing for our ecommerce sites. We just recently started a new campaign and it needs to be constantly monitored and improved. Today I tweaked a few of the under-performing ads to see if we can improve our campaigns and drive more targeted visitors to our site.

9:30 - 11:00 Begin drafting requirements for enhancements in new software release
Fifth Gear provides services to companies who sell goods online - so order fulfillment, ecommerce software, and marketing services are our specialty. A big part of that is constantly improving our ecommerce/order management software. All of our clients run their businesses on this software, as well as our warehouse so it is important that we keep it updated. I am a quasi project manager that acts as a facilitator between our software development team in India and our warehouse and operations team in Missouri. I spent some time this morning writing out the requirements for 2 new enhancements in our software platform

11:00 - 11:30 Send emails to our development team in India
To make sure everyone is on the same page I'm often communicating with our team in India to see if they need any additional information to complete their software development work and also to check on the status of projects in motion to see when we can schedule our next meeting to discuss new enhancements

11:30 - 1:00 Lunch with a local business owner
Although this particular lunch had more to do with my own personal networking than the Orr Fellowship many Orr Fellows will set up lunch meetings with others involved in the program or other business people in the community. It's a great way to expand your network and to find more growth opportunities

1:00 - 2:00 Continue drafting requirements documents
Spent some more time getting the requirements finished up. We're working on incorporating an exchange rate API into our software with the addition of an international client and also working on simplifying our order import process.

2:00 - 3:00 Systems/Operations team meeting
We have a weekly meeting to discuss all of the different projects going on within our team, and we get updates on what might be coming up next.

3:00 - 4:00 Miscellaneous Planning and Email
I wanted to make sure I kept a few smaller projects moving and that required sending emails and talking with a few people around the office. I scheduled a meeting with a new liquidation client that will be selling goods on one of our ecommerce sites, talked with a manager about next steps in the financial analysis that I prepared on one of our sites, and sent emails to set up a meeting with development team on an upcoming enhancement

4:00-5:30 Write blog post and prepare for career workshop
It's not every day that I spend time working on Orr Fellowship activities, but today I spent the end of my afternoon writing this blog post and preparing for our career planning workshop that I'm organizing in 2 weeks.

So that's my day in a nutshell, and the best part about working for a high growth start-up is that it will likely be completely different tomorrow. I have a few recurring responsibilities, but projects and priorities can change quickly and I always have to be ready for the next thing that might be thrown my way. It's also likely that my day looks almost nothing like some of the other Orr Fellows. Some people might be working in finance or going out on sales calls so our experiences at different companies might be completely different.

For those of you interested in joining the Orr Fellowship I hope that gives you a better idea of some potential day-to-day tasks, but don't be afraid to press any of us to hear different perspectives.

From The Punch Guy to The Orr Fellowship and ASI

Saturday, August 21, 2010 by Zac Workman

My name is Zac and I am a recent grad from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. Like many of you, I too was beginning to think about where the future would take me about this time last year. With interviews and job offers just around the corner, I had absolutely no idea where I would end up come graduation. But that's not the whole story.

As a sophomore at IU, I decided one day that it might be cool to start my own company. I mean who doesn't like the idea of being your own boss and setting your own hours? I would just start a company and the dollars would start rolling in. It sounded like a great plan at the time so I founded an LLC and began creating Punch Energy Drink. Well turns out that running a company wasn't as easy as I thought once the new wore off and we had to get down to business. Within six months we had signed a contract with Anheuser-Busch and we were on store shelves and receiving plenty of media attention. Things were looking great and I was thinking to myself how easy it was. We had been featured as one of the coolest college start-ups for 2009 by Inc. Magazine, Fox Business Network ran a story, and BevNET had given our product fantastic reviews.

However, the 2009 blues hit us hard and with the economy Punch was beginning to be less viable as a competitor among the cash kings within the industry. We simply couldn't compete at a level that would allow us to grow and stay within our very limited budget. A co-sponsored Indy 500 car and lawsuit later, Punch had seen better days. That was my senior year, but I wasn't ready to give up on Punch or my entrepreneurial spirit just yet.

The Orr Fellowship was the answer I had been looking for and an opportunity that I couldn't pass up. I knew that they could place me within an entrepreneurial company and that I would be at one of the best places to work in Indiana with a network of people just like me. The opportunity to be part of a program that allowed me to network with business leaders in Indiana as well as expand my social network while staying involved with Punch, was all I needed. It was the perfect opportunity for me and it has turned out to be a perfect fit.

Now, as an Orr Fellow, I work full time for Author Solutions Inc. as a Marketing Specialist. I primarily work with our core brands and partners within the online realm of brand awareness and development, but I also work closely with our product development team. This is very similar to what we did with Punch and fits me very well. When we launch new products we have to go through the same process that I did with launching Punch and it is a great opportunity to learn each part of the business. The Fellowship is a great way to take a step into the real world without having to take a dive into the typical corporate America setting as just another number at company XYZ.

Want to impact your net worth? Employ yourself ASAP!

Thursday, August 19, 2010 by Felix Lukose

A study that was conducted at the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago for the Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy has found a positive link between the number of years an individual is self-employed and their likelihood to be self-employed throughout their career. The study, which can be found here, set out to answer some questions as to what sort of things guide an individual to self-employment. They ultimately concluded with some findings that were previously unknown.

They found that those who reported self-employment tend to have parents with higher educational attainment and were more likely to have grown up in a rural area or farm. In addition, early exposure to self-employment increases the likelihood an individual is self-employed in their early and mid-careers. There was an especially strong link between those that indicated self-employment between ages 20-22 with their measure between ages 22-41. The availability of financial resources did impact the probability of self-employment, but by very little. Lastly, every additional year of self-employment increases income and net worth significantly.

So what does all of this mean? Well, if earning potential and entrepreneurship are goals and interests of yours, getting involved early makes a huge difference. The study is basically saying that the more involved with self-employment you are early in your life and career, the more likely it is that you will be self-employed later on, expanding your career opportunities. In addition, you will impact your earning potential more.

We live in an economy that thrives on businesses. There is nothing that stimulates local and national markets more than the success of all businesses, large or small. Our government has called for more entrepreneurial spirit, and those that got involved early will tell you that it's worth it. Most people aspire to work for themselves for a multitude of reasons. Whether you are interested in working your own hours or not having to answer to someone, the allure of self-employment is evident. However, it is not without its challenges.

Many fail in their ventures simply because of a lack of preparation. Having a great idea is one of the most empowering feelings, but there is a huge difference between idea generation and execution. Those that succeed, succeed in execution. A significant portion of that is experience and preparedness. I have gathered from my interaction with entrepreneurs that starting a business is much like trading stocks; you won't learn how to do it well until you get in there and do it yourself. This study seems to punctuate that belief.

How does one get involved early? I know that it wasn't very feasible for me to start my own company. Besides lacking a great idea, I have very little financial means to support an entrepreneurial venture. However, I feel that I have positioned myself to gain experience through the Orr Fellowship. If you are in a similar position as I was, I would suggest exactly the same to you. The path to an entrepreneurship career may begin by taking a job at a small company. Research, and find entrepreneurship opportunities in your local community. Identify some high-growth start-ups and apply for a job there. They may not have a position for you, so get creative and make one! Even offering to serve as an unpaid "apprentice" can get your foot in the door if you have no other options. Working in this environment will be sure to give you an inside look at an entrepreneurial operation.

When you start early, you make mistakes early. Getting those mistakes out of your system and gaining the valuable knowledge that they offer can be the difference between someone who continues down the path of self-employment and someone who has to learn the hard way later on. The earlier you start, the potential number of successful years you have in front of you is greater.

Yay Entrepreneurship, Fellowship, and Good Times

Tuesday, August 17, 2010 by Alex Lau

What’s up every one.   My name is Alex. I graduated from Valparaiso University this past May, and joined Apparatus back on the 14th of June as part of the Orr Entrepreneurial Fellowship. I moved into an apt. in Broad Ripple on the 10th of June. It was a pretty quick turnaround from graduation. I had pneumonia between graduation on the 14th of May and moving to Indianapolis. That being said, I was very excited to get started because of being bedridden for so long. For fear of jinxing my experience, I have been hesitant to express how much I have enjoyed Apparatus and the Orr Fellowship. I’m going to focus on the Fellowship for this blog.

Reasons for joining the Orr Entrepreneurial Fellowship:


    -    My strengths met Apparatus’s needs currently, as well as 2,3,4 years down the road
    -    Large breadth of experience
    -    Exposure to many parts and different skill sets of a company.
    -    Social Network in a new city.
    -    2-year commitment.

After 2 months of working and attending Orr Fellow events, I’d like to make a couple comments on a couple of these expectations. Closer friends of mine from my home state of Minnesota have had some difficulties transitioning from school to work. Reasons include being in one position, and being in that position indefinitely. I have had some type of time commitment/goal since I was 5 years old (ie. elementary school; high school; college). It was tough imagining a stage in my life that “had no end” unless I said so. The fellowship provides that two-year commitment. It also provides a social atmosphere that eases the transition from college to the blob called work. I’m not saying that if you join the fellowship, you will have no struggles transitioning from school to work, but I will say that it helps. In my next blog, I will talk more about how the fellowship has enhanced my first job out of college.

The Question Every College Senior Asks

Monday, August 16, 2010 by Corey Kime

About this time last year, I was winding down my summer job and gearing up for my last year of college at Indiana Wesleyan University. Like most college seniors, one thought came up over and over again in mind:

What am I going to do after I graduate???

Fast-forward twelve months and not only have I settled down in a new job, but I have been exposed to opportunities that I never thought I would be this early out of college. I was able to get this job through the Orr Fellowship, an organization dedicated to the development and retention of Indiana students and natives. The fellowship seeks to match college graduates with high-growth companies in Indiana. I was fortunate enough to be hired on at Compendium, one of many entrepreneurial companies in the Indianapolis area.

Since the start of my job two months ago I have been exposed to many different areas within Compendium that a normal entry-level job may not provide. The accessibility to executives within your company and the hands on experience that I've gotten in just two months has been both exciting and a great opportunity to learn.

Not only do you get a great job with one of the fast growing Indianapolis companies when you are in the fellowship, but you get to go through the fellowship with several other recent graduates just like you. I have developed good friendships with several people in the fellowship and it has given me an instant network of recent grads in an area where I would not have had that big of a network without it.

So if you are about to head back to school for your senior year like I was twelve months ago right now wondering how you are going to find a job and what you are going to be doing, be sure to consider the Orr Fellowship. The opportunity to work at high growth start-ups along with the instant network of friends your age is a tough combination to beat.

It's All Dollars and Sense

Wednesday, March 31, 2010 by Blaine Cooper-Surma

If you've found this blog post, it probably means one of two things - that you're interested in potentially joining the Governor Bob Orr Fellowship and have found yourself wondering how much it pays, or that you've stumbled upon this page because you're looking for a great blog to read. Hopefully I'll be able to satisfy both types of readers today.

The Governor Bob Orr Entrepreneurial Fellowship has never had a reputation of attracting students that are driven by financial instant gratification. In fact, the type of student that typically becomes interested in this Indiana Fellowship is one that sees the value in grassroots experience within a small, entrepreneurial company. These students tend to see the value in making a two-year investment that will undoubtedly give them the experiences they need to grow professionally in the years to come after the Fellowship program. There certainly is something to be said about beginning your career at a high-growth start-up. Not only are you forced to learn everything about the operations of a small company, but you're provided with opportunities that many professionals don't get for many years after they've graduated from college. There is no way to put a dollar amount on these valuable opportunities.

Okay, okay - so I still haven't answered your question about how much I make as an Orr Fellow. Well, here I come to take the wind out of your sails... Unfortunately, I'm not going to tell you what that number is today. But here's what I will tell you. As a single adult just out of college, I have enough money to do just about anything I want. I live comfortably, go out and splurge almost every weekend, buy luxuries for myself when I feel the need, and live in a nice house in the heart of Broad Ripple. Honestly, what else could a recent graduate really need?!

In a nutshell, the Orr Fellowship salary is not something that should have anything to do with your decision-making process. The Fellowship program has never tried to coerce its prospects into thinking that they'll be paid more than everyone else because, honestly, that's not the case. What we offer, however, is something much, much more than that. If you care about your career and your professional development, and desire opportunities that will immediately allow you to make enormous impacts on your company/organization, then the Governor Bob Orr Entrepreneurial Fellowship might be for you!

Interested in a Career in Business? Then Get to Work!

Friday, February 5, 2010 by Natalie Ciambrone

A struggle for many college undergraduates is deciding between going to work and getting more education after graduation. No matter your personal opinions, this article from CareerRealism.com gives some pretty convincing statistics about why you should invest in your career early – and helped me reaffirm my decision to take the leap and accept my entry level marketing job with WebLink International.

And as though that article wasn’t enough, last night at our Business Leader Meeting, Lorraine Ball of RoundPeg reiterated the point of investing in your career before going to graduate school. The main reason: If you go directly into an MBA program, you have little real-world business experiences from which to draw. Lorraine shared how much more value she got out of graduate school because she worked for a few years between her degrees. Especially in times of 10%+ unemployment rates it’s easy to play it safe, go back to school, and hope things are better when you are ready to enter the workforce; but, as J.D. O’Donnell says in his article, “I wish [students] could talk with all the unemployed MBAs out there right now who are knee-deep in loan debt.”

Joining the Governor Bob Orr Entrepreneurial Fellowship is a great way to invest in your career early. The jobs with the Fellowship’s host companies provide Fellows valuable career experience in fast paced jobs – experiences that will allow you to bring more to graduate school discussions and classes (if you decide to go back).

Plus, getting experience in fast growing Indianapolis companies can help make the decision about going back to school easier. Some realize they don’t need an MBA to get where they want to go. Others learn that getting more education is the path they need to take. But no matter what, there is no doubt that during your two years in the Fellowship you will benefit from its unrivaled work experiences and networking opportunities in Indianapolis.

The Orr Fellowship: A Networking Opportunity in Indianapolis

Thursday, February 4, 2010 by Blaine Cooper-Surma

As a young professional in the real world, there are two things that every mentor says will inevitably determine how successful you will be in the long run - "what you know" and "who you know." The Governor Bob Orr Fellowship thrives off of this mentality.

By taking entry-level jobs in entrepreneurial companies, Orr Fellows learn early-on the importance of hard work and quickly come to appreciate grassroots beginnings. Although these recent graduates oftentimes begin their careers doing not-so-glamorous work, one thing that allows them to quickly grow their careers is the exposure they get to some of Indiana's finest business leaders. Orr Fellows, because of the range of responsibilities that they acquire during the beginning of their careers, quickly learn everything there is to know about running small, entrepreneurial companies. This experience speaks to the first aspect that I spoke about - "what you know."

During the first two years of being in the Orr Fellowship, Orr Fellows spend a good of time in environments that force them to become comfortable interacting with a range of business and political leaders throughout Indiana. Because of these experiences, Orr Fellows typically develop meaningful relationships with many of these well-known professionals. Each month, Orr Fellows come together for a Business Leader Meeting where one or two of these leaders speaks to the group about their professional experiences that have helped them to get where they are today. These meetings are discussion-based, meaning that fellows are able to ask questions at any time during the meeting. Orr Fellows enjoy partaking in these events because what's more valuable that receiving advice from those that have succeeded in their profession? Typically, after the speaker is finished, there is plenty of time for networking. For this reason, the Orr Fellowship is the best networking opportunity in Indianapolis.

Today the Orr Fellowship will be meeting with Lorraine Ball, founder of Roundpeg. Roundpeg is a small marketing firm based in Indianapolis, Indiana that helps small business become big businesses with the help of effective marketing. To learn more about Lorraine, check out her website. You can also hear her speak about her passion for local businesses and the impact we make every day with our purchase decisions by clicking here.

Super Bowl Commercials Sacked by Social Media

Thursday, January 28, 2010 by Blaine Cooper-Surma

If you've had a chance to keep up with the news, one of the recent headlines is Pepsi's decision to strategically re-focus its advertising dollars that have typically been budgeted for the NFL Super Bowl. Like Budweiser, Coca Cola, and GoDaddy.com, Pepsi has been known to spend millions of dollars in advertisements during this spectacle that reaches millions of viewers every single year. So where will these dollars be spent this year? As you might have guessed, this year Pepsi is going with Social Media!

According to the Wall Street Journal, Pepsi plans to focus its advertising strategy on a "marketing platform" rather than blitzing viewers with commercials during this single event. So, by using social media sites like Twitter and Facebook to reach consumers, Pepsi will be tapping into a virtual world of endless advertising possibilities. On Facebook, for example, Pepsi can issue invitations to its followers to participate in a poll. When someone votes, a message will get posted on their personal Facebook page that says they participated in the poll. This my friends, is what we are referring to when we talk about viral advertising.

According to one report, Facebook is a virtual treasure trove for advertisers wishing to target 18 to 49-year olds. Twitter's numbers are a little lower, but impressive, nonetheless. Social Media Today, however, noted that 19 percent of adults between the ages of 18 and 24 have used Twitter or something like it, 20 percent between ages 25 and 34, and 10 percent between ages 35 and 44. These numbers are the reason that Pepsi has reconsidered their advertising strategy.

So how does this relate to the Bob Orr Entrepreneurial Fellowship? Well, it just so happens that the majority of our host companies in this entrepreneurial fellowship are start-up technology companies. Thus, Orr Fellows are taking entry level technology jobs in some of the fastest growing Indianapolis companies. So what types of things are some of these host companies doing in the social media world? Well, a 2010 host company, Formspring, has recently reached new heights with their social media application called Formspring.me. This application is a free, simple service that allows you to create anonymous question boxes for all of your social networks.

Pepsi's migration away from televised Super Bowl ads is a trend we can expect other big companies to follow. There is far more bang for the buck in advertising online rather than producing and paying for 30 seconds of airtime during one of the most expensive televised events of the year.

For those that don't know much about the Governor Bob Orr Entrepreneurial Fellowship, it is an Indiana-based non-profit organization that provides jobs for recent graduates in fast growing Indianapolis companies. Whether you're looking to start a marketing career, an entrepreneurship career, or maybe just a career in business, this is one unique fellowship program like no other.

Adaptiveness

Monday, January 11, 2010 by Nate Bullock

The May 2006 issue of Human Resources magazine featured an article by Sommer Kehrli and Truy Sopp in which the authors attempted to share tips with older generations on how to manage Generation Y, a group roughly 80 million strong born after 1978 that began entering the workforce five years ago. Often the onus for change is on older generations. After all, we 'Millennials' are coming into the workforce whether current generations like it or not. Why should the 'new' be the ones to change our habits or learn new ones from the 'old'?

An an entrepreneurial fellowship, we constantly strive to place distinguished college graduates into high growth start-ups. But at the same time, we also communicate the need for constant improvement and learning from industry leaders. Nobody is a subject matter expert anymore and while entry-level jobs in start-ups will help you become more knowledgeable about a specific area, it won't guarantee career-long success. To quote Dr. Thomas Mason, Professor of Economics at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, "to be successful at [an older] age, you need to keep learning."

Need real world examples?

Did you major in Public Relations or Marketing in college? Are you pretty confident writing press releases? Cool. BUT, looks like Presslift is a step ahead and that skill set will become mainstream in the near future.

Did you major in Web Design or UX in college? Are you pretty confident designing emails for your company's marketing team? Great!. BUT, Toddle is making email newsletter design and marketing a breeze.

Major in Finance? ChubbyBrain is democratizing your skill set.

Going to Law School? Legal Zoom has the basics covered.

Are you a scrapbooking professional? Yup...the semantic web has taken over this too.

EVERYTHING is changing. High-growth start-ups and technology jobs in Indianapolis will KEEP changing. Being an expert today doesn't ensure anything for tomorrow. As Gen-Y'ers, we want to be mentored, use new technology, and be given the space to try new things. But we can be too confident, and in the process, atrophy our innate strengths of learning and development.

Your job won't be around forever, and if you don't keep learning, neither will you. The first step is accepting that a college degree doesn't make you an expert. The second is opening yourself up to learn skills, habits, and lessons from Generations past.

Oh...and sign-up to have your tree lugged through TREE LUGGERS or follow our tweets @treeluggers.

Thinking Like an Entrepreneur

Monday, January 11, 2010 by Bryan Povlinski

In our recent business leader meeting with Thomas Mason, and Economics and Engineering Management professor at Rose Hulman, he made the point that any employee should always be trying to "Think like an Entrepreneur." Now that doesn't mean that every employee should aspire to be an entrepreneur, or that employees should be thinking about starting new businesses while they're working for their current company. What it means is that, as an employee, you should constantly be thinking of better ways to do things in your current company, and thinking of new business opportunities for your employer. These new ideas don't have to be world-changing, million dollar ideas, but rather small innovations that get things moving the right way.

I'd venture to guess that most employees at entry-level jobs in Indiana do not have this mindset. But when you're working with high growth start-ups "thinking like an entrepreneur" is practically required. A lot of the companies that are part of the Orr Fellowship are small, entrepreneurial companies in Indianapolis. They don't all have a full marketing or finance department. These companies need Orr Fellows to come up with unique ideas to help build their business.

How can you be "thinking like an entrepreneur?"

Are there certain things that are done at your company every week just because "that's the way they're always been done?" If they no longer make sense maybe it's time to make a change.

Do you have a perspective from a previous internship or organization that no one in your current company has?

Maybe there peripheral activities that are outside the responsibility of your everyday job that you can address. Starting a recycling program or fitness routine could make a bigger impact than you think.

There are countless ideas just waiting to be taken. Are you thinking like an entrepreneur?

It's Hard To Imagine Doing Something You Hate For A Living

Wednesday, January 6, 2010 by Ally Hill

In the past couple months, I've had the chance to take two pretty spectacular vacations. There were two experiences I'm going to share that insanely enough have a lot to do with entrepreneurship opportunities, and they also showed me that there's no way I will end up doing what I hate for a living.

Experience #1: Accidental Tourist
My sister had the pleasure of studying in Florence, Italy for her first semester of her junior year at IU - and I had the pleasure of paying her a visit. My favorite day out of the week was a day we chose to embark on a cooking/wine excursion with a company called Accidental Tourist. Turns out the woman who started the company was the one who took us on the tour. She was so incredibly passionate about what she did it was almost weird (kind of like me and HP printers).

We certainly don't have jobs in Indiana that would come anywhere close to what Accidental Tourist does (mostly because Indiana isn't anything like Italy). Their goal is "to show their beloved Tuscany through the back door, to give you the inside story, to take you inside the beating heart of the private homes of Chianti."

Making pasta and being invited into someone's home gave me an idea of what it would be like to live in Italy. I'm not sure what a similar company in Indianapolis could provide tourists...but my point is that this woman started a company and makes a living based on what she loves doing - drinking wine and cooking. And she made it seem so easy.

Experience #2: Indigo Divers
Over New Years, I went scuba diving in Grand Cayman - and again we ended up with an entrepreneur. This time there were two, Chris and Kate. They started a diving company called Indigo Divers in the Caymans about 5 years ago. Rough life.

Since there are so many diving companies in the Cayman Islands they decided that they:

Didn't want to teach people how to dive
Didn't want to take out more than 6 people at a time

In most cases, diving shops will offer lessons and take out huge boats of people at once, so diving with Indigo was much better than the alternative. Their company is very successful.

My Point: I want to do it too
My two entrepreneurial encounters on vacation made me think about what I love doing. I want to be able to start a company that helps showcase my passions as well as my talents - both Accidental Tourist and Indigo Divers did this. The Orr Fellowship is providing me with the initial experience I need at a small Indiana company. However, I know that my business career in Indianapolis will have to be one that doesn't seem like a career.

So if you happen to come across any entrepreneurial opportunities that have to do with eating and sleeping please let me know...just kidding. But seriously, while you're at it please go to our Tree Luggers website and sign up to recycle that Christmas tree!

Tree Luggers: Giving Back to Our Community

Tuesday, January 5, 2010 by Blaine Cooper-Surma

It's that time of year again; the Holiday Season has passed and in a short amount of time you'll find yourself taking down those holiday decorations that probably cover your entire house. After you've mustered up enough motivation to finally begin this lengthy process, the last struggle is always the disposal of the family Christmas tree. However, that's not going to be the case for you this year - the Orr Fellows are here to help!

As a non-profit organization, the Governor Bob Orr Entrepreneurial Fellowship places a strong emphasis on community outreach, civic responsibility, and self-sustainability. As such, one of our annual fundraisers is called "Tree Luggers" in which we travel around the Indianapolis community collecting and disposing of Christmas trees while collecting donations. But how does this fundraiser actually benefit the community? Well, first, we are providing a service that for many people is extremely helpful. More importantly, though, we offer an incentive to local churches and other non-profit entities that promote our fundraiser to their members. For all money that is donated to the Governor Bob Orr Fellowship during Tree Luggers, half of the proceeds are given to the specific non-profit that created the referral. In this way, we are able to assist Indianapolis-based non-profits in funding their efforts.

One of the most important values that the Indiana-based Orr Fellowship promotes is entrepreneurship. Tree Luggers is a great example of entrepreneurship in action as the Orr Fellows carefully organize, plan, and execute the fundraiser from start to finish. So what goes into Tree Luggers to ensure its success year in and year out? Many of the Orr Fellows are "luggers," or those that travel to homes, collect the trees, and then later dispose of the holiday conifers. Several others use their marketing expertise to help spread the word through social media like Twitter and Facebook, strategically placed fliers in the Indianapolis community, and specified email lists owned by several Orr Fellowship host companies. We also have fellows that help create partnerships with churches and other non-profit organizations. Lastly, a couple of fellows take on a financial role so that all donations and referrals are carefully recorded. To participate in this fundraiser, and save yourself a great deal of time and effort, please sign-up here. Remaining pick-up dates are:

Saturday, January 9th
Saturday, January 16th
Saturday, January 23rd

For those that don't know much about the Governor Bob Orr Entrepreneurial Fellowship, it is an Indiana-based non-profit organization that provides jobs for recent graduates in fast growing Indianapolis companies. Whether you're looking to start a marketing career, an entrepreneurship career, or maybe just a career in business, this is one unique fellowship program like no other.

Good Failures: Thomas Mason Business Leader Meeting

Friday, December 18, 2009 by Alicia Gaba

Last night the Orr Fellowship squad gathered for our December Business Leader Meeting (BLM) with Thomas Mason, Ph.D. Mason is a Professor of Economics at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and is an avid proponent of entrepreneurship in Indiana. Having seen and experienced a number of entrepreneurial growth situations in his lifetime, he had ample advice about high growth startups, entreprenuerial careers and how to continue your own personal growth whether through post-graduate education or just being a learning "sponge" during your career.

One thing Mason talked about that caught me by slight surprise (I say slight because I had looked at some of his articles already), was his take on failing. Mason argues that having a good failure (preferably early on in your career) is a learning experience like no other. And its best to take your chances and fail while you're young because you don't have as much to lose. Of course being in a room with a bunch of young twenty-somethings who don't know much about failure and want to stay far from it garnered some blank stares. You want me to do WHAT? However, he does have a valid point and made some good cases for his argument with anecdotes of students from his past who had gone on to do great things after having "great" failures.

It was some interesting advice for the Orr Fellows as some are in the midst of making big decisions about what lies ahead after the Fellowship.