Notes from the Helen Qubain Talk

Helen Qubain

- entrepreneur
- Bryn Mawr alum, class of 1990 - Political Science Major
- MBA from University of Chicago while working with McKinsey
- thinking "outside the box" -> find a job that has mentors who will teach you
- hard to find mentorship on Wall Street
- find a person who has time, not necessarily just the job
- Business School:
* at least 5 years working experience
* more experience, the better
* if you don't get into one of the top 5 business schools, go to one of the lower tier schools - no point paying that much for the same education
* teaches analytical, but not start-up, on your own
- when choosing a job - let yourself experience everything
- switched jobs every year for 4 yeras to decide what she wanted to do
- what you want to do is usually found by accident
- experience yourself to different trends/patterns from other companies and combine them -> essence of entrepreneur
- you do get offered jobs as an entrepreneur
- create structure where you can wait for the perfect opportunity
- worked for the Queen of Jordan to Jerusalem
- contacted alum in area of interest to just find out more information
- over span of 4-5 months comtacted over 200 individuals/organizations
- Rockefeller Foundation, World Bank - all employed by then and though different, learned from all
- created mechanism to do what she wanted to do
- turned down dozens of good job offers, but it wasn't perfect
- stayed in contact with person she interned with, 6 or 7 years after
- have faith in your ability
- entrepreneurs = story telling
- it is all about convincing, convincing, and proving
- paint a picture they want to see - twist it around to your advantage
- How do you perceive it? - if you believe its not an issue, it's not an issue
- Love the game, being an entrepreneur is about liking to fail
- Don't worry about failing - get to the point where you can talk about your failures at parties
- took 2 years off in Europe just to relax
- do not present your failures as such, but as strengths
- income will influx up and down - learn to save and when to spend
- starting a new business is overwhelming - but start off with the introduction when you have a blank sheet of paper.