Respond to at least two of your peers with meaningful content.
1st students discussion
Beyond having a great concept, Vic Ahmed’s success can be attributed to his entrepreneurial personality. The sheer size of the Innovation Pavilion (IP) demonstrates Ahmed’s ambition and commitment to his idea, as well as his self-confidence and the energy and passion to see his idea realized. The fact that Ahmed founded IP in an “unlikely place” shows that he is also an independent risk-taker and creative visionary.
Ahmed’s partnership with Steven Case helped him achieve his goal of expanding IP beyond the Centennial, Colorado, campus to a national IP network in tens of cities around the US. Case benefits from the partnership too. Through his “Rise the Rest” campaign, Case is investing over 3 million dollars in different start-ups. By providing support to those start-ups, IP helps ensure Case’s investments are profitable.
I strongly support investing in smaller cities. From a business standpoint, it is so much cheaper to operate, and internet technologies make physical proximity to large customer bases less important. It is also the socially responsible move. It helps grow local economies. By living in smaller, more affordable cities, employees can enjoy a better standard of living--even at the same or a lower rate of compensation.
2nd students response
The characteristics that made Vic Ahmed a successful entrepreneur were creativity, ingenuity, and boldness. As stated, Ahmed has been a part of many different business start-ups. With each of these, whether they failed or succeeded, the gained experience allowed Ahmed to work on himself to become a better entrepreneur. His creativity and ingenuity brought forth this new idea, creating a space for new entrepreneurs to connect with others like themselves. These people could exchange advice across different trades and gain access to materials and opportunities that would not have been available otherwise. His idea of bringing these campuses to smaller cities. There are many people who might not be able to afford the rent, utilities, and lifestyle that comes with living in or near a large city in the United States. The smaller cities brings a larger group of people from more diverse backgrounds.
Ahmed and Steve Case working together on "Rise of the Rest" serve their business goals by bringing in lots of new competition and ideas that otherwise would not have been discovered. There are some people in the world who, until they have a chance like this, find themselves lost and unable to become motivated. Upon realization there is a possibility, their drive builds up and can bring them to be in this competition, work at one of Ahmed's campuses, and possibly even independently start their own business. Ahmed and Case reached much further than a traditional investor might've, coming upon exciting new business opportunities. This can bring success to not only themselves but to many people just working to achieve their goals.
Focusing on smaller cities is a good strategy because it can bring an entire new economy to these places. With an entire campus of entrepreneurs and start-ups, the city can be developed. There could be many of these start-ups that choose to keep their business or their headquarters stationed in their starting city. While a city might've had little economy at one point, the new start-ups could advance and develop the city to be nearly unrecognizable within ten years. Successful investments bring more investments. A developing city can bring international investors looking to build apartment buildings and high rises.