YouSaid · the spoken record

Sarah Schupp

lines on the record
29
first
2015-08-21
most recent
2015-08-21
sittings or episodes
1
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podcast

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  1. “Yeah, so sort of our next big step is really growing our community of parents and adding additional contextually related advertising and revenue opportunities. So one thing we've rolled out recently is a program where parents can book travel for campus visits, parents weekend, going to sporting events directly through the site. And we started recently and it's going really well. And I feel like there's a lot of other things like that that our parents are looking for where we can curate special opportunities based on vetted brands and vendors that we know that they need to access anyways.”

    2015-08-21 · The Twenty Minute VC · FF 009: How To Leverage Your Connections To Grow Your Business with Sarah Schupp, Founder & CEO @ University Parent · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  2. “Yeah, I try to. I mean, I think it, you know, as you said, definitely the biggest challenge. And for me, I feel like the longer I've been at this, the more optimistic and more opportunities I see. And I keep seeing new things unveil themselves. And so then it just becomes about how do you decide which to go after next? And how do you figure out what's going to take the least amount of energy and be the most profitable quickly, right? And then on the realism side, you can't let things like, you just can't have that.”

    2015-08-21 · The Twenty Minute VC · FF 009: How To Leverage Your Connections To Grow Your Business with Sarah Schupp, Founder & CEO @ University Parent · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  3. “Think the most challenging aspect is being relentlessly optimistic but also realistic and not letting your realism ever hurt the possibilities for the business, but then also not being delusionally optimistic.”

    2015-08-21 · The Twenty Minute VC · FF 009: How To Leverage Your Connections To Grow Your Business with Sarah Schupp, Founder & CEO @ University Parent · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  4. “So one of my friends, Jason Eckenroth, comes to mind. We were in an incubator early on together and he built a business here in Boulder called Ship Compliant. And it's just been really incredible to watch him take that from early idea to incredibly successful business and really realizing all of the different milestones and goals that he had set for himself.”

    2015-08-21 · The Twenty Minute VC · FF 009: How To Leverage Your Connections To Grow Your Business with Sarah Schupp, Founder & CEO @ University Parent · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  5. “So, my favorite book is The Alchemist by Paula Coelho, and I love it because it's all about being open to the universe and being adventurous and just always believing that something great is going to transpire. And I just love the optimism of it.”

    2015-08-21 · The Twenty Minute VC · FF 009: How To Leverage Your Connections To Grow Your Business with Sarah Schupp, Founder & CEO @ University Parent · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  6. “Definitely. I think, yeah, and I just, it's so interesting when you have, you know, a happy investor or someone who's looking for the next deal, right? And they get really excited about it. And I've connected a lot of investors with entrepreneurs. And especially when you know that both are good players and have the best intentions and are going to be great operators, that feels awesome.”

    2015-08-21 · The Twenty Minute VC · FF 009: How To Leverage Your Connections To Grow Your Business with Sarah Schupp, Founder & CEO @ University Parent · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  7. “Be fulfilling for them, help them increase their investment portfolio and is a good match. That feels great. And on the investor side too. And so I think now that I've had more almost investment experience, it's been, you know, I'm excited for the next round because I think having that attitude of, you know, no, this is a great opportunity and I'm so excited to connect you with this and not feeling like a favor will be a much easier deal next time.”

    2015-08-21 · The Twenty Minute VC · FF 009: How To Leverage Your Connections To Grow Your Business with Sarah Schupp, Founder & CEO @ University Parent · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  8. “Ugh, really tough Certainly because it was much earlier stage and I had never raised money before it was really hard and I think now or the next time I go raise money I'm already I already feel better about it and one of the things that you're asking about earlier with the network that I've built when I was first raising money I felt like I was asking someone to do me a favor I was saying this is my idea and it felt more like a sale rather than an investment and I think having that outlook is really hard for entrepreneurs and for investors but the thing that I've learned now just having been in Boulder a long time and watched a lot of friends raise money is learning that you know everyone's always looking for great opportunities and if you're connecting someone with an opportunity that's going to”

    2015-08-21 · The Twenty Minute VC · FF 009: How To Leverage Your Connections To Grow Your Business with Sarah Schupp, Founder & CEO @ University Parent · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  9. “We have. We've released some money from three angel investors very early on in the business to really help us grow and scale. But we haven't done an institutional round.”

    2015-08-21 · The Twenty Minute VC · FF 009: How To Leverage Your Connections To Grow Your Business with Sarah Schupp, Founder & CEO @ University Parent · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  10. “Want to support them and help them get the next opportunity without them feeling like they're disappointing me or letting me down or something like that. So actually just yesterday I saw a former employee who'd been with us for a couple years and it's great to be able to have a strong relationship with people even after they leave.”

    2015-08-21 · The Twenty Minute VC · FF 009: How To Leverage Your Connections To Grow Your Business with Sarah Schupp, Founder & CEO @ University Parent · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  11. “Yeah, so I for me and I'm pretty introverted, so I really like to have one on one time with the team. I do much better if I can just focus on my conversation with that person and really get to know the things that they're excited about, the things that they are challenged by, whether it's personally or professionally, and just do whatever I can to help. And of course, that's really different for different people. And everyone's not willing to share that right away. But I really try and get to know everyone as an individual. And also, I think one of the things that most of my previous employees would say is that, you know, I understand that they're here for a period of time and, you know, that they're not going to be here forever. And I want them to know that the second day want to pursue another opportunity.”

    2015-08-21 · The Twenty Minute VC · FF 009: How To Leverage Your Connections To Grow Your Business with Sarah Schupp, Founder & CEO @ University Parent · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  12. “I think you've got to have a lot of patience. You've got to be really clear and you have to let them know that you're here to help them and support them and so that they feel comfortable being open with you and not saying like, yes, I'll go do that even if they aren't really sure what they're supposed to go do”

    2015-08-21 · The Twenty Minute VC · FF 009: How To Leverage Your Connections To Grow Your Business with Sarah Schupp, Founder & CEO @ University Parent · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  13. “And one of the other things, too, that has been a big kind of mantra for me with people something one of my college professors said. And it's that you always have to separate.”

    2015-08-21 · The Twenty Minute VC · FF 009: How To Leverage Your Connections To Grow Your Business with Sarah Schupp, Founder & CEO @ University Parent · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  14. “Absolutely. I mean, I had no idea what I was doing when I first got started. And still, you know, always trying to learn and read and improve my style and definitely have a long ways to go. But I think some of the big things that I've learned and tried to do differently, one is I Think one of my biggest problems is I don't feel like I am, I always clearly lay out my expectations for something, whether it's a position or project or a role. And so, you know, and just having that realization that everyone around me is not psychic and doesn't know exactly what my expectations are. So I've just tried to really get much better about being clear about the expectations for whatever it may be that I'm asking for and adding that clarity has certainly helped a ton.”

    2015-08-21 · The Twenty Minute VC · FF 009: How To Leverage Your Connections To Grow Your Business with Sarah Schupp, Founder & CEO @ University Parent · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  15. “Help with or really make an impact on. I think that just creates chaos and isn't good for the team as a whole. So that's kind of my philosophy, and I've certainly done both things. You know, I feel like when we first got started, I was much more open in some cases about some of the challenges that we are facing. I think too, it really depends on your team and how they handle stress. And yeah, so I just, I feel like as an entrepreneur, it's your job to carry that.”

    2015-08-21 · The Twenty Minute VC · FF 009: How To Leverage Your Connections To Grow Your Business with Sarah Schupp, Founder & CEO @ University Parent · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  16. “Good question. Yeah, sounds like I need to read that book first of all. You know, I feel like sometimes it's good to share the burden and share some of the things that are going on. But I also think too, sometimes that's not really fair to your employees. And as an entrepreneur, you signed up not just to have a good idea, but to really build a business and to lead a team. And if you're leading a team, you know, of course you want to share a lot of information, but you don't want to share things if they won't be constructive to the team. And a lot of times too, there's things that are sensitive that might be people issues where someone has behaved badly. And a lot of times that can cause a lot of stress or, you know, you're working on getting financials done for a bank loan or something like that where it's stressful for the entrepreneur, but I don't think it's necessarily fair to share that burden with the team if it isn't something that they can”

    2015-08-21 · The Twenty Minute VC · FF 009: How To Leverage Your Connections To Grow Your Business with Sarah Schupp, Founder & CEO @ University Parent · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  17. “Ah, that's a tough call. You know, I think in a lot of ways being in an entrepreneurial community makes life a whole lot easier because being an entrepreneur is so hard and there's so many ups and so many downs. And, you know, it's very lonely when you're the entrepreneur because you can't share everything that's going on with your team. And so to be able to have a network of peers readily available for an in-person meeting, I do think has tremendous power to help you keep going and get to that next point. And of course you can have a great virtual network, but for me it's just not the same. Having a call with someone is great, but it's just not like spending time with them in person.”

    2015-08-21 · The Twenty Minute VC · FF 009: How To Leverage Your Connections To Grow Your Business with Sarah Schupp, Founder & CEO @ University Parent · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  18. “You know, it feels very supportive. And then in terms of just surrounding myself with other good entrepreneurs, I think that, of course, you get a lot of energy from being around other people that excite you and believe the things that you do, but also challenge you and inspire you. And so I think it's really important to always identify who those people are in your life and be intentional about spending time with them. And I always find that anytime I'm struggling with something or feeling down, the first thing I can do is, you know, call one of these people that I know will just inspire me and get me excited again and just by being around them. So I feel very fortunate to be in a community like that.”

    2015-08-21 · The Twenty Minute VC · FF 009: How To Leverage Your Connections To Grow Your Business with Sarah Schupp, Founder & CEO @ University Parent · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  19. “Yeah, several parts, right? So feel free to ask me the second thing if I forget to answer it. Yeah, so I think that being in Boulder really was a big part of it for me. You know, I didn't grow up here and I had just moved here for school. And so I did have the good fortune of getting to know a lot of people when I was in college and also having some really incredible entrepreneur speakers come to our classes. The other thing about Boulder that is really unique is that it's a really open community. It's everyone is almost all, you know, willing to, everyone's really helpful with each other. And it's one of those places that feels really small, but is also a decent size. So there is this kind of small town connectedness that everyone has. And it also doesn't feel competitive. You know, I think a lot of places like on either coast can feel like only one of us can win and it feels in bolder like everyone wants everyone to win.”

    2015-08-21 · The Twenty Minute VC · FF 009: How To Leverage Your Connections To Grow Your Business with Sarah Schupp, Founder & CEO @ University Parent · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  20. “Yes, I did. So the place where it really came from is I was talking to one of the administrators at the university and he was expressing his frustration that, you know.”

    2015-08-21 · The Twenty Minute VC · FF 009: How To Leverage Your Connections To Grow Your Business with Sarah Schupp, Founder & CEO @ University Parent · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  21. “Flexibility and a lot of willingness to take risks. And the other thing, too, that I always tell entrepreneurs is, you know, it's really easy in college to be willing to risk everything when you don't really have anything at that point.”

    2015-08-21 · The Twenty Minute VC · FF 009: How To Leverage Your Connections To Grow Your Business with Sarah Schupp, Founder & CEO @ University Parent · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  22. “Yeah, I think it's really important to pay close attention, whether really you're in university or not, to the environment that you're in and the challenges and opportunities that you see around you. And just think through what gets you really excited or what gets you really fired up and that also feels fixable. And then just to start talking to people, because that was one of the things that was so great in my experience was, you know, I think being in university is one of the best places to start a business because you have access to so many of your peers as well as professionals at the college that can really help you think through your idea and really flush it out before you actually go do it. And it's also a really great environment to fail. Everyone there is there to learn. And so there's a lot of”

    2015-08-21 · The Twenty Minute VC · FF 009: How To Leverage Your Connections To Grow Your Business with Sarah Schupp, Founder & CEO @ University Parent · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  23. “Well, I wasn't really, I mean, I was using really basic HTML. I wasn't doing any kind of serious coding and just kind of pulled together different tools that were available. I mean, it's certainly much easier to make a site that looks decent these days than it was then. But yeah, just try to use tools that were available. Yeah, just did some very basic HTML. So nothing fancy.”

    2015-08-21 · The Twenty Minute VC · FF 009: How To Leverage Your Connections To Grow Your Business with Sarah Schupp, Founder & CEO @ University Parent · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  24. “Millions of things. So, you know, I think one of the biggest things I would have done differently at the beginning was really to start building our digital side faster and also more intentionally. So, you know, just like most companies, we also had a website, but it wasn't really the core of the business. And I wish that I had started there rather than starting with the print side.”

    2015-08-21 · The Twenty Minute VC · FF 009: How To Leverage Your Connections To Grow Your Business with Sarah Schupp, Founder & CEO @ University Parent · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  25. “Not really. No, I was actually just trying to make some money over the summer. Yeah, so when I did that, I realized that there was this incredible opportunity because I found that, you know, the parents really loved the product that we produced, the colleges really loved the product, and the businesses that were advertising with us also were so excited because they'd never had a chance to really reach this audience before. And parents are really the biggest influencer in student spending. And so to have access to them through, you know, something that wasn't just the school was really powerful.”

    2015-08-21 · The Twenty Minute VC · FF 009: How To Leverage Your Connections To Grow Your Business with Sarah Schupp, Founder & CEO @ University Parent · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  26. “Well, I actually started it so the summer before my senior year, so it's kind of like a summer job. And, you know, so I didn't really know what I was getting into, but I had the whole summer to kind of try things out.”

    2015-08-21 · The Twenty Minute VC · FF 009: How To Leverage Your Connections To Grow Your Business with Sarah Schupp, Founder & CEO @ University Parent · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  27. “We do. We really do it through content. So we've developed tons and tons of content to help families navigate the college adventure and we've tackled all kinds of things, both from a first person mom perspective as well as from a higher education administrator and even faculty perspective.”

    2015-08-21 · The Twenty Minute VC · FF 009: How To Leverage Your Connections To Grow Your Business with Sarah Schupp, Founder & CEO @ University Parent · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  28. “Helping students be successful is really having a great support system. And often parents can provide that support for students, but they just don't know how. And so a lot of times parents get a really bad reputation. People call them helicopter parents. And it's my theory that they all have great intentions. They just aren't quite sure how to channel their energy to be constructive.”

    2015-08-21 · The Twenty Minute VC · FF 009: How To Leverage Your Connections To Grow Your Business with Sarah Schupp, Founder & CEO @ University Parent · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  29. “Sure, so I live in Boulder, Colorado. I'm married. I've got two little kids that are ages one and three and just love being part of the Boulder Entrepreneurial Ecosystem. It's an amazing place to be an entrepreneur and I'm sure Elizabeth told you the same thing. Yeah, just to tell you a little bit about university parent and how we got started. So University Parent is the place for parents to find connection, support, and information. I really started the business because I realized there was a giant opportunity to really serve families starting in high school all the way through to college graduation and help them understand how to best support their sons and daughters all the way through higher education. I'd gotten the idea because I was really involved at CU and I was the senior class president and I learned that one of the biggest drivers in”

    2015-08-21 · The Twenty Minute VC · FF 009: How To Leverage Your Connections To Grow Your Business with Sarah Schupp, Founder & CEO @ University Parent · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source