A veteran founder of Delaware businesses writes about a 19-year-old entrepreneur.
Editor's note: As major corporations like DuPont and AstraZeneca shrink their operations in Delaware, many experts say the state needs to develop a new culture of start-ups and small businesses. We asked Bill Topkis, a serial businessman and entrepreneur who has created four successful Delaware companies, to write a series of op-eds about how to encourage entrepreneurship in our state.
One panelist in particular caught my eye. Gov. Carney introduced Brennan Stark as a 19-year-old who founded Y innovations, which aims to build homes for low-income individuals.
Y innovations finds financing for the prospective buyers of the homes and makes sure the individuals would have the usual modern conveniences. It then finds and buys the land to build the homes, which are less than 1,000 square feet.
As I listened to Stark talk, I wondered: Why would a 19-year-old decide to temporarily put college on the backburner? I decided to approach him and ask if we could meet; we have since developed a mentoring relationship.
If you have read my previous articles, I have expressed being an entrepreneur is difficult in all respects. Brennan has shown he has what it takes — he is motivated, committed, and mature, and his plans are well thought out.
Delaware entrepreneurs need more mentors. Here's how you can be one.
"Recently, I made another 'risky' decision: deciding to take time off from college. There were a lot of reasons why I made the decision to do this. One of the main ones was that I thought the opportunity cost of remaining in college was greater than other students might consider. People think that there's no downside going to college with no lost opportunity costs. In my thinking this simply is not true. Four years is a huge time investment, especially when being young and having so many other options.
I have considered my options that I have been able to do, including founding and running Y Innovations, launching a second for-profit company and discovering a love of Middle Eastern history that would not possible if I had been in college. Time will tell whether I made the right decision, but for now I am confident and comfortable with the track I have chosen."
As Brennan established his business plan, he knew he could not achieve his goals and objectives without help from someone who would share the goals and objectives for Y Innovations. A lifelong friend, Steve Burns, fit the bill.
Steve is a sophomore at the University of Delaware studying finance and involved with the Horn Entrepreneurship Center and the Delaware Innovations Fellows.The two have developed a "Mr. Inside" (Steve) and "Mr. Outside" (Brennan) relationship, which is achieving their goals and objectives. Both are dedicated and committed to building and fulfilling their dreams in Delaware.
Referring back to my second News Journal article, Delaware needs more mavericks in business, Brennan and Steve are candidates that might fit this profile.
Y Innovations has already received funding from a venture capital fund, been helped by other Delaware non-profits to find the occupants for the houses they are constructing along with funding to build the houses.
In August Brennan along with 19 other young entrepreneurs like himself were invited to attend a four day discussion on many subjects to broaden their thinking sponsored by the founder of PayPal in San Francisco.
Brennan has agreed to be a mentor for the 2018 Delaware Startup Launchpad Sessions. They will be held in The Mill in October and November, sponsored by the Delaware Founders Initiative and supported by Delaware Small Business Development Center, University of Delaware Horn Entrepreneurship Center, and several funding organizations: Longwood Foundation, New Castle County, and the Delaware Small Business Development Center.
Brennan's commitment as a mentor will continue with the entrepreneurs that successfully complete the Launchpad process — as will the other mentors that support and take part in the Launchpad Sessions.