Many businesses like Juva Juice, KJ’S Kreations, Glittersoft, Glo and Campusknot found their start at Mississippi State University’s Entrepreneurship Center.
The MSU Center for Entrepreneurship and Outreach was founded in 2009 and accepts 100 teams each year for their Venture Catalyst program. The program helps develop an idea into a fully-fledged company.
There are five steps within the program to take a company from ground zero to the point of acting as a company. Each stage becomes progressively more difficult, and many students wonder what it takes to become successful in this competitive process.
Director of Entrepreneurship Eric Hill said when he looks through the different stages, there are two primary qualities which can help determine the success of any entrepreneur.
Hill said the most vital quality needed is individual drive and persistence in the face of adversity. Hill said he has seen some of today’s most successful entrepreneurs turned down by investors more times than not. Hill said he believes it is a matter of changing, being persistent and finding the right opportunities.
“The entrepreneur is the biggest factor in the success of their idea and how badly they want it,” Hill said. “The quality that I look at and see perhaps as the biggest indicator if they will be successful is if I get the impression that they are going do it whether someone is here to help or not. You can sense that intrinsic drive in people.”
Hill said many people focus on the power of an idea, rather than the power of the individual. This way of thinking becomes a hindrance to many starting entrepreneurs who become set on a certain vision.
“I have seen more brilliant ideas die in stage zero than bad ideas die in stage zero. Ideas are a dime a dozen,” Hill said. “They are worthless. It is all about the team that chases that idea and turns it into something profitable.”
Even if a 19-year-old student has failed three times with the E-Center, Hill said he wants them to keep trying and learn from their mistakes, so one day they can accomplish their dreams.
Student Client Specialist Calvin Waddy meets with new team members to provide mentorship and develop a plan to navigate the Venture Catalyst program. Waddy said he also believes in the power of the individual over the weight of an idea.
“There are no million dollar ideas,” Waddy said. “There are just million dollar executions. You can have the best idea in the world, and it will go nowhere if you cannot execute it.”
Senior marketing major Waddy said the E-Center provides students motivation and resources through the Venture Catalyst program.
“This programs provides a roadmap for starting a business, and allows you the opportunity to present to a different board at the end of each stage,” Waddy said. “You are given mentors, like Eric Hill, who push you and make you better. It is a program like no other.”
Hill said one of his favorite examples of a team breaking the boundaries of an idea and building into something successful based on drive and determination is Glo.
“One of the most fun teams I have worked with is Glo,” Hill said. “It shows the power that the idea doesn’t have to be the next Facebook to be a successful business.”
Glo started out as an art project by an MSU student who wanted to make glowing tea bags. This idea blossomed, and through listening to advice and building a successful team, Glo turned it into a very healthy six-figure business.
Co-Founder of Glo, Hagan Walker studied electrical engineering, and the other Co-Founder of Glo, Anna Barker, double majored in international business and Spanish. After graduating from MSU in 2015, both Walker and Barker turned down job opportunities to pursue Glo.
Walker said being an entrepreneur is an easy thing to say, but not an easy thing to do. Walker said he feels the resources the university provides are limitless, but most people realize it gets tough, and they leave.
The first panel Venture Catalyst team members meet is a peer review panel with students and recent graduates who have made approximately $30,000 or more with their business. The second panel is a mix of executives, many of whom have made more than a million dollars. The last panel is a mix of entrepreneurial executives who have made more than five million dollars. 
Baker and Walker are currently members of the E-Center’s peer review board. Through their experience, Walker said he has seen taking feedback is often an undervalued skill.
“You have to be open to feedback. One of the biggest things we’re seeing working in the center is if a student listens to feedback,” Walker said. “You don’t have to take that feedback, but you need to listen. The students who listen always tend to be more successful.”
Waddy said he agrees the ability to pivot and make something unique through feedback and criticism can make you extremely successful.
“I started an app development company,” Waddy said. “I originally wanted to create a social media platform, but I realized this market was oversaturated and that we needed to take a different direction. We pivoted, and have been able to attract more investors to our new app company.”
Hill said if personal drive and listening to feedback are not present qualities, it is a strong indication of an unsuccessful person trying to enter the entrepreneurship industry.
Hill said students have a great opportunity with the E-Center because of the low-risk high-reward situation the university provides. Students can receive $7,500 seed money which is not a loan and takes away no ownership of their idea. However, Hill said he realizes for many students, it is a matter of fear.
“So many students are afraid they aren’t good enough, but the most successful individuals I know are the one’s who just go for it and never give up despite opposition or setbacks,” Hill said.