Day 119: Silicon Valley it's a Wrap

Today's blog is sponsored by StartupAZ Foundation. The organization exists to empower a stronger statewide ecosystem for high-growth companies to scale; catalyzing Arizona's new economy rooted in technology and innovation. Check-out how StartupAZ Foundation is empowering the next generation of Arizona entrepreneurs at http://www.startupaz.org/

Just like that 119 days are done, I can't believe how fast that went by! I moved to Silicon Valley about 120 days ago with my car packed and a plan to take the valley by storm. Some college students dream of heading to Wall Street, some dream of cubicle at large Corporate America jobs but for me, I was meant to be on Sand Hill Road. Sand Hill Road is home to the world biggest venture capitalist and I have no doubt that one day I will have an office along this road. Ever since I was a little kid growing up in a household of entrepreneurs, I knew on day I would take my shot with the big leagues. Over the course of my college career I fell in love with venture capital. So I took a risk and gave up my senior fall semester at Arizona State University to come to Silicon Valley to come chase my dreams! I knew that it would be an amazing semester but even those expectation were blown out of the water!

Although there are 1,000s of things I have learned through my time at Draper University here are my top five!

1.Pack up your car and go follow your dreams!

Looking back it was silly how nervous I was to come to Draper University. This semester taught me a lot about how to just take the first step and just dive all in! If one day you want to be successful you have to set your self up to get lucky by trying out all the opportunities you can find! There is always going to reason that you could say no but I learned to look for all the reasons why you should!

2. Jump Out of A Perfectly Good Airplane.

This is my last fall semester of my college career and would have been very easy to coast through another semester at Arizona State University but I decided to take a risk to try something new. There is nothing wrong with staying at ASU but it was the safe option. Coming to Draper University was a risk but man has it paid off. Sometime you don't know what the outcome is going to be but you just have to trust the parachute you have built and take a jump! I would also just recommend skydiving because it was a blast and every time I get nervous about something I just think " Courteney, you jumped out of an perfectly good airplane and lived, so you can do this." That always calms down the nerves and helps me to appreciate flights were I don't have to jump out of the plane!

3. Entrepreneurs Are The Super Heroes of the World.

After spending a semester hearing from some of the world's best entrepreneurs, I have seen first hand how they are changing the world for the better. We need entrepreneurs in our communities to see the problems and solve them in new and innovative way! Often time entrepreneurs are seen as people looking to make a quick buck but in fact I believe thats the exact opposite. Entrepreneurs are the heroes who are the people who look at the world and ask " how can I make this better for my community" and thats why I believe they are the ones who change the world.

4. Taking Breaks Are Just As Important as Working Your Tailend Off

As an entrepreneur its very easy to work yourself into the ground. I have learned this semester that it's important to know your own limits and when you feel tired its okay to take a day off. Allowing yourself to take a break is important so you can come back fully charged and attach the next to-do-list! You can't be an effective leader if you are burnt out so in order to move your company forward, you have to be able to take care of yourself first!

5. There is a whole world full of people ready to help you, you just have to ask!

Going to events like Google Female Founder Summit, the Draper Network CEO summit and many other events showed me how powerful a network of entrepreneurs can be! There are lots of people who are further along in their journeys of entrepreneurship that were excited to help or just give advice. This semester taught me the value of having those kind of people in my life and that all you have to do its ask for help!

The past 119 days have been way more then I could ever imagined and I am so grateful for the time I got to spend at Draper University! I am looking forward to working on Trader Jack over winter break in Colorado and then coming back full force to Arizona! I have one last semester at Arizona State University and I am looking forward to bring what I have learned in Silicon Valley back to Arizona and helping to grow the AZ start up community!