Q: How do you turn an idea into a business?

Q Series Event Wrap Up

Where do great ideas come from? How do entrepreneurs know when to take the leap? And what happens when things don’t go to plan?

These were the questions that guided our second Q Series event for BEGINNINGS: How do you turn an idea into a business? Part guest lecture, part social night, the event formed a casual setting where folks could not only ask questions to the panel, but also meet new people, win quiz prizes and have a bit of fun. Our host, comedian Jason Chong, commented it was the first event he had seen most of the crowd taking notes at.

 

We can credit this to our amazing panel; Alexander Wright, Damia Ettakadoumi and Angelina Russo. All are founders of their own startups: Alex with AFT Dynamics, launching space engines in a way that is accessible to the space industry, Damia with Straight Up, with insight on how to turn a passion for talking science into clear workable projects and Angelina with Fleurieu Made, salvaging yarn to make sustainable, wearable textiles and examining the ways we use and track our wardrobes.

Each showed up with enthusiasm and openness, sharing the ups and downs in their journey in entrepreneurship. While they shared in the struggles and achievements that starting your own business can provide; each had their own beginning. For Damia, the starting point was a gap she could see in the world around her: scientists had complex ideas but often lacked the tools to communicate them beyond their own disciplines. Angelina’s path into entrepreneurship was less about identifying a gap and more about asking what could be made from the knowledge, materials and traditions already in her hands. Alex, however, is taking something technically difficult and making it into a real product, leaping from expertise & research into a commercial venture.

 

Many participants expressed their concerns about starting a business, and the emerging questions explored not knowing where to begin, how to make formative decisions about business structures, how to make connections in the business world, whether an MBA is worthwhile, and even how to pin down a singular idea.

 

The panelists answered authentically and openly, and what became clear was that there was no single formula for turning an idea into a business. But the willingness to experiment while remaining resilient and persisting pays off. It’s not something you do alone either, the relationships you build in university, in industry, and in life are integral to the process.

 

Entrepreneurship doesn’t necessarily begin with knowing exactly what you’re doing, rather it begins with being curious enough to ask what might happen if you tried.

Q Series is part of our event programming for the BEGINNINGS exhibition here at MOD. come discover BEGINNINGS, open until the 20th of November.