Joe Dooling
My last week in ESTEEM was packed and full of interesting moments.
Monday:
On Monday morning, I had an interview for my capstone validation. I spent about 45 minutes talking to the CFO of Matson, a shipping company, about their operations and how they are adopting new technology to become more efficient. I also met with a couple of my classmates to help plan the ESTEEM Legacy Bike Ride. Finally, I had Launch Strategy class then capped the Day off with 3 hours of The Bachelor.
Tuesday:
On Tuesday, I had a lot of classes. I spent most of the day in Web Tools for Start-Ups, Funding New Ventures, and Data Analytics. At the end of the day, I went to spin class to prepare for the Legacy Ride at the end of the semester. I went home tired.
Wednesday:
Most of my day Wednesday was taken up by my launch strategy for capstone. I met with my advisor, Dr. Theresa Foley, for about an hour to talk about all of the information I had collected so far. We discussed possible recommendations that I could make to my capstone company, then I left to start putting my thoughts down on paper.
Thursday:
On Thursday I had my last customer validation call with a business fellow at FedEx. We talked for a while about how the company is working to become more efficient, specifically through the use of blockchain technology. Thursday also happened to be visitation day, so in Product Development, the current ESTEEM class was joined by a number of prospective students. After the class, there was a dinner and mixer where everybody had the chance to meet.
Friday:
On Friday about ten other ESTEEMers and I drove to Chicago and spent a couple of hours visiting a startup called Telnyx. Telnyx is a telecommunications startup and we were fortunate to have the opportunity to talk with members of their marketing, sales, and engineering teams. It was awesome to get a look at life in a real startup and we are all grateful for the experience.
Overall, this week is fairly representative of most of my weeks at ESTEEM. It was a mixture of class, capstone work, and conversations with professionals with some fun sprinkled in here and there. This program is so enjoyable because no week is the same and I never know exactly what is going to happen next.