Kairos Summit showcased top 100 student businesses
Approximately 500 future business leaders — including 33 USC students — from several colleges gathered on New York’s Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum on April 3 and 4 for the first annual Kairos Summit, which aimed to create a network between these students and inspire them to start their own businesses.
The Kairos Society, which was founded last year by Ankur Jain, a sophomore at the University of Pennsylvania, is designed to create collaboration among a college’s top business entrepreneurial students so they can share ideas, motivate each other and help their businesses succeed.
“It’s designed to bring together a very high caliber of college entrepreneurs,” said Josh Friedman, president of USC Kairos Society. “It’s networking on a grand scale.”
Of the summit’s showcase of Kairos’ top 100 student businesses, five businesses created by USC students were featured. The ventures ranged from clothing companies to websites that made online shopping cheaper.
“That was part of what made it [the summit] inspiring, just to see all the creative things that other college students are coming up with,” Friedman said.
Shacked Up, a surf-inspired clothing line created by Chris Murphy, a junior majoring in business, was one of the USC student businesses highlighted in the showcase. Murphy said the experience was rewarding and helped him network with people who could potentially help his company grow.
“I got to talk to a million people and give my sales pitch, so I got good at it,” Murphy said. “I definitely made some meaningful connections.”
Emily Tighe, another member of the USC Kairos Society and a sophomore majoring in business, said the summit, especially the showcase, motivated her to take on her own project and possibly start a business.
“It was really inspiring to see such a talented group of my peers with such passion and drive,” she said. “It inspired me to find my own passion.”
A gala was also held during the summit, where the student entrepreneurs were addressed by some of the most accomplished people in the business world.
Former President Bill Clinton and Bill Gates Sr. were keynote speakers via video, but live lecturers included Richard Karlgaard, publisher of Forbes Magazine; Phil Condit, former chairman and CEO of Boeing; and Admiral William Owens, former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Chief Executive Officer of Nortel.
“I was amazed by some of the people they got to come speak to us,” Murphy said.
The speakers touched upon several issues important for any business professional, but the focus was on the importance of networking, and inspiring students to find what they love and take the risk of making it into a business.
“The general theme of it all was finding your passion and making connections,” said Tighe, who said her favorite speaker was Joe Plumeri, chairman and CEO of Willis Group Holding Ltd.
Friedman said he felt the summit accomplished its goals of inspiring students and promoting networking, and that he was impressed by the turnout.
“It was so much more successful than I could have imagined,” he said.
Friedman said he has high hopes for the Kairos Society, especially USC’s chapter, and that the summit was a testament to Kairos’ potential.
“It’s a great start to an organization that’s going to be a powerful force across the nation and across the globe,” he said.
Jain said he has plans to make Kairos more global in the upcoming years. Top university students from Israel and China were present at the summit, but Jain said he wants to go even further.
“In today’s economy it’s important to collaborate on a global level,” Jain said. “We just want to help these entrepreneurs find what it takes to go there and really succeed.”
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