Blog

Throughout our first year as a recognized chapter, all of us in the TAMID at WashU chapter have accomplished a great deal. Our year started off really strong during our recruitment phase. As we tried to build our Aleph Class, it was a very exciting time for the board who worked really hard over the past year to launch TAMID at WashU. Due to extensive planning around our recruitment and marketing strategies, executed through a meet and greet, information sessions, activity fairs and online promotion, the buzz on campus around TAMID was really strong. Ultimately, we welcomed 20 new impressive TAMIDNiks into our chapter and we were ready to get started.

Our new members were immediately integrated into our TAMID chapter through our successful education semester. All of our new members were excited to get involved and sharpen their business skills. We kicked off the semester with an entrepreneurship panel open to all of WashU, in which we partnered with an on-campus start-up accelerator. The panel featured student entrepreneurs on campus, such as student business owners of an on-campus candy store, and students behind a newly designed food-sharing app, and they inspired those who attempted to take risks and embark on a learning experience while pursuing their business ideas. They once again reminded us that real life experience can be just as valuable, and if not more, than what we learn in the classroom.

As the education semester came to a close, everyone was eager to jump into our projects. The consulting track received two projects and were challenged to put together quality pitches for steep deadlines. One team put together research on the drone industry for Canaan Partners, while the other team helped Ultra-Tech Lighting, an energy efficient lighting company, decide whether or not to expand into the market in Africa. Our teams gained valuable experience in being resourceful when researching novel markets, networking, and communicating effectively with the CEOs of the companies we were working with. We’re proud to say the CEOs were extremely impressed with our work, making it a really fun and rewarding experience. Simultaneously, the fund track met weekly in order to put together a fantastic stock pitch for Wix.

While the semester winds down, we are reflecting on both our successful and failed endeavors, and strategizing on growing our chapter in the Fall. Starting up our chapter felt comparable to building a start-up, and we are relieved to be going down the learning curve. Though a lot of work to strengthen our newly established chapter lies ahead of us, we have a strong team that is excited to take on the challenge.