This content was created by Gregory Shepard. This content was uploaded by Gregory Shepard. This is a YouTube interview (KUSI-TV) titled "Student Entrepreneurship in San Diego | Gregory Shepard | KUSI- TV News" published January 16, 2020. The excerpt is a conversational interview between a host (Speaker A) and guest Gregory Shepard — a serial entrepreneur, author, and venture investor — discussing the rise of on-campus incubators and accelerators in San Diego-area universities (Cal State San Marcos, UC Irvine, UC San Diego, etc.), how those programs let students launch and raise capital for real businesses, and advice on evaluating and building startups. The clip also notes Gregory's background: he says he has built/sold about 15 companies and has written for outlets like Entrepreneur, Fortune, Forbes, and Huffington Post.
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All right, local schools have launched on-campus startup incubators and accelerators to encourage student entrepreneurship. Today we're sitting down with a serial entrepreneur, author, and venture capital investor to hear more about why San Diego is becoming a hub for student entrepreneurship. Once again, we welcome Greg Shepard to the show. Greg, great to see you.
Well, thank you for having me. I appreciate it.
Credibility as we start this interview. How many companies have you built and sold?
15, I believe. Yeah, I mean, it depends on the size, but 15. Yeah.
Really? Yeah.
When you grow businesses, the Big ones and small ones, you're kind of like, do I even count that? You know, but yeah.
Really? Wow, 15. And you also write articles for different magazines like Entrepreneur too?
Entrepreneur, Fortune, Forbes, Huffington Post, interviews with Wall Street Journal, The Deal, you know, pretty much.
Okay, awesome. So we were talking about how entrepreneur programs in universities are starting to flourish. Talk to us about that.
Yeah, it's really cool. You know, before, you know, people would go to school, they'd get a master's, they'd come out of school and they'd be sitting there going, okay, now what? They wouldn't know anything. It's really hard to start a business. So what they do now, University of San Marcos, University of Irvine, a lot of these schools, University of San Diego, what they did is they started entrepreneur programs. So these students are allowed to come in and in their last 2 years of education at the university, they have— they put them through an actual, you know, starting a business.
Mm-hmm.
So they say, all right, what business do you want to start? And they actually start this It could be any business.
Widgets.
Yeah, from an idea, right, from what they call ideation, right? So it's an idea and they run them through this whole process, actually make them go out and raise money. They actually have accelerators inside. Accelerators are programs that are sort of— think of it like a graduate program for your university where it's like hands-on ROP or something, right? And it's just amazing that they do this now and it's relatively new.
Which local universities are doing it?
UC San Marcos has a really good program. I went there and met with the dean. I'm going to be speaking there. Some of the universities are going to be teaching a program too on entrepreneurship, you know, sort of like a mentor or a professor of practice, I guess they call it. But these universities, University of San Marcos, University of San Diego, most of the Cal universities have these incredible programs. I mean, they're just— it's literally like they get to start a real business and build through it and even raise capital. And it actually spins off— so we call it deal flow as an investor. So you can actually go to these universities in their accelerators and they bring you deals. So you can actually look at these as real businesses to invest in. It's fantastic.
Having done all that you've done, what is the biggest single challenge in starting a business?
I think the experience is the big thing. So you, you know, when you're an investor, you look at the horse or the jockey, right? Are you investing in the horse or are you investing in the jockey? And when you're looking at early-stage companies, you're investing in the jockey because the business isn't there yet. The horse isn't there yet, right? So it's like a little baby horse.
Yeah. But it all starts with an idea, right? Put it on a scale from 1 to 10. If it's a 10, you go for it. If it's a 2 or a 3, maybe you shelve it.
Yeah.
And that seems logical to me.
Absolutely. Yeah. I've said this before on the show, but, you know, it's about doing inch-wide, mile-deep opportunities. So when I'm looking at deals, so I look at, let's say, 100 deals a month, right? And I'm looking at different investments, and that gives you an idea If it's investable, usually it's a pretty good idea, right? So to answer your question, when I'm looking at things, I look at something that's very unusual, right? So, you know, I look at a piece of software or some sort of idea and it's like an inch wide, mile deep. So it's an inch wide, meaning everybody's sort of going over it because it's not sexy.
Right.
Right?
Sure.
But it's a mile deep, meaning the opportunity goes deep. So those things, you have some barrier to entry, and you can build these businesses with these entrepreneurs and really get something out there that's unique. You know, that's where the opportunity comes.
I see. So once again, let's— the universities that are taking it, Cal State San Marcos.
San Marcos has an incredible program.
Okay.
I would recommend the San Marcos program. It's really incredible. You know, in Orange County, UC Irvine has a program. UC San Diego has a program.
Okay.
So there are almost all of the San Diego universities have picked this up. It's I haven't seen a city yet that has as many programs as San Diego. Like the last show, San Diego is just vibrant with opportunities right now.
That is so great to know, and so great for people who are going to school to know that they have this opportunity at the universities. Fantastic. All right, Greg Shepard, always great to see you.
Thank you.
I learn a lot every time you're here. Thanks, Greg.
