At the 澳彩开奖结果 (澳彩开奖结果), we believe that 鈥渋t takes a village to raise an entrepreneur" and that 鈥測ou can鈥檛 be what you don鈥檛 see." We relish the relationships we are building with community groups, education providers, local business owners, councils, and State and Federal government, so in celebration of one such valued partnership, we caught up recently with one of our program mentors, UNSW Startup Incubator mentor and entrepreneur Vitaliy (Vito) Grigorov.
Vito is a passionate tech entrepreneur, pre-seed investor, and former television show host. He recently exited his latest startup, , a platform that enables crowdfunding to support lobbyists and non-profits to affect policy change (including over $315,000 to support a group of community leaders in lobbying for amendments to the Religious Discrimination Act 2022) to focus on growth marketing consulting and mentoring.
Mentors make invaluable role models
澳彩开奖结果 is very fortunate to be able to deliver its programs, such as the in Sydney, alongside mentors like Vito, who play a valuable role in role-modelling entrepreneurship for young people.
鈥淚 started my own entrepreneurial journey in high school, organising dance parties in Year 12,鈥� Vito explains. 鈥淚t was a really good learning experience 鈥� and my first important taste of failure 鈥� because really, I don't think you can 鈥榙o鈥� entrepreneurship successfully if you never fail.鈥�
On the final day of the Discovery program (which IGS elected to run over a single school term), the students gathered at 澳彩开奖结果 headquarters in the heart of Sydney鈥檚 Tech Central district to prepare and present their pitches to their peers, 澳彩开奖结果鈥檚 educators, and a panel of experts. Judging by the level of energy in the room by day鈥檚 end 鈥� and of course the calibre of the ideas and solutions to real-world problems the students were pitching 鈥� it was clear that the program had really encouraged and enabled the students to flourish.
The beauty of true engagement, not just box-ticking
Vito reflected on the impact an experience like this can have on a high school student. 鈥淭o them it was just this seamless experience,鈥� he said, and highlighting one student鈥檚 participation in particular. 鈥淏y the end of the process, I鈥檇 be convinced she is essentially going to be doing entrepreneurship after finish high school,鈥� he remarked, adding that 鈥淲hen you witness an afternoon like this you just think 鈥榃ow, it鈥檚 really having an impact here, rather than just being another tick of the [curriculum] box鈥�.鈥�
鈥淭o witness these students鈥� journey from where they were nine weeks ago to now, to have them actually put it into words, understanding concepts that some university students don't yet, it鈥檚 amazing. Some of the stuff I鈥檝e seen presented today is equivalent to that level.鈥�
We asked Vito what he loved most about mentoring and he was emphatic. 鈥淚t鈥檚 pretty special to be able to introduce to young people something that they otherwise wouldn't have known, and/or that helps them on their journey to either find a product market fit, or to solve a problem, or improve lives.鈥�
And what does entrepreneurship mean to Vito Grigorov?
Discovery ultimately explores how innovation and entrepreneurship can solve everyday problems for real world applications. But what does entrepreneurship mean to Vito, we asked?
鈥淚nnovation, entrepreneurship, they鈥檙e simply about thinking differently. And collaboration. It鈥檚 not about working or functioning in silos, it鈥檚 about brining people鈥檚 collective expertise together and coming up with creative solutions you haven鈥檛 imagined previously.鈥�
鈥淐reativity is at innovation鈥檚 core. I used to think 鈥業鈥檓 going to make really big changes, big innovations!鈥� but I don鈥檛 think like that anymore. Innovation and entrepreneurship are more incremental. At the end of the day, it鈥檚 about making small, incremental changes [to an idea, a thought process, an innovation] towards a greater or improved solution.鈥�