Tag: St. Louis

Since I go to school at Washington University in St. Louis, the question I normally get from people is:

How do you like going to college in St. Louis? How do you like living in the Midwest?

Coming to college was my first experience living in the Midwest. I always thought that going to school here, rather than in New York, Penn, Chicago, LA, SF or SEA would be a big disadvantage. I’ve found that in some ways it is, while others it is a HUGE advantage (in many ways I had never thought about).

Let’s start with the disadvantages because they do exist. The first being the weather — St. Louis does have really ‘eh’ weather. The next big thing is lack of density. I like dense places because the pace of life increases, and with it the flow of communication and more ideas come about!

But now for the insight . Why do I think that in many ways St. Louis beats Silicon Valley for college?

You see, coming to St. Louis I knew there were many problems with the city. I think everyone knows that if you watch the news every once in a while. I have always looked at that as a disadvantage.

Until I came and found that every flaw is an opportunity to find a solution. Coming to a place that is imperfect gives me more chances to make a difference and make an impact. Which brings me to my next point — go to a smaller city.

St. Louis is relatively small. Meaning no person is more than two emails away. And that has been so true for me — helping me get internships and plugging me into the city within weeks. It has given me an opportunity to excel, bypass a learning curve, and start talking to people quickly! A city like St. Louis loves determined people and puts them on a platform to succeed.

In summary : Look for the positives in what some perceive as the negatives.

This post was originally featured on Medium and was republished with permission from the author.

The EQ headline really says it all: “Cliff Holekamp: Startup Founder, Educator, Connector, Evangelist.” Holekamp is major force in the St. Louis startup community and here at Olin. He is director of the Entrepreneurship Platform in the MBA program, senior lecturer in entrepreneurship and the pied piper for students across campus who flock to his Hatchery and CELect courses that provide hands-on experience in the business of startups. Holekamp is also an Olin alumnus, MBA’01.

Here’s an excerpt of  an interview with Holekamp by Tanya Yatzeck, an Olin Executive MBA(Class 43) alumna in the latest issue of EQ, Entrepreneurs’ Quarterly:

Talent is actually the most important. Even though I co-founded Cultivation Capital, recognized as the most active venture capital firm in the Midwest, people are actually more important than money because we can’t throw our money at nothing. So, people are number one, and that’s why my work at WashU is so important for the St. Louis community. You have to educate people to be great entrepreneurs, or to be great team members of early stage ventures. We’re lucky to have a diversified educational system at WashU with multiple schools that teach different skills because we need them all. So I’m doing my role on the business side and collaborating with the other schools to help develop the talent that we as a community need and we as a country need to be competitive to build the next generation of economic development.

St. Louis is an underrated city. There are great activities going on, competitive sports teams, unique food, and brilliant people. Being so immersed at WashU, it’s easy to forget that there is more than just the campus. After finishing up freshman year and having the opportunity myself to get off campus frequently, it’s something I would highly recommend for five key reasons:

1. You can get involved in the St. Louis business community

Last semester, twice a week, I took the metrolink to TopOPPS, a St. Louis pipeline management and predictive forecasting startup, where I was an Operational Marketing intern. I have also gotten the chance to tour St. Louis incubators T-REX and TechArtista.

T-REX working spaces, courtesy of downtowntrex.com

You don’t have to be interested in entrepreneurship for this to be applicable to you. Interning with a startup can be an incredible opportunity for anybody (that can sometimes even be paid!). At a small company there is a large opportunity to make a difference and get great hands-on skills. It isn’t likely that you could go work for a company with 1,000 employees and have the freedom to get started on a new idea right away, or to work hand in hand with the head of marketing (although if you wanted to go work for a bigger company in St. Louis, I bet you could find success there, too). By working with TopOPPS I learned a tremendous amount about sales and marketing, and the culmination of my time with TopOPPS and within the St. Louis entrepreneurial community has introduced me to some great people over the past year who have taught me a lot, helped me expand my network, and improved my depth of understanding of the St. Louis entrepreneurial and business community.

2. The food in St. Louis is great

Don’t get me wrong, I love what we have to eat on campus. But day after day and year after year, sometimes it can get tiring. Plus, St. Louis was ranked in the top 15 for food by NerdWallet last summer.

The Delmar Loop. WashU photo.

It’s about the same cost to go out to eat as eating on campus (your 6.50 meal point stir fry is the equivalent of $9.02 if you’re on the silver plan), and it can be as quick as you want–the Delmar Loop, with a wealth of eclectic and traditional dining options, is a short walk away. Some of the best moments I had last semester were going off campus to eat–not only for the great food, but also for the meaningful time spent with whoever I went with.

3. There are great activities going on in St. Louis

First there are sports. Cardinals games are a blast, and the Blues just had one of their most successful seasons ever (RIP Rams). WashU is constantly giving tickets away and there are always deals to get them cheap. Second are the touristy activities, like the Arch, City Museum, and Zoo–all staples of St. Louis. Third are the events in the city. With the second biggest Mardi Gras in the country, great local microbreweries, and streets full of food trucks, there are new things to do all of the time.

Fair St. Louis crowd on Art Hill at Bonnie Raitt concert July 4.

4. Get a break from the WashU bubble

During the school year most of us spend so much time in the same few places (which, if you’re in Olin, is probably a lot of Simon and Bauer). It’s easy to get tired of the same routine. Getting off of campus not only provides a new and exciting way to spend a day and experience new things, but it also helps get your mind off of your homework and tests. And, you never know what you could learn from meeting others in St. Louis who don’t go to WashU.

5. It’s easy

We get free U-passes, a lot of us have (or have friends with) cars, and the Delmar Loop is a 15-minute walk from campus. Some Olin students might say, “But I don’t have time to get off campus.” And for almost everyone, I am going to call your bluff. Last semester, despite pledging a fraternity and working on my baseball blog, I was able to devote 8 hours a week to my internship plus the occasional Cardinals game or off-campus dinner. Most of us have no class Friday, and sleep incessant amounts over our three-day weekends. It’d be easy to pick one of those days each weekend to wake up early and go explore the city with friends. You’ll create memorable experiences, get out of the WashU bubble, and take advantage of the city that will be your home for four great years. When the year starts up, things will get crazy and it might seem tough to find time, but by making a commitment now that you will get off of campus more, and by prioritizing it when you get back, you’ll surely be able to do so.

The Huffington Post reports on the St. Louis MetroMarket, “the Grocery Store on wheels that brings fresh food to low-income areas.” The bus, dubbed “Turnip1,” is stocked with fresh fruit, vegetables, meat, dairy and bread from local farmers and community gardens.

Jeremy Goss and Colin Dowling sit behind the wheel of the donated Metro bus that was converted into St. Louis MetroMarket in 2015. Photo: Corey Mauer, St. Louis University.

“I would hate people to get lost in the novelty of what we do because we sell groceries on a bus,” said Jeremy Goss, a Saint Louis University medical student and one of the founders of MetroMarket. Co-founders include Washington University graduates Colin Dowling, PMBA’12 and Tej Azad, AB’12.
Link to article

Related blog post.

Steve Malter with Donna and Mort Fleischer at MorDo Ranch in Phoenix, AZ.

Steve Malter and I had the privilege of spending a day with an amazing Olin alumnus, Mort Fleischer, BSBA 1958, and his delightful wife Donna.  Mort is an inspiration to me and Olin is very fortunate to count him as one of our own!

An experienced financier, entrepreneur and real estate investor, Mort is a founder and Chairman of the Board of Directors of STORE Capital (NYSE: STOR), one of the largest, and fastest growing net-lease Real Estate Investment Trusts in the US. Over four decades, he has formed and managed more than 20 real estate companies, taking three of them public onto the New York Stock Exchange. His companies have successfully invested over $13 billion in single-tenant commercial real estate projects since 1981.

More importantly, Mort and Donna are using their means to make a difference in the lives of young people through their Fleischer Scholars Programs at Arizona State University and the University of Arkansas. These week-long summer programs for rising high school seniors are free to participants, and designed for economically disadvantaged high school students interested in pursuing business careers. Students selected for the program benefit from a multitude of resources as they learn the necessary skills for success in college and beyond.

In his forthcoming book, Building Your Mental Balance Sheet, Mort writes:

This saddle was commissioned by Mr. and Mrs. Mort Fleischer for their saddle collection – the largest private saddle collection in the world.

“The inspiration came to me while I was on the campus of Washington University (my alma mater) in St. Louis, Missouri. High up in one of the university’s buildings, as I looked out toward East St. Louis, Illinois, which is actually one of the most poverty stricken cities in the United States, I realized that there had to be a lot of smart and talented students out there, who “didn’t know what they didn’t know.” I believed that if they were provided the right opportunities—like a college education—they could become responsible, productive citizens and make major contributions to the world that would otherwise go unrealized. “We will never fully achieve the American dream unless our society creates ways to bring the socially and economically disadvantaged people of this nation into the mainstream. I’ve come to understand that this wasn’t going to just happen on its own, in a society as complex as ours, nor did I believe that it could be accomplished by the American government’s welfare system. So I set out on my own to assist in bringing the American Dream within the grasp of capable young people…

“In America, your future is not determined by your past or your present circumstances. Your future is determined by you, and it starts now.”

 Thanks, Mort and Donna, for inspiring Steve and me with your vision and your care for others, and for your desire to make a long-lasting impact upon American society.

Click to learn more about the Olin Fleischer Scholars Program. 

Al Li, EMBA class 39, has been elected as the new president of the Asian American Chamber of Commerce of St. Louis. He is vice president of Global Trade Finance at Regions Bank for the Midwest area that includes Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky.

With nearly 20 years of corporate finance and banking experience including time at Monsanto and Bank of America, Li works with importers and exporters of all sizes to advise on export credit policies and provide solutions for export working capital using various insurance products and guarantee programs involving the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank), SBA, and Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC).

Native to the St. Louis area, Li holds a BA of Communications and MA of Economics from the University of Missouri in addition to his Executive MBA from Washington University.  He serves on the Advisory Board of the International Institute’s Community Development Corporation that provides micro-lending services to immigrant and refugee entrepreneurs residing in the St. Louis area, and is a passionate supporter and Ambassador of the Mosaic Project.