The Entrepreneur Podcast · Eric Janssen and Eric Morse

68. Start-ups, school, and a new generation of women entrepreneurs

·28 min·1 clip

The one piece of advice that breaks entrepreneurial paralysis: stop assuming you're incapable.

Three founders are still near the starting line, and the episode has that useful, slightly raw feel. Janice Byrne speaks with Lily Yang, Mayura Salvakumar, and Madeline Noftal as student entrepreneurs spending the summer on their startups at Western University. Lily opens with Be Safe KC, a venture selling non-lethal safety products. Her key chain combines safety items, including safety alarm whistles, with wallets and fashionable accessories people can carry every day. The idea came from feeling unsafe. As an out-of-province first-year student at Western, Lily says she did not know the area and felt scared going out after dark, especially alone. From there, the conversation keeps moving toward action. Mayura says overthinking can freeze people before they ever jump into an idea. Fear stays in the room, too. Even though she believes in her business, she still has doubts, and she treats the whole process as a learning journey. Her point is simple enough to sting a little: start sooner, hit smaller pitfalls, and learn as you go. Maddie picks up that thread. Corporate experience has not felt necessary to her because her own business teaches specific lessons every day. When she lacks a skill, she finds help, then puts that advice to work right away. That makes the learning feel immediate, not theoretical. There is no one right path here. Maddie says the right decision is the one that feels right to the founder in that moment. Byrne keeps the episode practical by asking about advice, motivation, and help from people who understand entrepreneurship. It lands as a useful push for students and new founders who are waiting for permission to begin.

As heard by us

Three Western University student founders talk through early-stage entrepreneurship with practical candor.

Three current Western University students in the Summer Entrepreneurial Internship Program talk through early-stage entrepreneurship with Ivy Entrepreneurship faculty member Janice Byrne.

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Why you'd press play

Three student founders talk fear, learning, and building while school is still in session.

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