Last Minute Tips for LaunchX Summer

LaunchX Summer is about to take flight in just a couple days. We want to touch on some last minute things about preparing for your entrepreneurial journey, exploring a new city, and making the most of this life changing experience. We asked our alumni for their most helpful tips for you to prepare.

Entrepreneurship won’t be the only thing you’ll learn at LaunchX. Be excited and take the opportunity to learn about yourself. (Anant Agrawal)

You might do this subconsciously, but if you really think about it, you are all coming to LaunchX for a reason, certainly not the same reason. Of course, it has something to do with your curiosity and expressed interest in entrepreneurship, but you were accepted for your strengths, and those include so much more than the listing of your resume items. It includes your values, personality, and quirks - and LaunchX is a great place to embrace those facets.

Understand that coming up with ideas and choosing an idea have two different approaches. (Lillian Chen)

It can be really tempting, especially for creative and aspiring students to chase after huge ideas and ventures. Be realistic with your goals when choosing your company idea- remember you only have 4 weeks. But during ideation phase, don't let yourself think that an idea is too impossible or out of the box. Let your passions, problems, and interests guide you. Problems make products but passion sells the business.Getting Around / Exploring / Having Fun:

1. Go out more during the first week, because you won't have half the amount of free time in the last two weeks. (Sunny Cui)
2. Don't get caught up in a routine. Try new places to eat and explore as often as possible even if you're comfortable with what you found within the first couple days. (Anaya Hegde)
3. Play Ultimate Frisbee! (Campbell Erickson)

Logistics:

1. Don't miss curfew check-ins, ever. (everyone who ever went to Launch)
2. Bring a lot of quarters for laundry. (Dora Zhao)
3. Bring Tide pods for your laundry (don't want to mess around with detergent) (Sunny Cui)

Annie Zhang:

1. Be as prepared as possible. Going into Launch having done the pre-work and brainstorming is like having a life raft after being thrown into an ocean. You’ll thank yourself later for taking the time to work through each step. And who knows? You might even be bringing the winning idea with you to Launch!
2. Proactively connect with people. Launch is one of those communities where diverse, talented and passionate people make an effort to really learn from each other and grow together. It’s not just the students either, being at MIT (the crossroads of the world) gives you the chance to seek out some of the most interesting and people and thoughts you’ll come across.
3. Approach everything with an open mind and open heart. Sometimes things don’t go the way you had them played out in your head. Learning to be an entrepreneur is about rolling with the punches and always springing back. Never be too stubborn to try something new.

And TAKE LOTS OF PICTURES!