Jim Kastema

Was a pretty awesome person to have as guest speaker. I loved his approach in politics as a problem solver and not a promoter of personal interests. If all the politicians were like this imagine the world that we would live in. A totally appropriate time to insert "Imagine" by John Lennon.

The main take away that I got from his visit were about the characteristics of entrepreneurs, the importance of self-assessment and clusters.

The characteristics that entrepreneurs must have according to Kastema is being tough, being agile or adaptive, being willing to invest in self and others, having partners, having a good support system and a way to get out. All are pretty self-explanatory except for the fifth one. It is self-explanatory but interesting, from all the other speakers we learned about the company and finances, and how it’s not easy time or money wise in the beginning but they never touched the most human aspect of entrepreneurship, what happens after the work. I think it is brilliant that he pointed out that its important to have a support system of people who will lift you up and are willing to stay by your side while you have to battle through in your entrepreneurial venture.

Kastema also spoke about self-assessment. His idea was to encourage us to think out ourselves as a resource. So that in our business or when we apply for a job we looked at the way we would contribute to something rather than what we gain from it. So when applying to a job not to simply think that you just need the money you can earn but that you can contribute to that job something that they do not have. That way I feel a person would have a more positive outlook on their career in general.

Lastly he spoke about economic clusters. He said it’s important to find locations that are have your economic cluster so that it’s easier on you financially, partnership wise and customer base. If you decide to start a business in the aerospace industry here in Washington space lenders would be more interested in financing you than anywhere else in the country because we have a major aerospace cluster. Same thing with partners there are more people interested in working in that field here.

Overall his visit was very informative and fun. He is a really interesting person to interact with and I feel like a gained a better understanding of the entrepreneurial spirit.