Catalyst XL

For any college student who’s thought about starting a software startup, here’s our evaluation of pursuing that as a side project: Overall Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Effort required to start: High - Cost required to start: Medium - Scalability: High - Risk: Medium - Time until you make your first dollar: Medium - Fun level: High Pros: - High impact, very scalable way to solve a problem - High revenue potential Cons: - Can take some time to start generating money - Will require some costs, but if you play your cards right, you can push those costs off until you can afford them (lean startup methodology) Tips - Read the short essay “Do Things That Don’t Scale” by Paul Graham. This will make sure you start off on the right foot and don’t waste too much time on the wrong things. - If you’re confident in your idea but don’t know how to code, stop everything you’re doing until you find a partner that does. Consensus Software startups offer one of the best risk-reward ratios you can find. But they’re incredibly difficult, and it can take a massive amount of commitment to make one work. But we believe that level of commitment and responsibility can teach wildly powerful lessons you won’t learn anywhere else. Just find an idea you’d care about and naturally want to commit to, and the rest will work itself out. #startup #entrepreneurship #founders #collegestudents #university #building #innovation #tech #engineering #CS #coding #CTO #venture

Ever wonder how companies like Ebay, Airbnb, and Uber make money? They incorporate a financial model known as the Marketplace model. Which works like this: A company connects buyers and sellers of something, typically through software. To make money, they most commonly: - Charge flat or percentage-based transaction fees - Charge listing fees to sellers - Charge sellers to promote their listings - Charge subscription fees to either buyers or sellers Examples - eBay connects buyers and sellers of physical products (usually used ones) and takes a 10-15% fee from the seller after the transaction is complete. - Uber connects drivers and riders and takes 20-30% of the fare. - Airbnb connects property owners (Hosts) with guests looking for short-term accommodation. They take about a 3% selling fee from hosts and add 6-15% to the listed price and collect that fee from guests. Marketplaces are a phenomenal way to create real economic value, and generate significant revenue for a business if you can find the right gap to close. They’re not easy to get started, especially with the "cold-start" problem of figuring out how to grow the seller (supply) side and the buyer (demand) side at the same time. Tips: If you’re thinking about starting up a marketplace business, validate the idea with a quick no-code MVP first. This will save you tons of time and possibly money too. Some tools we recommend at Catalyst are Bubble and Softr. Get it up, get some users on it, and see what they say. Hope this helps! #marketplace #business #startups #education #entrepreneurship #finance #monetize #building #founders #tech #innovation #economics #venture

Ever wonder how companies like Ebay, Airbnb, and Uber make money? They incorporate a financial model known as the Marketplace model. Which works like this: A company connects buyers and sellers of something, typically through software. To make money, they most commonly: - Charge flat or percentage-based transaction fees - Charge listing fees to sellers - Charge sellers to promote their listings - Charge subscription fees to either buyers or sellers Examples - eBay connects buyers and sellers of physical products (usually used ones) and takes a 10-15% fee from the seller after the transaction is complete. - Uber connects drivers and riders and takes 20-30% of the fare. - Airbnb connects property owners (Hosts) with guests looking for short-term accommodation. They take about a 3% selling fee from hosts and add 6-15% to the listed price and collect that fee from guests. Marketplaces are a phenomenal way to create real economic value, and generate significant revenue for a business if you can find the right gap to close. They’re not easy to get started, especially with the "cold-start" problem of figuring out how to grow the seller (supply) side and the buyer (demand) side at the same time. Tips: If you’re thinking about starting up a marketplace business, validate the idea with a quick no-code MVP first. This will save you tons of time and possibly money too. Some tools we recommend at Catalyst are Bubble and Softr. Get it up, get some users on it, and see what they say. Hope this helps! #marketplace #business #startups #education #entrepreneurship #finance #monetize #building #founders #tech #innovation #economics #venture

For anyone who’s thought about starting a podcast, here’s our evaluation of a podcast as a side project 🎙 Overall Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 💪 Effort required to start: Low 💸 Cost required to start: Low 📈 Scalability: High 😱 Risk: Low ⌛ Time until you could make your first dollar: High 😁 Fun level: High 👍 Pros - No expertise required, just curiosity - Easy to start - You get to learn new things constantly - Low financial costs 👎 Cons - If money is what you’re after, this will not deliver results fast. 🔓 Tips - Center your podcast around something you're genuinely curious about. - Set an attainable goal—maybe just one episode a week to start. - Don’t be afraid to reach out to guests you think would have insightful things to say. They don’t care if you only have 2 followers—they’ll respect your mission if they’re the right guests. - Don't overcomplicate it. Whether you're going solo or inviting guests, get the first episode recorded fast and get it out there! 🤝 Consensus Starting a podcast is one of the simplest and easiest ways to work on your own interesting project without dropping all of your time or money. All you have to do is pick a topic that matters to you, and either have informative conversations with people about it or talk about it yourself. Best case you grow an audience and maybe even make some money, worst case you learn some cool stuff for a cheap price! Good luck! #podcast #sideproject #building #collegestudents #entrepreneurship #creators #media #branding #venture #startups #marketing #university

For students interested in starting or joining a startup, the final application deadline for Cohort 5 of Catalyst XL is Tuesday night. Starting September 9th, we'll go through our 4-week curriculum on the startup ecosystem, interning with startups, making the 6 key decisions at an early-stage venture, and some useful ways to organize your work life to make room for building. You'll also get the chance to work on your own project with a team of students and pitch it at our Pitch Competition. And all of our students' favorite part: you'll meet other entrepreneurial students from around the world as you all work to complete the program and officially become Catalyst Fellows. Our goal is to save you years of painful lessons in entrepreneurship, and get you building ASAP. Comment your email and we'll send the application + more info! #collegestudents #undergraduates #university #college #startups #venture #opportunity #experience #builder #entrepreneurship

I am thrilled to announce that Shivam Udani and I are launching the waitlist for SuperNova, an integrated fitness platform designed to revolutionise how you approach health and wellness. Whether you're a beginner or a seasoned athlete, SuperNova evolves with you, providing personalised plans tailored to your unique fitness journey. Join our waitlist today and be among the first to gain access to SuperNova: 🔗 https://lnkd.in/eP8TZKjy Sign up now and take the first step towards unlocking your full potential! #innovation #technology #fitness #healthtech #entrepreneurship #startup #venturecapital

If you're looking for a break from the corporate culture of universities and want to explore the world of entrepreneurship, Catalyst XL's Cohort 4 will be starting up in just a couple weeks. We gather all of the most ambitious entrepreneurial students from across the globe, and give them the resources and knowledge to start or join an impactful startup. Students will learn about the startup ecosystem, how to get connected with founders, how to start a startup, and how to think like a builder. They'll also get the chance to showcase their skills by pitching a startup idea of their own at the end of the program. Comment your email and I'll send the application + more info! #universitystudents #collegestudents #career #builders #founders #startups #venture #innovation #entrepreneurship #opportunity

We recently sent our first round of acceptances for Cohort 4 of Catalyst XL, and I couldn't be more excited about the inspiring students we're bringing in. If you haven't applied, you can still be a part of this community. We're building an incredible group of undergraduate college students from all over the US and other parts of the world with one thing in common: a desire to do impactful entrepreneurial work. Starting July 1st, our 4th Cohort of students will begin our 4-week curriculum on the startup ecosystem, working with startups, making 6 key decisions at an early stage startup, and practical ways to organize your work life to make room for building. They'll also get the chance to work on their own projects with a team of students and pitch them at our Pitch Competition. And the best part: they'll network with a peer group full of the brightest students from around the world. After the 4 weeks, students will graduate and officially become Fellows with Catalyst--members of our year-round supportive community. Comment your email and I'll send the application + more info! #collegestudents #highschoolstudents #startups #venture #internship #entrepreneurship #builders #founders #university #building

It's insane what happens when students work with startups for the first time. When I was running Gator Venture Capital at UF, my focus was on helping students work with VC firms. But I quickly saw that the best part about working in VC isn't the VC. It's getting the chance to work with wildly impressive startup founders. As a student, meeting people who are building their own stuff, succeeding at it, and having a good time doing it is unbelievably eye-opening. Because at school, everyone is just going through the motions: get the grades, pick from a list of cookie-cutter jobs, recruit, and plug into a job where all requirements, priorities, and deadlines are laid out for you. We live break to break. Very few students are actually excited about their work. And the ones who are usually get a reality check when they start doing a real job. We think things like entrepreneurship are off-limits. At least until you're years into your career. What I noticed was students' mindsets would completely flip when they met startup founders: they all of the sudden understood that there was an entirely different world of opportunities and paths they could pursue. And not only that--they could pursue them by doing things they loved. But what paths and opportunities am I talking about? The ones where you build things you care about. Like starting or joining an impactful startup. So now we run Catalyst XL to help students do exactly that. And the transformation and success we've seen when this new world of opportunities is opened for students is mind-blowing. Our early application deadline is this Friday. If you know anyone who could benefit, tag them in the comments below. We're on the hunt for the most ambitious students on the planet. #collegestudents #university #entrepreneurship #builders #makers #opportunity #founders #startups #fulfillment #careers #venture

For students interested in starting or joining a startup, the Early Application deadline for Catalyst XL's Cohort 4 is Friday 10/14. Starting July 1st, we'll go through our 4-week curriculum on the startup ecosystem, interning with startups, making the 6 key decisions at an early-stage venture, and some useful ways to organize your work life to make room for building. You'll also get the chance to work on your own project with a team of students and pitch it at our Pitch Competition. And all of our students' favorite part: you'll meet other entrepreneurial students from around the world as you all work to complete the program and officially become Catalyst Fellows. Comment your email and I'll send the application + more info! #students #collegestudents #startups #entrepreneurship #builders #entrepreneurs #venture #venturecapital #opportunity #internship