Name: Eric Peckham
Year: December 2013
Major: Political Science
Hometown: Wellesley, MA
Activities you do on campus:
Institute for Political Citizenship, Tufts Venture Fund, Tufts Entrepreneurs Society, and pass through ALLIES and Tufts Cycling here and there.
Can you explain a little bit more about IPC and the new venture fund initiative?
The Institute for Political Citizenship (IPC) is a student-run institute under the Tisch College that promotes opportunities, dialogues, and social events for Jumbos passionate about any aspect of politics or public policy. We have weekly discussions, guest speakers, an internship program, and informal events, plus the IPC oversees Tufts Votes, the big Get-Out-The-Vote operation on campus.
Tufts Venture Fund is a student-run business accelerator and pre-seed investment fund to support undergraduate and graduate student-entrepreneurs turn their ideas into successful real-world companies. We support their ventures in a variety of ways and are working hard to build a much stronger alumni community in the startup world.
Activities you do in the outside community:
Outside of Tufts, I’m active in the Boston startup scene, go cycling when I can, and have a tendency of walking into exciting new entrepreneurial projects that come along.
Dream career:
I can’t imagine being an employee at a big company or ever going through a formal resume submission process. My passion is in helping new ventures take off, so my dream is to start my own companies, grow them into successful and exciting enterprises, and then work hard to help other people do the same.
How you think Tufts will help you achieve this?
What’s powerful about Tufts is not so much the institutions, but the people. Jumbos are brilliant, interdisciplinary thinkers who take different approaches to problems in the world. I’m fortunate to know many students and alumni who are involved in entrepreneurial endeavors and will inevitably be an important resource in helping me get started on my own.
What do you feel has been your greatest accomplishment while at Tufts?
Starting the IPC has been a big undertaking, and while it still has much growing to do, I feel proud to have led the launch of a group that provides a lot of opportunities to students. Also, it’s quite young, but the Tufts Venture Fund is taking off more rapidly that I ever expected, and I think it will be the halmark of my time at Tufts.
The most important thing you have learned about business and entrepreneurship thus far?
I’ve learned that the most important thing leading any sort of entity is one’s ability to energize a diverse group of people around a common goal and know when to step out of the way and empower them to make their impact.
Are there any resources on or off campus that you think aspiring entrepreneurs should check out?
Yes! Get involved in the Entrepreneurs Society and Venture Fund, as both as doing exciting things and very open to engaging new members. They are also great connectors to alumni and professionals to talk to. Beyond campus, there are tons of great resources for student entrepreneurs, including VentureFizz, Greenhorn Connect, and BostInno–online platforms for startup news, event calendars, internship listings, and student-specific opportunities. Also, don’t hesitate to contact people in the startup scene who you want to meet–most are more than happy to grab coffee with students.
If you could have a conversation with anyone (living or not) who would it be?
Richard Branson. He’s by far my entrepreneurial idol–founding amazing ventures while having far too much fun and also making a genuine impact on society.
Favorite part about Tufts?
While I think many students don’t recognize their actions as such, Jumbos are very entrepreneurial in the way they think and approach challenges. We’re a campus of social entrepreneurs in one way or another.
Favorite part about Boston? The feeling of a dynamic mix of both profound history and cutting-edge innovation as one strolls around downtown or in Cambridge.
Why do you think Boston is a particularly good place for start-up businesses or entrepreneurship…if you do?
Boston’s central resource is the list of world-class universities that provide the city with both innovative research and brilliant young students. Without that, most of the big and small tech companies wouldn’t be here. That said, MA hasn’t done the best job at making those students want to stay or attracting the young, post-dot-com era entrepreneurs want to move here. For high-technology sectors (such as biotech) Boston is perfect; for the consumer internet startups that excite most undergrads, NYC and Silicon Valley are the hotter spots to be.
What is one thing you are looking forward to before you graduate?
Pre-graduation class activities in May. After first semester of freshman year, people migrate into their interest-based social circles, and then senior year it seems everyone realizes how many other wonderful people are here, and much of that freshman eagerness to meet new classmates returns.
Any final words to incoming freshman or underclassmen?
“Your GPA only matters to people who have no other reason to find you interesting.” -Chris Sacca
Don’t sit back and get stuck in the academic theory of what interests you–take action and pursue your various passions independently. Doing so will give you exponentially more knowledge and opportunities than writing papers will.