I Did What? Kairos Global Summit Blows My Mind.
It is really amazing what opportunities you are afforded while attending a top tier university. I say this because of the weekend I just experienced. In short, I attended the Kairos Society Global Summit in NYC, so let me explain how I got this chance, and of course what that means.
To start, and put this all in perspective, I founded/run a music site and entertainment group, www.NotSomeKid.com, with two friends from high school last March (I post under the moniker “Adidef” if anyone wants to check us out). We have since expanded to include three other members, all friends from high school, and consistently bounce entrepreneurial ideas off of each other all the time. One of our founding members is a part of the Kairos Society on his campus- a group that “brings together top students from around the world in an effort to foster the next generation of leaders to develop globally impactful innovations” (Kairos). Kairos attempts to use “entrepreneurship and innovation to solve the world’s greatest challenges” using the slogan “Do well by Doing good.” Oh, and not to under sell the Kairos Society, it was just named a Partner in President Obama’s New Startup America Partnership.
Naturally, my friend thought it would be appropriate to try to get us to join him this year at the Global Summit. As a result of my attendance at a school as prestigious as Vanderbilt, he managed to get me invited to the summit, even though I was not a Kairos member (a summit requirement). So, I flew up to NYC this past Thursday, to participate in the summit on Friday and Saturday, along with 2 of my friends and business partners.
The summit was inspiring. Not only was I surrounded by truly brilliant and innovative students from around the world, I got to meet and listen to some of the smartest and most influential people in the world. Friday morning, we went to the UN, for a two hour seminar in which we heard from Peter Diamandis, Chairman and COO of the X-Prize Foundation, Thomas Goetz, executive editor for WIRED, Frank Rijsberman, director for Global Development of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Matthew Bishop, US Business Editor of The Economist, Daniel Kraft, Chair of Medicine at Singularity University, and Carl Schramm, President and COO of the Ewing Marion Kaufman Foundation. Oh, and the Ambassador of Rwanda to the US, decided to stop by and say hi (no big deal). The rest of our day consisted of a tour of various businesses in (Google and Thomas Reuters were two possibilities), as well as round table discussions with other Kairos members on various topics. Being from just outside of NYC, we used Friday night to enjoy the city that never sleeps with some of our newfound friends in a less formal setting ;).
Saturday morning was even more incredible. We traveled to the floor of the NYSE, where 50 student startups that had been selected to present, exhibited their businesses for us to learn about, offer suggestions, discuss execution, and network, among other discussions. I met students responsible for a $250 million oil startup, an innovative street bike company, a nanotechnology company with the potential to revolutionize the marine industry, and a genetics company looking to use genetic mapping to personalize the clinical trial stage of drugs so that they can reach the production phase faster and more effectively (yep, startups created by other college students, what up Zuckerberg!). It was truly inspiring, filling my head with so many potential ideas for startups of my own, along with ways to improve Not Some Kid, and enabling me to connect with students from all over who can help my business really improve. Hopefully, the summit marks the start of big things for NSK, and hopefully next year we will be presenting at instead of attending the summit.
