CONTRIBUTED BY DUSTIN DUNCAN 

This semester, Elizabethton High School Entrepreneurship students have the unique opportunity to learn from one of the most experienced minds in the startup business.

Vince Jordan began his entrepreneurial career as a 12-year old boy delivering for two different newspapers on his bicycle.

After transitioning into the field of computer technology, he founded seven tech startups and was able to work with some of the most legendary minds in the business, including Steve Jobs.

Now, he is bringing that experience to the students enrolled in the Entrepreneurship class during the spring semester as part of the Entrepreneur is Residency program.

Entrepreneurship students were able to meet with Jordan and pitch their own business ideas during this recent visit to EHS. He was able to give advice on the students’ original business plans and will return mid-semester for a check-in.

He will also be present to take part in their final presentation evaluation. Mr. Jordan has agreed that any student who completes the requirements of the course will leave with not just the experience of running their own business and the wisdom of a successful entrepreneur, but also a personal letter of recommendation for each student as they move on in their professional lives.

Jordan also gave students his personal contact information and will be answering questions from the students on a weekly basis as they move through the creation of their own startup businesses.

He has worked with entrepreneur classes at other institutions such as Mississippi State University, but this is his first time working with a class of high school students.

He has also founded community-focused small business incubators that have taken ideas into multi-million dollar companies in just a few years.

Students in this class receive actual money to begin a class business, and they are also developing their own business concepts to take to local competitions, and possibly one day even turn into a reality.

Their class business for this semester is called Fan Fix. It is a custom subscription box of Cyclone paraphernalia including clothing, food, and custom-made fan items.

Jordan gave the students several pieces of wisdom from his own experience including the power of doing work on a contract or piece by piece basis instead of hourly wages.

“I haven’t worked on an hourly rate in decades,” he reflected. He also encouraged them to focus on more than just money. “The social aspect of any business is a big deal. It used to be as little as ten years ago just about the profit.”

He also praised the students for being so well-spoken, noting, “I am an introvert. It took me years to be able to do what you are doing now.”

Hannah Colbaugh, an Elizabethton High senior, who took the class last year and sold custom clothing and jewelry through her own start-up business, Trinity Tees, said it was helpful to work with someone who has so much knowledge in the field. “He has so many businesses behind his experience,” she commented.

Abby Addington, another EHS senior, who owns a custom lettering business called Abracadabra Hand Lettering, realized how reassuring it was to have someone who has been in the trenches of business creation. “When you are seventeen all you think about is, ‘Is this going to work?’ Then you have this entrepreneur come in who is willing to help you.” She said.

The Entrepreneurship class is taught by business and technology teacher, Angie Wilber. She and Jordan co-created the Entrepreneur in Residency experience for the students. She said, “I think it really helped them to have an outside perspective on their business plans.”

Elizabethton junior and Entrepreneurship student, Matthew Capenero, said the class was, “more than just hands-on learning; it is an adventure.”