Chase Bonhag  joined the iVenture Fellows today for a lively discussion about humility, gratitude, and the power of supportive advisors. Chase is an Associate at IllinoisVENTURES and has been heavily involved in the local entrepreneurship ecosystem. Chase shared his own success story and advice for budding entrepreneurs. During his talk, Fellows questioned Chase about a wide range of topics, including the path to working in venture capital, how to deal with legal issues like copyright without a legal team, how to decide when to submit a patent, and how much to charge customers during the pilot phase of a new product launch.

The morning was rounded-out by a tour of Research Park led by Laura Bleill, Associate Director of Research Park. After lunch, teams spent the afternoon meeting with the iVenture committee to discuss their summer goals and mentorship needs.

Some feedback from our fellows:

“Chase had me thinking about how I’m going use my resources at my university to the best of my ability- so visiting professors and other school officials in business, marketing, english, and law will make me far more effective.”

“I learned that it is critically important to stay in contact with speakers, since it will build my network, making me a more effective entrepreneur. To address this, I will be more active with follow-up emails.”

“I loved Chase’s over all theme of hustling: hard work and dedication will get you where you need to be.”