Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Entrepreneurship & the New Generation

Kaplan and Her Campus Media took a college initiative across the country

By Rodney H. Brown

Stephanie Kaplan
Stephanie Kaplan, 22, CEO and editor-in-chief of Her Campus Media LLC of Cambridge, a website targeted at female college students.

Education: Bachelor’s degree in psychology and economics at Harvard University, MBA student at Harvard Business School
Investor/funding: Entirely bootstrapped

You should have confidence in me because…… “When I set my mind to something I always get it done, and done well. Whatever it is I am working on, I always set measurable goals and work as hard as I can to achieve them.“

The great part about being an entrepreneur is…. “You have complete control of every single thing you do all day. You get to choose the direction of the company. You get to choose what projects to put more time into. And at the end of the day you are the ultimate decision maker.”

Does being young hurt you as an entrepreneur? “I think being young can hurt you because you lack experience. The first time I do something is a learning experience for me. It’s probably not something I have seen before. Even the terms involved in the task might be unfamiliar to me, because I had zero formal job experience before starting this company.”

Where did your business idea come from? “(Co-founders Windsor Hanger and Annie Wang) and I met as undergrads running Harvard’s undergrad lifestyle and fashion magazine. We transitioned it entirely online and it started experiencing great success. So we got the idea to create an online publication not just for Harvard women but for college women all across the country.”

How will you know that your startup has been successful? “I think success for us is something subjective. I think our exact goals and vision might change as time goes on but in general we think Her Campus will be successful when it is a household name — when almost every college woman across the country turns to Her Campus Live on a daily basis and when marketers think of Her Campus first anytime they are thinking about reaching the college audience.

If I make it big, my next step will be …. “To mentor other students who have similar goals to the ones I have. I think what drives me is making sure that I am doing something I am passionate about and something I love. Right now what I love is producing media for college women, but 10 years down the line I am not sure what it will be that drives me or that I am so excited to get up and do everyday.”

Is the barrier for entry for women lower in the Internet space than in other tech sectors? “I think it’s easier for women to break into the Internet space, but only because of the educational background that most women are pursuing. You have a lot of women majoring in communications, journalism or PR and not a lot of women majoring in computer science or engineering. I think women are just as capable of doing those industries, but right now women are doing a much better job of setting things up for themselves in the fields of media and Internet.”

About her company: Hercampus.com. Her Campus Media is only two years old, and its website HerCampus.com is targeted at a demographic traditionally not seen as important to the Internet — college women.