{"666570":{"#nid":"666570","#data":{"type":"news","title":"CREATE-X and Georgia Tech Startup Exchange Host Founders\u2019 Forum","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EOn Feb. 23, CREATE-X, in collaboration with GT Startup Exchange, hosted Founders\u0026#39; Forum, at Tech Square ATL Social Club. The event brought three Startup Launch alumni, Tim Felbinger, founder of StartProto, Marzeah \u0026ldquo;Zea\u0026rdquo; Khorramabadi, co-founder of StrideLink, and Daniele \u0026ldquo;Dani\u0026rdquo; De Mari, founder of Neurogram, to discuss their experience building businesses.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThey encouraged students to consider their partnerships and the pathway forward, but also encouraged them to just take the first step and lean into the process.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I probably spent way too many weeks agonizing over whether I should do this or not,\u0026rdquo; Felbinger said. \u0026ldquo;Do it while you\u0026rsquo;re in school. Do it while you have this amazing effort at Georgia Tech, where you have people that will help you do it\u0026hellip; You might tell yourself you will come back to it; you\u0026rsquo;re not.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDe Mari agreed on being open to the uncertainty of the future. The pandemic was a prime example for her. Had it not happened, she wouldn\u0026rsquo;t have gone back to Brazil and if she hadn\u0026rsquo;t done that, she wouldn\u0026rsquo;t have had the\u0026nbsp;experience that sparked her company.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Let life take you,\u0026rdquo; she said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHowever, Khorramabadi empathized with students feeling analysis paralysis.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I joke that I don\u0026rsquo;t make a decision until I\u0026rsquo;ve talked to 5 people,\u0026rdquo; she said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EStill, she encouraged students to move past those feelings. In her own experience, Khorramabadi found that rejection and failure pushed her to find better pathways.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Take the no\u0026rsquo;s as an opportunity,\u0026rdquo; she said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn De Mari\u0026rsquo;s path to be a founder, some investors didn\u0026rsquo;t believe she could solve the problem she was proposing because she\u0026rsquo;s a woman and an immigrant. However, De Mari focused on building the data demonstrating her company\u0026rsquo;s worth, which led to her closing deals, expanding marketing, and growing her business.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I\u0026rsquo;m living proof that you can do it,\u0026rdquo; she said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESince 2014, more than 5,000 students have launched their startups, totaling approximately 350 companies, through CREATE-X. The program continues to expand, looking to support more students in having entrepreneurial confidence and creating their own startups.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBe the next founder. \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/gatech.co1.qualtrics.com\/jfe\/form\/SV_a2V91XGKhp149AW\u0022\u003EApply for Georgia Tech Startup Launch\u003C\/a\u003E before the application closes March 20.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWant to see more events from CREATE-X? Would you like your organization to collaborate with us? Tell us by emailing Shavon Hunter at shunter47@gatech.edu.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Alumni of Georgia Tech Startup Launch speak to students about their entrepreneur journey. "}],"uid":"36436","created_gmt":"2023-03-09 17:40:50","changed_gmt":"2023-03-09 17:40:50","author":"bdurham31","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2023-03-09T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2023-03-09T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"666569":{"id":"666569","type":"image","title":"CREATE-X Founders Forum Spring 2023 Speakers and Host","body":null,"created":"1678383098","gmt_created":"2023-03-09 17:31:38","changed":"1678383098","gmt_changed":"2023-03-09 17:31:38","alt":"From left to right, Tim Felbinger, founder of StartProto, Marzeah \u201cZea\u201d Khorramabadi, co-founder of StrideLink, Daniele \u201cDani\u201d De Mari, founder of Neurogram, and Jay Patel, GT Startup Exchange director of events","file":{"fid":"252021","name":"DSC_0126-1.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/DSC_0126-1.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/DSC_0126-1.png","mime":"image\/png","size":7584500,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/DSC_0126-1.png?itok=bcf7IBG6"}}},"media_ids":["666569"],"groups":[{"id":"583966","name":"CREATE-X"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"130","name":"Alumni"},{"id":"42901","name":"Community"},{"id":"42911","name":"Education"},{"id":"133","name":"Special Events and Guest Speakers"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"},{"id":"139","name":"Business"}],"keywords":[{"id":"137161","name":"CREATE-X"},{"id":"506","name":"alumni"},{"id":"166994","name":"startups"},{"id":"166971","name":"startup launch"},{"id":"168480","name":"Startup Exchange"},{"id":"1072","name":"Business"},{"id":"2301","name":"entrepreneur"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"},{"id":"39511","name":"Public Service, Leadership, and Policy"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBreanna Durham, CREATE-X marketing strategist\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["breanna.durham@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}