Greg Skloot – New Media Entrepreneur
Current Location: Durham, NC
Age: 20
High school: Byram Hills High School
College: Northeastern University, currently at Duke University for the semester.
How did this all start?
Ever since I was a child I always wanted to start my own company. When I was 6 I sold homemade contraptions from my driveway, when I was 9 I turned my parent’s basement into a museum and collected admissions fees from all of the neighbors to come and visit it. In middle school, I started getting into computers and in high school spend a semester working for a computer technician. When he moved out of town, a friend and I decided to take our technical knowledge and turn it into our own company, Armonk Computer Solutions.
What encourage you to start your program?
It is an innate thing I was born with – I have always wanted to start my own company and be the CEO. In high school I learned that I could make 7 times more money as the CEO of my own company then as an employee at a local store like all my friends. And I had way more fun being my own boss and getting rewarded based on my own successes and failures. It’s a rush!
How did you get where you’re at right now?
Networking and meeting new people has been the strongest catalyst to get me to where I am now. Currently, I am spending the semester at a VC backed tech startup in Durham, NC – Digitalsmiths. I also ended up taking a capstone class at Duke University and getting heavily involved with the entrepreneurship programs there. I make everyone websites for free, that’s how I get into new communities. Seriously, it works very well!
How would you describe the working atmosphere and the people with whom you work?
Totally depends on the company. Generally, entrepreneurs are super excited about what they are doing and have contagious passion.
Did anyone help you along the way?
I have certainly had some mentors along the way, but ultimately this business is about getting stuff done yourself. You must have the drive, dedicated and passion. Nobody hands anything to you… ultimately you determine your own destiny. Pretty awesome!
What do you want this to become in the future?
I want to be a serial technology entrepreneur and lead a game-changing technology company. There is no doubt in my mind that is what I’d like to do.
Did you have some failures along the way?
Absolutely! My second start-up was a flop, but I learned a ton along the way. You don’t have a whole lot to lost when you are 17.
What other things have you done in your life?
Every summer my dad and I bike from central NJ to the eastern shore of VA and back… 8 days and 500 miles. Before I turn 21 I will also have lived in 5 different corners of the country… New York NY, Boston MA, Dallas TX, Durham NC, San Jose CA.
If you weren’t doing this what would you be doing right now with your life?
I’d be really sad… I love this stuff. When I am not doing it though, I love to be outside, so I hope I’d be hiking through the mountains or biking along the coast.
What are your strongest assets? (Skills, areas of knowledge, personality traits and values.)
Ability to talk to strangers and create advantage from opportunities, ability to see beyond the status quo of what I am “supposed” to do.
-Patricia Pena
New Media Resource 