Guest Speaker: Derek Young

In week 2 of TCSS 475 class, we had a guest speaker- Derek Young- come in and give us a little insight into his entrepreneurial life.

Derek Young is a serial entrepreneur who has created various companies. He graduated from the University of Puget sound in Tacoma with degrees in Biology and Politics. Mr Young initially thought of going into a science field but ended up getting a job at REI. He initially planned to stay for two years, get some money and return to school - he however ended up staying for ten years. At REI he worked his way up to lead negotiator. Mr Young describes himself as someone who likes to always create something, an avid risk taker that can best that enjoys the thrill of creating a growing something. After doing the same thing at REI for so long, he left and enrolled at UWT to get an MBA.

Derek Young entrepreneurial journey began in 1998 when he first created a sport team management website. This online tool was designed to help keep track of a team's roster, number of males and females in a team, who is absent for training and who isn't, the tool can also send out reminders. This part of his speech really interest me because i expect this tool to require a good bit of programming knowledge and without a tech background, its impressive that he was able to create this tool.

A couple of more recent companies he has founded include, Exit133, Seasonal view and Tacoma runners. Exit133 is a website about Tacoma Washington. It focuses on day to day events, urban design, politics, real estate and arts relating to Tacoma. Created in 2005, Exit133 has won may awards for it publications.

Derek Young also created Tacoma runners, which he describes as a 4000 people running club. It started out as just a running club but developed into a company because Derek wasn't willing to personally take the $5000 insurance.

Derek Young's entrepreneurial journey and lifestyle is a motivation for us students. From creating a website for fun to creating a company to hold an insurance, Derek Young's lifestyle teaches us to always want to create things and make things better as an entrepreneur.