buildillinois journal #2
hello again; back with more!
hey. it’s been a minute.
welcome to the second edition of our weekly newsletter, where we keep you updated on our highlights, opportunities, and upcoming events.
buildillinois is the largest community of founders, builders, and creatives on campus. we help bring your ideas to life through workshops, retreats, and access to our world-class network. we wanna aid in taking your passions to the next level.
today, we’re going to take you through
1) some super exciting recent events
2) our kickoff and what else is next
3) our friend’s success story with Entrepreneur First
4) the story of the UIUC alumni behind Loom
& 5) how you can continue to be involved w/buildillinois
so let’s get to it.
past & future
where we’ve been…
what we’ve been doing since our last check-in for students like you, all across campus.
EF MIXER - September 10th
we had the chance to host a mixer with Ian Splinter and Simon Pastor from Entrepreneurship First on Tuesday, September 10th. we hosted it at the Suites at Third terrace, with the whole buildillinois team there.
it was great. turnout was awesome, and it’s always exciting to see the sheer number of builders on campus. we know great things are possible when you put all those heads together— it’s why buildillinois is dedicated to creating spaces and opportunities where you can find like minded people to collaborate with. this is only the start.
iVenture DEMO DAY - September 17th
iVenture’s annual Demo Day is another one of those spaces where builders/founders can show up, show out, and show off what they’ve been working endlessly on to a huge audience. this year’s was a great experience, with a variety of awesome startups, organizations, and projects across campus being displayed.
one of those was us. co-founder Ishan Deshpande gave a great introduction to buildillinois and our mission at the event. we had team members watching from the audience and even pitching their own projects, too.
& where we’re going
buildillinois kickoff - sunday, september 29th
Time: 2:00pm-4:00pm
meet some of the brightest talent on campus, make some new friends, and hear about all our exciting plans for the year! check your email for the rsvp link, and text ishan at 8582618706 if you can’t find it.
EF + buildillinois spotlight!
buildillinois spotlight: nikunj tyagi
our exec got to sit down and chat with nikunj to discuss his personal passions and how he has become a fellow at the startup accelerator and talent investor, entrepreneur first (EF). here is what nikunj had to say:
what have you been up to on campus?
jam sessions: Nikunj brings local artists and creatives from campus together to talk about their crazy life and business ideas in a casual seeing on random weekdays
akpsi (business fraternity): member and mentor
theater club: nikunj decided to take theater 101 this semester in case he decides to become a hollywood actor someday — and to learn about artistic expression & performance
when did your passion for startups ignite?
reading: Inspired by biographies of innovators like steve jobs (steve jobs: a biography) and elon musk, emphasizing the importance of original thinking and crafting one’s own narrative
early experiences running his own chemistry experiments in high school fueled his entrepreneurial mindset
What are some notable experiences from college that have taught you about entrepreneurship?
app development: concierto app, “what’s the move?” app, and building an ai interviewing platform (current)
how did you find EF and how do they support your goals?
scouted by EF recruiters at UIUC through connections with Vice President of BuildIllinois, Ishan Deshpande
nikunj is the first fellow from EF who is juggling school and his startup simultaneously, where he persists to gain a foundational understanding of venture capital and its role in nurturing startups
ef supports nikunj with mentors and a team, with the mission to build a billion-dollar company
what advice do you have for the person reading this (you) who wants to start their own thing but doesn’t know where or how to start?
just start
initiate conversations about your ideas—talk to potential users, identify customer segments, and build prototypes
asking for feedback from prospective users reinforces your creative process and makes it more exciting, so always engage who you want to sell to in the development/design process, exposing yourself to constant feedback
from UIUC dropout to Loom & Atlassian acquisition - Vinay Hiremath (founder spotlight!)
vinay hiremath - computer science student 2010 - 2012 and founder of Loom
vinay left UIUC at age 20 and moved to SF, interested in contributing to start-up culture
he co-founded/served as CTO at Loom, an asynchronous video message company used for communication by businesses and users
Loom was acquired by tech giant Atlassian in 2023 for $975 million
vinay was named to Forbes’ 30 Under 30 class in 2018
tldr; wanna be like vinay? join buildillinois today :)