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Transcript:
Kevin Douglas (00:06):
Today on the Entrepreneurship DU Podcast,
Imani Lige (00:11):
They very much encourage curiosity, I think has really made it such a hub for these unicorns.
Kevin Douglas (00:18):
Three students reflect on an unforgettable trip to one of the world’s largest entrepreneurial ecosystems.
Jackson Donahue (00:24):
They really see each other all as equals and aren’t afraid to challenge each other’s thoughts and we actually got to see that in each business that we got to visit.
Kevin Douglas (00:33):
In December, 2022, entrepreneurship at DU students traveled to Israel for a week of academic and cultural immersion. After 10 weeks in a DU classroom, students took what they learned and saw the sight of Israel from Jerusalem’s Old City to Yemen Ord, a youth village that shelters refugee and at risk Israeli children. It was a unique opportunity to learn real world entrepreneurship, sitting in on academic seminars and visiting several businesses that made their start in Israel. Though it’s smaller than New Jersey, Israel is a big deal in the startup community. It is home to 92 unicorns, which are startups that have reached valuation of $1 billion. Today we’re chatting with Imani, Jackson and Hudson, three students who all took part in dus Israel Interterm course. I’m Kevin Douglas and this is the Entrepreneurship at DU Podcast.
(01:43):
I want to thank our three guests who are with us today, three DU students who all took part in our Israel Interterm course. We have with us Imani Lige, who is a marketing major and leadership in entrepreneurship minor. We have Jackson Donahue Communications, major Entrepreneurship Minor, and Hudson Fetzer, who’s a marketing major and entrepreneurship minor. And all three of our guests today are expected to graduate this year, 2023. So congratulations on the upcoming graduation. Thanks. Yeah, hopefully we make it. Fingers crossed. Great. Well, I just want to go around and hear from each of you. When you first heard about the interterm course, what made you think this is something I want to take part in. Why do you want to experience Israel? Had you been there before? Was it more the entrepreneurship aspect? Did you want to immerse yourself in a new entrepreneurial climate? And Imani, why don’t you kick us off?
Imani Lige (02:46):
I actually was in between this one as well as the Ireland one that’s offered for leadership and for me, I just never really had the opportunity to actually do it a full study abroad. It just wasn’t really in my college plans. And so to kind of take advantage of the interterm, which is a really short one, was something that I really liked to experience. And then honestly, comparative to Ireland, I think Israel seemed like a better option honestly and since I very much wanted to really see a different part of the world, that’s something I usually hear about. I think Israel was just the ideal choice. It wasn’t really about specifically Israel being, it was just that. It just was time and place.
Kevin Douglas (03:29):
What about you, Jackson?
Jackson Donahue (03:31):
Yeah I had a similar reason. I also transferred to Denver University from a small school in upstate New York and that made my time a little more limited here and with Covid I wasn’t able to do abroad and as soon as I saw entrepreneurship as a minor I started taking classes for it and so this course just fit perfectly into my minor and allowing me to get a taste of abroad. And Israel was an awesome experience.
Hudson Fetzer (04:01):
Kind of similar to what Jackson just said. I also transferred schools and because of that, basically they told me the same thing. I wasn’t going to be able to go abroad. So when the opportunity came about where they’re like, yeah, this is good for anybody, and my advisor kind of checked it off, I was like, let’s go. I was just happy to go anywhere and just happened to be that Israel was just extremely fascinating and I think we’re all very fortunate for the experience that we had. I have to say, each city that we went to, we were all kind of like, can we spend a little more time? And each one of the companies as well, because we were basically doing the trip over six days with the program. Some of us dated later and so forth, but everything had to be like boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. And because of that it was just like, we just wish we all had more time. I think that was the takeaway at the end of it.
Kevin Douglas (04:46):
Yeah, that makes sense. I mean, anytime I go to a new city or new country, it’s just never enough time. I wish I could spend one year in every place I’ve gone. Do you think the fact this was framed in an academic course, did that change the way you would’ve treated it compared to a vacation with a family? Do you think that actually made it more fun because you were surrounded by other students who had similar interests and how’d you guys play off each other in that way?
Jackson Donahue (05:14):
I think that it definitely was more successful trip because of the academic process that we had, but it wasn’t overly academic and they still allowed us to do some exploring on our own. But compared to a vacation, I think in a vacation you wouldn’t get to see as much potentially learn as much about the city. You wouldn’t be able to visit the companies that we got to go visit. So in a academic setting, I think that it was important that we had not only to visit the companies, but we had a few assignments during it at and just reflecting at the end of the day, which isn’t something I would often on vacation even if I was traveling to another country, which it made me respect reflecting on the end of the day a whole lot more just to go over what you actually did during that day and reflect on some of the companies that we visited, which were crazy entrepreneurial companies, inventing some crazy new inventions. So I enjoyed the academic part and made some really close friends there as well which I didn’t know any of these kids going into the trip. I hardly knew some of their names and my mind
Hudson Fetzer (06:31):
You hold on. We all spent a quarter together in the classroom for Jackson, not to know everybody names. It’s a little bit concerning.
Kevin Douglas (06:39):
Maybe a bit of an outlier?
Hudson Fetzer (06:41):
Yeah, a little bit.,
Imani Lige (06:43):
I didn’t know his name, but that’s because he decided not to say anything.
Jackson Donahue (06:46):
Yeah, okay. I was a little quiet in the back, but yeah, no, the trip let me open up a little bit more and I became super close with all the kids on the trip and I’m thankful that it was an academic setting as well as a time to adventure on our own.
Hudson Fetzer (07:00):
Yeah, kind of just to tack onto that, mind you, we’d spent the whole quarter learning about Israel and really gaining a pretty good understanding for the people who went on the trip. We ended up reading another book of Let There Be Water and that just provide a little bit more insight not only to what they’ve done in that industry, but also just the culture of the country. And I think that was kind of really important because it let us go to that country with a base knowledge to ask certain questions and to follow certain leads of what we were being taught while we were there. And also it made it feel less educational when we were there and more, hey, we’re here for taking in and asking questions and practicing some of the cultural values that they have over there.
Imani Lige (07:45):
Yeah, I fully agree with both of the statements As someone who’s like doesn’t really go on vacation and it’s my first time out of the country and I get a passport to even do this whole trip, I found that being able to learn about Israel and it’s place in the world was super monumental, important to understand what was happening and having more context, even what our tour guide was saying, because he was saying that he does tour guides for a lot of different people, a lot of different N B A programs, and he actually said even we were really well versed in what was happening and what we were looking at and going into because of all the preparation that was so it was actually made a lot of the knowledge that we gained a lot more enjoyable and more just foundational to what we were actually going to be coming back with.
Kevin Douglas (08:33):
Yeah, I guess compared to someone just going there for the beaches, you got to enjoy the beautiful beaches but also really enriched your understanding of the country and its role in the world, especially in the world of entrepreneurship. What were we going to say Hudson?
Hudson Fetzer (08:46):
Yeah, no, I don’t want to like anyone to misunderstand. We had a ton of fun. It was basically every night we were out playing beach volleyball till two in the morning. I have the
Imani Lige (08:56):
Pictures.
Hudson Fetzer (08:57):
It was just really fun. And yes, there’s professors on the trip and so forth, but at the end we’re all sitting around the table and it’s like you’re calling them by their first names. It’s super casual, laid back. I mean, just a fun time. So as Jackson was kind of pointing on the people that you meet on this trip, and I think a lot of people say this about all their broad experiences it’s really impactful, but it speaks even more to it just because of how quickly everything takes place and just how quickly those relationships can grow. Definitely.
Kevin Douglas (09:25):
It was what, seven days? It was a week in Israel. Yeah. So sharing hotel, were you guys sharing room with Yeah, we were living together.
Imani Lige (09:34):
Some people were sharing rooms,
Hudson Fetzer (09:36):
Most of us getting lost in the city together at night. Can’t read anything you like. All right, let’s figure it out. And
Kevin Douglas (09:42):
Real fast that way. Yeah, that’s
Imani Lige (09:44):
Amazing. Taking the bus off. The bus trips were the bus.
Hudson Fetzer (09:47):
Yeah, the bus was awesome. I have to say that was some of the other things that we noticed was other students really coming out of their shells and we cracked a joke at Jackson, but there’s other kids that generally went from giving presentations, but you’d notice shaking fear to cracking jokes on the trip and being comfortable with us. And when you look back at it, that’s what was most meaningful. Those were the moments that you’re going to remember and the bus ride and everyone’s kind of a little bit dazed at night and are whatever it might be. And then the early mornings when everyone’s stumbling down at seven in the morning ready to go and after not
Kevin Douglas (10:21):
Getting any sleep.
Hudson Fetzer (10:22):
Not getting any sleep. Maybe you went to bed at three or four. I definitely went to bed earlier than that because I’m kind of lame sometimes, but Okay.
Kevin Douglas (10:31):
Any funny stories that really stand out? I heard mumblings of someone getting lost on the bus or getting left behind on the bus, or did I imagine that
Hudson Fetzer (10:43):
We did take off without somebody? That did happen.
Kevin Douglas (10:46):
It did.
Imani Lige (10:47):
That was me. No, you guys left me on the bus, remember?
Hudson Fetzer (10:50):
Oh yeah, we did. We just left you there. You were like, where’s Imani? And she was asleep on the bus still.
Imani Lige (10:56):
Yeah, so what happened is was I think it was the third to last day. Second to last day, and we went somewhere and we had food and you know get sleepy after you eat and we went to college and rather than sitting in the normal spot that I was, which was around a lot of people, I was like, okay, I’m going to lay down for a little bit, it’ll be fine. They won’t forget me. I was just like, it’ll be fine. And I fell asleep and I wake up and I look at our bus driver and he’s driving away from the college that we were going to talk with people at and I stand there and I’m just like, no one’s on the bus and he’s driving away. So I had to, he called our tour guide and then I was calling professor and we were just trying to figure out what was happening and then I had away at the gate and that was really weird because they just would not let me in. They did not understand anything I was saying and I just was having to wait for a tour guide to come explain why I was there because they were super heavy on security and safety. So I’m just standing there petrified, try not to seem inconspicuous, just waiting for our tour guys to come get me so that I can go to the presentation.
Kevin Douglas (12:00):
That sounds so stressful.
Hudson Fetzer (12:02):
And no one realized it till we were in the classroom about to start the presentation and then people started getting phone calls and we were like, wait a minute, short. We’re a little short here. Yeah.
Kevin Douglas (12:12):
Well I’m glad you found your way back. Oh god. Big. Especially with the language barrier, it sounds like that was an issue too.
Jackson Donahue (12:18):
Definitely. It’s just,
Kevin Douglas (12:19):
Oh, it’s so difficult.
Hudson Fetzer (12:20):
I have to say though, most of that country speaks better English than people do here. Really? Yeah, it’s pretty impressive and I think if you can pick up a few of the words and kind of really just approach any, yeah, that’s Bubba. Really just approach anybody in a friendly way that can take you pretty far and that’s definitely what you see in the drill.
Kevin Douglas (12:40):
Any phrases you guys picked up in Hebrew that stuck with you or maybe funny insults or something?
Imani Lige (12:47):
SBA Sabba?
Kevin Douglas (12:48):
Yep. What is that? It’s cool. Oh, okay. Yeah, I thought you were going to swear or something. No,
Jackson Donahue (12:52):
No, no. Actually
Imani Lige (12:54):
I actually have a shirt that says it on it, but in Hebrew and it took my workout shirt. It’s a wonderful shirt. Wear just
Kevin Douglas (12:59):
Out. I mean, it’s a cooler word than cool. Yeah, for sure.
Jackson Donahue (13:02):
Yeah, and Yala means let’s go.
Hudson Fetzer (13:06):
Yeah, Yala means let’s go. I think it means something else in Arabic as well, but I don’t remember. I think that’s what we were told also. Oh, there’s another song that’s like something Tel Aviv, that side note. Two of my roommates were also on this trip with us and in the class and so forth, so we have another friend who is Jewish and has family that lives in Israel, and so he sent us this song which is just chanting Tel Aviv and very celebrative and we all started singing it on the bus and having fun. And at the end our tour guide’s like, that’s funny, that song, it’s all about gay pride in Israel and so forth. And we learned a lot while we were there just but also kind of were ignorant to other things as well, so to speak.
Kevin Douglas (13:48):
Yeah, they’ll definitely, I guess, put you in your place. It sounds like they were pretty just blunt or straightforward with you. Very,
Jackson Donahue (13:54):
Yeah. Yeah. Oh, the bush ride.
Jackson Donahue (13:57):
Is That what you’re thinking about? No, I was thinking about the coin, my left
Hudson Fetzer (14:00):
Coin. Oh yeah. Wait, you have to hear this
Kevin Douglas (14:02):
Story over the coin. Yeah
Jackson Donahue (14:04):
I was very ignorant when I landed and I was coming off of, I don’t know, a 24 travel day, which that was a lot. And the time there was around 7:00 PM but we’re nine hours earlier so I was just all messed up. My taxi driver was a super nice guy and he suggested that we go get some memorabilia and right there, I should have known that was <laugh>, a little bit suspicious. And so he took me to the shop because I told him how we were in part of an entrepreneurship. He’s like, oh, my friend’s an entrepreneur. He owns this memorabilia shop. It’s amazing. We went to the shop and I spent 30 minutes talking to the owner about how he built his shop up, how he was multiple stores. We drank some tea together, he was super nice. Then I started trying on some things like a little necklace with a coin. The coin was an ancient Greek coin, so it was pretty expensive. And
Hudson Fetzer (15:12):
It was an ancient Greek coin. Yeah,
Jackson Donahue (15:13):
It was an ancient, it was an ancient Greek coin. Okay. And it was all verified by the museum, apparently
Kevin Douglas (15:22):
<laugh> what he told
Jackson Donahue (15:23):
You. Yeah. That’s what he told you. And they gave me a slip. I ended up purchasing the item kind of an accident because I had it on. They were like, what type of card do you have? And I pull out my card and just takes it. Oh. And he’s like, all right, let’s run it. And then I thought it was in Sheckles and it ended up being in American dollars. Anyways, I bought a coin for a thousand US dollars. Oh. I had to go back to the store without any service and return it, and I ended up buying it for cheaper than that half the price or something, and thought it was in shekel. So I got scammed in the first hour of being there. It ended up being a funny store to tell in the end. And I still have this really cool coin. Well, there you go.
Hudson Fetzer (16:08):
I appraised yet by Alex’s dad’s friend or who
Jackson Donahue (16:11):
He was. No, they need to fax it to him. So yeah,
Kevin Douglas (16:16):
I’m glad I wound up being, or hopefully it still will want to be an authentic coin.
Jackson Donahue (16:20):
I think it is authentic and and worth somewhere around the price that I bought it for. I’m hoping for maybe a little bit more. He sold it to me as an investment. He’s like, this thing only goes up. Not like crypto. Yeah, <laugh> fantastic. Okay.
Kevin Douglas (16:35):
No, don’t feel bad about, I won’t go into the full story, but when I was in Greece, I got scammed by someone who claimed to be a small business owner who took me into a bar that was surprisingly fancy compared to the rest of the things on the street. And the bartender poured me and herself little champagne glasses, which wound up being about $200 each for one glass of champagne. Yeah. So don’t feel bad.
Hudson Fetzer (17:02):
Is that because of the quality of the champagne or is that because of just the strength of the dollar?
Kevin Douglas (17:07):
I don’t think it was actually quality of the champagne at all.
Hudson Fetzer (17:11):
So you just strictly got scammed.
Kevin Douglas (17:12):
They just, they fully, because then they smiled at me and showed me the menu and said, guess how much you just paid for these? And I said I don’t know. They got a kick out. They’re smiling about it.
Jackson Donahue (17:26):
I call it a learning experience,
Kevin Douglas (17:28):
All learning. That’s what being an entrepreneur is. You don’t fail. You have learning experiences. Yeah, exactly.
Hudson Fetzer (17:33):
Yeah. We just keep moving
Kevin Douglas (17:34):
Forward. Exactly. Well that, that’s actually a good segue into the educational side of this, and especially the entrepreneurial side of this. You’re all entrepreneurship minors, and I’m sure you all going into this trip had a certain view of what an entrepreneurship means to you. We always introduce our guests as creators, creatives, innovators, and problem solvers. So whichever of those you feel most applies to yourself. Do you believe this trip to Israel, the things you learned about the culture there, all the unicorns that have come out of Israel, the companies you got to tour compared to the maybe the culture of US startups, has your view of entrepreneurship expanded? Has it changed since the trip?
Imani Lige (18:21):
Definitely, yeah. I think for me, as someone who looks at entrepreneurship in a very critical lens, especially within the whole of society, the way that Israel, not only that their companies have done it, but their government has assisted in that I think has been one of the biggest things that I would like to see replicated in America. Because the way that Israel has gone about insisting that people be creative, that people think outside the box, that people try to problem solve in places that they wouldn’t literally do it in, I think has really made it be such a hub for these unicorns because they’re allowed to fail multiple times. They’re allowed to try things. The country is based off of a very entrepreneurial spirit being it having to come from a space that did not want them there and just being able to have water that’s in excess that they can sell to their neighbors, to being having one of the most expensive cities in the world where 60, 70, 80 years ago, nothing was there. So I think in general, the government and what they do there has really shifted and made us almost reflect on what America doesn’t do for their entrepreneurs and what can be done to further entrepreneurship in America.
Hudson Fetzer (19:44):
I think it was also interesting because one of the things that we did get to ask towards the end as we started to some of these, started talking to some of these entrepreneurs and our last day there, I was able to ask a question. I was like, well, what’s some of the downsides to running a business in Israel and so forth. And while they’ve done a really good job at the country growing and expanding and being able to create unbelievable infrastructure and to come up with these solutions and can talk on that more in a second. Did you talk about how government does get in the way and how there’s certain aspects of when you go to different places that there’s advantages and disadvantages and I think one of the biggest advantages for Israel, and this is something we read about with Let There Be Water was, all right, these are our circumstances and so forth.
(20:28):
If we were to come up with a solution, what would it be? And then from that, they’re just like, okay, now let’s do it. They didn’t take it as like, no, this isn’t possible. No, this isn’t going to work. It’s like, we don’t know how it’s going to work. We don’t know what we’re going to do to make it work, but if we were going to do it, this is how we would do it. So let’s just give it a shot. And I think that’s a really important kind of thing for entrepreneurs to hear and to kind of also embody, because I think you talked about being creative or a problem solver. I think it’s all of those things in one, you have to kind of face a problem, but then also look at it in a creative way that someone hasn’t looked at it yet. And that’s kind of why we see, I think Israel has so much innovation is because they have a lot of problems that they need to deal with, but they’re just like, well, this is it. Let’s make it work.
Jackson Donahue (21:14):
The only other thing I have to add, I agree with what both of ’em said, but only other thing I have to add is we talked a whole lot about chutzpah before going there and actually going to visit the companies and see who are in leadership positions. It was a lot of female leadership positions, which was awesome to see. And I think that because of the requirement to serve in the military, they really see each other all as equals and aren’t afraid to challenge each other’s thoughts. And we actually got to see that in each business that we got to visit. And that was something that’s very different from the US and how businesses work here where it’s a very hierarch, very much a hierarchy where you can’t talk to the boss if you’re an intern or something. And in Israel, they’re completely fine with you speaking up and speaking out against it as long as you’re learning from your experiences, which that was so awesome to see.
Kevin Douglas (22:14):
Yeah. The concept of managing upwards, I guess it’s still very stigmatized here in the us it sounds like it’s very much encouraged and in a startup and entrepreneurial environment, it’s extra important because your boss is also figuring it out as you’re going along, essentially. They’re still building the plane as it’s flying, it’s still getting established, so Right. Yeah, it’s great. It’s great that that’s such a precedent there.
Hudson Fetzer (22:38):
I would kind of say to Jackson’s point with two of the other students that are on the trip, we’re actually working on a starter right now. And through Stratasys, the 3D printing company, the person we met there was David Rice, or Rice, I believe, rice. Rice. And we met him there, and he’s the founder of one of the original merging companies as well as the former sitting CEO and now chairman. And we were on a tour with him, t talking to him casually, and at the end you said, Hey, this is what we’re working on. Is there any resources that you may have? And I shot him in an email just a few days ago just to catch back up, and now it’s full swing working with each other again. And we’re just like, we’re just three students that kind of have this idea from du, and he’s full swing. Yeah, we’re going to make this work for you. Let’s see what we can do. So it’s just a really cool kind of aspect that Jackson brought up that I think I’m definitely grateful for.
Imani Lige (23:29):
No, I actually, alongside that, we actually toured at this hub that is getting together Desert Tech, and I even very similar. We just were having a conversation. They did their little intro, and at the end I kind of made a half joke. I was like, oh, I really wish you guys had an internship available. And they were like, well, let me send you an email. And so I’m talking to them about getting meeting up with them and seeing what possibilities are there for me to go back and look into their things because they very much encourage curiosity, and they very much encourage being able to figure things out and get new opinions and see what else is out there. And I think that is another big thing that Israel has, that America is trying to gain really is just being able to be curious and be okay with that failure if you don’t get it right the first time.
Jackson Donahue (24:16):
Yeah, they love diverse perspectives and encourage them.
Kevin Douglas (24:20):
You already kind of touched on this, but the entire experience, if you could just consolidate it into a piece of advice that one of these founders or CEOs gave touring the companies or a piece of wisdom from one of your tour guides or even maybe a learning experience you had at the coin shop but what is one piece of knowledge or wisdom you will take with you into your next entrepreneurial venture?
Imani Lige (24:53):
I definitely would take, I think I’ve always been one of the people who, if I know I can do it, I’ll do it. But if I’m not really sure, I’ll be super hesitant on it. And ever since I got back, I’ve been making a lot of moves just personally as a professional, trying about to graduate being a student. So really being able to just go get it and just do it. And if you fail, you fail and it’s going to suck. And you know, might be told no, you might be told maybe later, but it’s really about just keep trying and keep trying. And I think that’s something I really took from Israel was that they just not stop. They were just keep going, keep going, try again, do something different, try again. And I think that’s really helped, especially going into this new quarter and having that mindset when you’re so close to the finish line. But just so far,
Jackson Donahue (25:45):
Yeah, kind of going off of that I think almost every business that we visited were very impressed by how young our age group was there and they were like, you’re at an age in your life where you can go out and do whatever you want, go lose all your money starting a business, at least you’re going to learn from it, and then you’ll regroup afterwards because we’re still young. And I think my biggest take away from that was similar, just go out and do what you want to do, whatever you love, whatever you’re passionate about, and go try it. Or if that’s traveling or if that’s starting a business like Hudson’s doing. But yeah, that was my main takeaway to go get it.
Hudson Fetzer (26:31):
Yeah, I think all in all, that’s was one of the biggest takeaways, especially the failure side of it. I know that’s kind of been a repetitive message here, but it’s really something that I think is important. And this wasn’t somebody that we met on the trip, but a family friend actually, that I was connected to kind of said two things that stuck with me when we left, and one of ’em was now I’m drawing a blank. One of ’em was just about the people that you surround yourself with, and he’s talking about business partners and friends, and he said, if you shook me upside down, the most valuable thing to follow in my pockets would be my friendships. And I think that was really important coming from somebody who’s done really well for themself, because it shows you, if you really want to go far in this world and you want to make an impact, that affects not only you but society for the better.
(27:18):
You can’t really do it alone, and you got to surround yourself with really good people. And I think that we all kind of got a sense of that when we were on that trip, which was really important. Kind of going back to our whole thing on failures, and I don’t know if I believe this is true or not, but you said there’s a certain set number of failures that you’re going to face in your life, but eventually if you keep swinging, you’re going to hit the ball. And it’s the people who are willing to just keep doing that and not going about things in the same way as they did when they failed, but making tweaks and adjustments and just persevering. And I think that was really one of the biggest messages that we got. And I think if we took away anything, it was just kind of Jackson’s point is we’re young and out there, it’s you go do your military time and then you go to college and then you start your career. So we were speaking to other college students who were 27, 25 years old, and they’re second or even just first year. So it was really interesting in that sense as well.
Kevin Douglas (28:12):
Finally, we have some just rapid questions we ask all our guests at the end of the episodes. First question is, how do you define success,
Hudson Fetzer (28:23):
Happiness, health, and the people that you surround yourself with each day? And being able to put your head down at the end of the day knowing that you did an honest day’s worth of work.
Jackson Donahue (28:34):
I’d say setting goals and doing your best to achieve those goals every day, and finding happiness and making other people around you happy as well.
Imani Lige (28:47):
Accepting the past, being content with the present and looking forward to tomorrow.
Kevin Douglas (28:53):
That was beautiful. Nice. Well said. Other question is what is the best or worst piece of advice you’ve ever received?
Imani Lige (29:15):
Always go for what you want. Even if it’s the moon, just do it.
Jackson Donahue (29:19):
That’s a good one. Ah, I’d say the best advice was probably just my parents telling me to be around people that you enjoy.
Hudson Fetzer (29:31):
Yeah. I think the one that sticks with me the most is also parents, specifically my dad. And the only job you start on top is digging a hole.
Kevin Douglas (29:38):
Oh,
Hudson Fetzer (29:38):
Wow. Yeah. So
Kevin Douglas (29:40):
Man, I feel like I’m learning a lot today. And then just really quick, what were each of your favorite destinations you got to see in Israel?
Hudson Fetzer (29:51):
I would say favorite experience for me was the Dead Sea but all in all, I think what’s most fascinating about Israel is traveling from somewhere Jerusalem through to Tel Aviv and then up to Haifa and Crea, where you go from some of the most historical, well, the most historical places really in the world, especially when it comes to religion. And then going to somewhere where it’s like if you were put on the boardwalk, you’re like, this is Southern California, <laugh>, like, we’re on Huntington Beach,
Imani Lige (30:19):
This is cool. Yeah,
Hudson Fetzer (30:20):
Yeah. And then you go even farther north and it’s like crusades shipping ports and inches, shipping ports and everything. And then you’re just in their crusades, the crusader city, and you’re just like, what the is going on? It’s wild. So yeah. Yeah,
Jackson Donahue (30:33):
I’d say tagging along on that. We started in Jerusalem and toured there very quickly, but saw an amazing amount of things. And the Byzantine Empires, the streets where they did trading on, we got to see that street. And one thing I just appreciated there was their history is like 6,000 years old, and our country’s history is what, 400 years old?
Kevin Douglas (31:00):
Yeah, barely, right? Yeah. It’s like
Jackson Donahue (31:02):
Barely a baby compared to Jerusalem. So that was incredible. And then like Hudson said, going from there to just some of these super high tech companies as well as one of the most expensive and wealthiest cities in the world that really did look like California when you’re on the beach. It was amazing. And that was my favorite part.
Imani Lige (31:28):
I think mine actually was the Village return, which was ym, and it was right next to the city of Haifa, which also was weird. We saw the gardens, and for some reason, I’m one of those kind of people who’s like, I’m not a big city person, but I’m not countryside either. And that mixture just was really nice, and I just felt really at peace there.
Kevin Douglas (31:47):
Well, it sounds like a really memorable experience. I’m glad you all got to do it. And would you go again?
Jackson Donahue (31:53):
Yes, absolutely.
Hudson Fetzer (31:54):
In a heartbeat. Yeah.
Kevin Douglas (31:56):
All right. I want to thank all of you, Imani Jackson. Hudson, thank you so much for coming to the studio and for being part of entrepreneurship at du. Thank
Jackson Donahue (32:04):
You. Thanks for having us. Thank
Hudson Fetzer (32:05):
You for having us. Yeah,
Kevin Douglas (32:06):
Yeah, of course. The entrepreneurship at DU podcast was recorded in Marjorie Reed Hall on the University of Denver campus. You can find us on Instagram at du Entrepreneur, on Twitter, at underscore entrepreneur, and on Facebook at entrepreneurship at DU entrepreneurship. At DU is part of the Daniels College of Business, which has its own podcast. By the way. Check out Voices of Experience available wherever you get your podcasts.
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