Doug Interacts with the Audience at Wednesday’s Innovation Conversations

“What is a side hustle? Bagging groceries? Driving for Uber?”

These questions were thrown to the crowd by Doug Villhard, Olin’s new Professor and Academic Director for Entrepreneurship, during the Innovation Conversations event on Wednesday, September 18. As the CEO and Co-Founder of Second Street, as well as the Chairman and Co-Founder of a non-profit high school, Doug shared his experience regarding how to select, launch, and grow a side hustle. 

To start a side hustle, Doug recommends coming up with ten ideas through introspection. One should consider questions such as, “What am I good at?”, “Does this match my expertise”, and “When doing this, what challenges do I encounter?”. Then, the question of which one matters the most should be evaluated. Besides passion and interest, Doug believes that feasibility and scalability are also important in deciding which side hustle to pursue.

Sanjali Munot, a WashU Sophomore studying Entrepreneurship and Psychology, shared:

“I learned the value of having structure to creativity”

This “structure” was Doug’s seven general categories to side hustles: Product, Service, Retail Arbitrage, Knowledge Commerce, Experience, Talent, and Investment. Similarly, Doug also came up with seven traits that signal a person as suitable for a side hustle: 

• Enjoys networking
• Ever curious
• Tireless work ethic
• Welcomes feedback
• Not afraid to fail
• Laser-focused
• Cares about others

Engaged Audience Listening to Doug’s Experiences

If you fit these descriptions, perhaps you should start a side hustle too!

Doug is looking to promote “more entrepreneurial thinking and startups at WashU”. You can read more about Doug here!

If you want to attend our next Innovation Conversations, or discover other Skandalaris events, follow this link, and we hope to see you soon!