Introducing Erik Logan as a Mentor for the Master of Science in Entrepreneurship Program
The Master of Science in Entrepreneurship is Foster’s new 12-month degree that embodies the startup process — from ideation and formation to execution and scale. It blends the best of business school education, practical content, world-class Seattle connections, and time in the program for students to get their startup off the ground. Our goal for students: turn that spark into reality.
Erik Logan
President/CEO/Co-Founder, Pogo Linux
B.S., Computer Science, University of California Santa Barbara
M.B.A., University of Washington
I mentor student entrepreneurs for two reasons. First, entrepreneurship is hard. Not only are there many difficult business decisions to make, but it is also an emotional roller coaster. Having been through the ups and downs of more than one start‐up, I feel I have at least some knowledge that can be helpful to first-time entrepreneurs. Second, I feel being a mentor is just one more opportunity to improve upon my skill set. Becoming a better mentor and teacher will help me in my other business and personal pursuits while also enabling me to give back to the Foster School.
As a mentor, I excel at…
Business Strategy, Sales, Marketing, Business Development, Pitching, Operations.
Don’t ask me about…
Financial modeling.
The one thing people should know about me is…
I try to find humor in every situation.
My favorite entrepreneurial book, blog, podcast is…
Nothing beats a good HBR article.
When I have free time, I…
Work on other entrepreneurial projects :). When I really want to get away from work, I like to travel and go to the beach.
I manage everyday stress by…
Exercise and plenty of sleep. Also, I try to keep things in perspective. Worrying about outcomes you have no control over is wasted time.
If I’m going out to dinner, I’ll generally order…
A hamburger, nachos, or fish tacos.
As a kid, I was fascinated by…
Anything to do with science or computers. I remember watching the PBS series ‘Planet Earth’ as a kid and being totally enthralled. My parents bought me the companion book and after reading it cover to cover many times I often annoyed my older brother by trying to explain plate tectonics to him. My first computer was a Macintosh SE/30. I wrote my first arcade game in the 5th grade and was hooked.
As an adult, I’m fascinated by…
I am still fascinated by science, but also enjoy the liberal arts. I really enjoyed all the classes in my Foster MBA and my favorite non‐technical class in undergrad was art history. In general I love learning and expanding my skill set.
The person I admire most is…
Warren Buffet.
I describe myself as…
Fun, energetic, thoughtful, passionate, driven.
My motto/tagline is…
Two really.
Celebrate the wins, take the setbacks in stride.
Every dollar you spend should have a direct impact on revenue.
Anything else we should know about you?
I am really looking forward to being a mentor in the program and can’t wait to meet the students!
