SoFi Blog

We recently announced the newest members SoFi Entrepreneur Program, a group of promising SoFi members who are starting businesses while also paying off student loans. As they progress through the program, we’ve asked each member to share important lessons they’ve learned on their road to startup success.

With the average student loan debt burden on the rise, it’s little wonder that loans often hold people back from pursuing their entrepreneurial goals. At SoFi, we’ve heard these stories time and again – friends, classmates and SoFi members who dream of starting their own businesses, but who feel trapped in a traditional job because they need to make that loan payment each month.

A year ago, SoFi member Elena Foukes Lucas was the lowest-level analyst at a Fortune 200 company. Today she’s a co-founder and CEO of a renewable energy startup. Elena’s adventurous path to a more fulfilling life and career, including her experience with SoFi Career Strategy, is an inspiring story for anyone who’s pondered the pros and cons of starting a business while repaying student loan debt.

Read the full post about Elena’s experience over on Women 2.0.

It’s a common story: your friend or family member has “a million dollar idea,” but doesn’t have the money or wherewithal to back it. Then another person comes along and invents it, getting all the money and notoriety that comes along with it. While it was nothing more than an idea in your Aunt Debbie’s head, she still takes it personally whenever she hears about it on the news. Who knew that a social network for dogs would take off?

Jennifer Beall, Founder & CEO of Tot Squad, does not have the average startup story.  As she puts it, “Everyone else wanted to start the next Facebook, while I was working on cleaning baby poop off of car seats.”  But Jennifer, Kellogg MBA ’10 and Duke ’05, and her business are about more than just stroller and car seat cleaning/installation.   She and Tot Squad are on a mission to make moms happier, kids safer and the world a better place.