Startups

Josh Kopelman: ‘Entrepreneurship is a mindset, not a profession’

By Chadwick Prichard Back when Josh Kopelman was a 20-something entrepreneur, he was handling $50 million deals but he wasn’t old enough to rent a car. That’s just one of the anecodotes the First Round Capital managing partner told at an event hosted by Alpha Kappa Psi, Penn’s business fraternity. Below, event organizer Chadwick Prichard‘s takeaways […]

First Round Capital's Josh Kopelman at Wharton in March 2013. (Photo via Wharton)
First Round Capital's Josh Kopelman spoke at Wharton earlier this month.

First Round Capital’s Josh Kopelman spoke at Wharton in February.

By Chadwick Prichard

Back when Josh Kopelman was a 20-something entrepreneur, he was handling $50 million deals but he wasn’t old enough to rent a car. That’s just one of the anecodotes the First Round Capital managing partner told at an event hosted by Alpha Kappa Psi, Penn’s business fraternity.

Below, event organizer Chadwick Prichard‘s takeaways from the event. Read about another recent Alpha Kappa Psi event featuring Union Square Ventures’ Fred Wilson here.

  • Entrepreneurship is more often than not a mindset, rather than a profession. The most successful entrepreneurs recognize a problem that needs to be solved and can’t sleep until they do something about it.
  • Irony can be funny. Kopelman once flew out to the West Coast to close a deal for $50 million as an entrepreneur, and since he was under 25, Hertz would not let him rent a car. He was responsible enough to handle $50 million, but not a rental car.
  • Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than smart. Kopelman sold his company Half.com to eBay for $350 million at the height of the internet boom in February of 2000. The bubble burst just a few weeks later in March.
Companies: First Round Capital

Before you go...

Please consider supporting Technical.ly to keep our independent journalism strong. Unlike most business-focused media outlets, we don’t have a paywall. Instead, we count on your personal and organizational support.

3 ways to support our work:
  • Contribute to the Journalism Fund. Charitable giving ensures our information remains free and accessible for residents to discover workforce programs and entrepreneurship pathways. This includes philanthropic grants and individual tax-deductible donations from readers like you.
  • Use our Preferred Partners. Our directory of vetted providers offers high-quality recommendations for services our readers need, and each referral supports our journalism.
  • Use our services. If you need entrepreneurs and tech leaders to buy your services, are seeking technologists to hire or want more professionals to know about your ecosystem, Technical.ly has the biggest and most engaged audience in the mid-Atlantic. We help companies tell their stories and answer big questions to meet and serve our community.
The journalism fund Preferred partners Our services
Engagement

Join our growing Slack community

Join 5,000 tech professionals and entrepreneurs in our community Slack today!

Trending

16 places to responsibly dispose of old electronics in Philadelphia

19 tech and entrepreneurship events to check out before the holidays

Are digital navigators the answer to closing Philadelphia’s tech gap?

Expect high-speed internet at 100 Philly rec centers in 2025, Verizon says

Technically Media