Introduction

University

We have to re-understand the university. People have gone crazy. Everyone has forgotten what a university is for.

What use is the university? As far as I'm concerned, university is for two things: to learn and to make friends. These are two extremely important things and both have the same weight.

But what does that even mean? And why is that so important? Let's see.

Learning is being able to do new things. If you are not able to do something new, you have not learned. Perhaps you have understood it, or you think you have understood it, but understanding is useless if it does not enable you to do. Have you never studied for an exam, but then you didn't really know how to execute what you were memorizing? Imagine if driving classes are only theoretical. It can't be done. You have to step on the pedals and turn the wheel – there's no point in understanding it. Understanding is not enough. You have to be able to do it. We are people living lives, not wikipedia pages. Learning is doing. And doing is learning.

Making friends is expanding your social horizons. Surely you've heard the phrase: tell me who you're with and I'll tell you what you're like. It is quite true. Do you think you behave the same with everyone? I hope not. Your personality adapts when you are with your parents or your grandparents, or your girlfriend or your friends – and it even depends on which friends. Because personality only makes sense when you relate to others. Are you edgy? You are kind? You're funny? Are you spiteful? They are things that only make sense if there is another person. Therefore, it is logical that our personality depends on who we are with. That is why making new friends means inhabiting new psychological environments. It is the best way for your personality to evolve, play with new ideas and understand more realities.

And this is what college is for: learning and making friends.

This book is about starting businesses in college, but you'll find that a lot of it is about learning and making friends. Because that is the true value of the university and that is what will help you create and manage projects. Passing exams is the most insignificant, useless and sterile thing you will do in college. Going to the bathroom to shit is possibly more important in your life. You can die if you don't discharge, but no one dies from failing an exam. Getting a degree? It's a paper. It is worth to clean yourself afterwards.

If you are in college and your goal is to succeed in life, don't forget that the most important thing is to learn and to make friends.

Summary

• Learning is being capable of new things.
• Making friends is expanding your social horizons.

Message to the reader

Correct me if I'm wrong: what you lack are not ideas, you always have many ideas. The problem is that you have so many ideas and you see so many possibilities in your head that you sometimes get all excited; but later you get depressed. Sometimes your ideas seem very good to you and other times you think they are rubbish and you are disappointed in yourself.

Nor is it a problem that you lack experience or resources; because nobody starts with experience or resources and still things are achieved. However, very often you get overwhelmed, because you don't know where to start; You don't see the path clearly and you end up doing less than what you had set out to do. Has it ever happened to you?

The problem is that you don't have a method. You don't have an order. You don't have the recipe. But if you had a method, everything would be different. A method is a set of steps to follow to do something. In other words: methods are ways to reach an end. It implies acting in an orderly and calculated way.

Don't know where to start? That's what the method is for. Don't know what to leave for last? Please refer to the method. What do you need to do at each moment? The method guides you.

If you are at university and want to lead a movement, materialize a project or create a company, the Golden Walrus is the best method. It is a series of steps to create and lead university entrepreneurial teams, the result of which is an extraordinary learning process and, in many cases, the creation of companies.

Two years ago I started participating in team projects. Until then, he had always worked alone and had no big goals. He was an inexperienced student and didn't think he could achieve much in life. My family is humble and had no resources of any kind. I only had three good friends, and that was enough.

Two years later, I am proud to say that I am extremely wealthy; not in money, but in friends and experiences. And of all the mistakes I could have made, there's one thing I've done right: I've enjoyed every step of the way.

In the wise words of Hemingway:

It's good to have an end to the road; but it is the path that matters, in the end.

🐣 Discover Golden Walrus

The pages that you are going to read here are a guide for you to create and lead an entrepreneurial team at your university following the the Golden Walrus method. This method was the reason for the success of my teams at university: Arteverse and Artifacts, and later Gik's, while I was studying at university – and also helped other teams like Creart (Tot-em's junior), Equis and others college student companies that I had the pleasure of helping. The Golden Walrus model contains all the necessary know-how, as well as concepts, tools and ideas that will allow you to create companies, especially if you are in university.

An important part of this model is learning by doing.

There is no value reading this book if you are not building a team at the same time. You cannot replace the value of experience with words, pictures and schemes. That's why I explain everything, from the first to the last step, so that it accompanies you on the way. And I am confident that these directions will make you capable of creating and leading a team, and getting the learning that allows you to achieve the goals you set for yourself.

How? With who? Is it possible to create a company at the university? Not only is it possible, but it is the most stimulating experience that a university student can experience. And the best thing is that it doesn't matter what you study. The activity of the team does not matter, it only matters to live the process. The mere fact of recruiting a team, setting objectives and having real contact with the professional world will already be valuable learning.

Through this method, all the team members you recruit will experience a year-long process that will change their lives. You can understand that year as something parallel to an academic year. It starts in September and ends 365 days later.

It will be a process with strong doses of learning loaded with first times: the first time you recruit a team, the first meeting with someone important, the first client, the first account entry, trips, unforgettable moments and many new friends. They will be happy moments that you can celebrate with your colleagues and that will inflate your ego of self-esteem. But it may also be the first time that a partner abandons you, the first time that something you had given yourself to is unsuccessful, or the first time that you cannot blame someone else.

All this will prepare you for the challenges of the future, both personal and professional, whether you are going to create a company or get a job. In short: it will help you get where you want to go.

How is Golden Walrus organized?

Golden Walrus runs parallel to the academic year, so everyone can experience it without getting in the way of their academic life.

Golden Walrus is designed in a cyclical way, adapted to the reality of a university student. The university academic year is also a cycle that is repeated every year: classes start in September/October, and in June students have vacations. In addition, there are two moments of great demand: the exams. WaLP adapts to this reality, and repeats itself until you decide to graduate. In addition, activity spikes occur at times when there are no exams.

Take a look at this timeline:

The first step is to discover Golden Walrus. You are already doing that, so congratulations; you have taken the first step 🐣.

Then you must understand the challenge that is presented to you. Then you will have to make a decision: to do it 🤘 or not to do it 👎 . Once you do that, start the action:

First you will convince a small number of people to join you, creating a founding team 👨‍👨‍👦. Together you will begin to attract clients, get a space and register a junior company. During the process, you will learn how WaLP works.

When you already have a certain filming and you feel ready to share the learning with more people, it's time to increase the team. Therefore, in June you will organize an event to recruit new members 📢, called Open Call.

Once you have a team, the WaLP cycle begins properly. It happens in September, at the same time as the academic year begins. In September you will lead the new team and achieve things you never thought were possible 🚀 .

Shall we start?