Pine View Thinkbox Club kicked off the year Oct. 7 with a presentation from Ted Talk speaker Anand Pallegar. Pellegar spoke about his experiences as CEO and founder of his own technology company, atLarge, Inc.
Twelfth-grader and Thinkbox president Meghana Krishnakumar, worked with the Pine View Foundation to bring the speaker to Pine View. This was the Pine View Foundation’s first meeting since Principal Steve Largo’s retirement.
Pallegar founded atLarge in 2006 and is currently its senior strategist. He has been interested in technology since college, when he ran his own successful web company. He has given talks on numerous occasions, including at a function in Paris and in a TED Talks video. TED Talks are videos under twenty minutes in which a successful individual discusses a certain topic.
Students listened to Pallegar’s experiences as CEO of his own company. He showed students how he did not start in a glamorous way, as his company first began in his condo. Currently, his business is producing web pages and technology for businesses such as IMG Sarasota and Ringling Museum.
Krishnakumar started Thinkbox last January with the main goal of giving students the opportunity to learn about business strategies from numerous speakers who are successful entrepreneurs. “I want lots of kids to have exposure to business; that will then help their future,” she said.
This presentation was open to all students, and two eighth-grade classes were among the high school students who attended. When the crowd was polled before the presentation began, many people said they were there to either hear experiences as an entrepreneur, or to learn what dictates success.
Jessica Cochran, a tenth-grader who attended the speech, said, “It was a very insightful look on how business really is, and this it is definitely not as easy as many seem to think it is.”
Krishnakumar hopes to continue having speakers come to Pine View and give presentations.“These speakers are telling their story about why and how they did everything, which can help students,” she said.