It all began with selling his candy creation to friends in third grade and clay volcanoes for fake money in fourth grade.
Since then, Brett Bergen has been interested in entrepreneurship and expanding opportunities for future entrepreneurs at Penn State.
That's why he brought Kairos -- an organization that promotes and fosters entrepreneurship -- to Penn State, Bergen (senior-finance and psychology) said, adding he didn't feel the university pushed students to become entrepreneurs and instead geared them for a corporate world.
"Kairos helps you do want you want to do, instead of working for someone else," said Jessica Berriman (junior-information sciences and technology, security and risk analysis, French and international studies), vice president of technology of Penn State Kairos. Berriman is the founder of Infinitus Technologies, a high-tech corporation that provides software solutions and consults to corporations, according to its Web site.
"Kairos is made specifically for individuals looking to start a business, grow their existing business, join another business or help turn another's idea into a business," Bergen said.
Penn State Kairos Society Vice President Nicky Kundnani is the current managing director of Draconius Asset Management, a multi-million dollar hedge fund.
"It's a great concept," Kundnani (senior-finance and economics) said of Kairos. "When we were opening our companies, we had no one to help us and give us guidelines."
Kairos held its first informational meeting Wednesday.
"We weren't expecting that many people, but despite the snow storm and 7:30 [p.m.] start, about 120 students packed the Berg Auditorium," Bergen said. "We were very surprised and excited."
Students may apply to join the society; however, membership is by invitation only, Bergen said.
"It's pretty exclusive," he said.
Kairos is still waiting for official approval from the university because it is still searching for an adviser, whom it should have by next week, Bergen said. However, with a 19-page constitution, Bergen suspects it could take two to four weeks before the group gets official approval.
Bergen was able to bring Kairos to Penn State when a member of the Duke University chapter contacted Bergen after learning of his entrepreneurial interests from a mutual friend.
"Kairos has grown significantly in the last year," Bergen said. "We have a network that tramples any other."
The Kairos Society's network includes Columbia University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Duke University, New York University, Harvard University and prominent businessmen, such as Bill White, CEO of the Intrepid Foundation, a charitable organization that supports the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum. White became an adviser for the society after meeting Ankur Jain, a student at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania who first established the Kairos Society.
"They're real go-getters," White said of the students in the society. "My advice to them was that they ought to include a way of giving back as part of making their success."
