Impact Entrepreneurship
Peter Frykman CdeP 2001 shares his story with students.
If you were paying attention at Peter Frykman's graduation, you might remember the tribute that was read about him that day: “Classroom walls can only hold him so long,” it went. “Then, confident and bold, he’s busting out, seeking in lands abroad, on mountain trails, in fast-flowing rivers, those experiences that will answer some of his persistent questions.”
Chief among those questions for the past few years has been “How do I help subsistence farmers grow more with less water?” He has answered that question by founding Driptech, an India-based company that has developed an affordable, high-quality product that allows small plot farmers to double their productivity while recouping their investment in a few months. To learn more about Peter and Driptech, visit the company’s website or view one of Peter’s talks here.
The campus community had an opportunity to hear from Peter when he was on campus last week to share some of his inspiring story in the form of a Head’s Invite address in the Milligan Center after Thursday’s Formal Dinner. It was hard to tell who enjoyed it more, faculty members pleased to see a former student going on to do such good work, or the current Thacher students who were clearly inspired by the impact Peter has been able to make.
Peter brought his story home by enumerating the ways that his Thacher experience helped prepare him for the path he has taken. “I had never been a CEO,” he said,
“but I’d led a camping trip. I had never made a sales pitch before, but I’d sung a solo as the lead in the musical.” He listed the following lessons learned at Thacher that have helped him succeed:
“but I’d led a camping trip. I had never made a sales pitch before, but I’d sung a solo as the lead in the musical.” He listed the following lessons learned at Thacher that have helped him succeed:
- how to work hard
- how to work in a team
- how to lead a group
- how to communicate and motivate others
- how to find advisors and ask for help
- how to manage my time
- the importance of good sleep
We look forward to finding out what questions and answers will occupy him next.
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