Paresh Patel

Paresh Patel

Serial entrepreneur, MBA and PhD.

Website: pareshkpatel.com
Portland, Oregon, United States
Member since January 14, 2012
  • About
Education
1999 University of Washington , MBA , Entrepreneurship; Marketing
2006 Capella University , PhD , Organization and Management
1996 Portland State University , BS , Human Resources; General Management
I am a(n):

Entrepreneur

If you're an entrepreneur or corporate innovator, why?

I want to change the world.

What's most frustrating and rewarding about entrepreneurship/innovation?

Most rewarding: Seeing the fruits of your labor -- knowing you made something or came up with something that didn't exist.

Most frustrating: how people confuse hard work for luck.

What's the No. 1 mistake entrepreneurs/innovators make?

Not trusting their gut or instinct, or not knowing how to recognize it in the first place.

What are the top three lessons you've learned as an entrepreneur?

1) If you can envision it, you can make it happen.
2) Almost everything is negotiable and with creative deal-making, negotiation doesn't have to be zero-sum - it can be win-win.
3) "The harder I work, the luckier I get" quote is true. Hard work and planning make things look like they were easy to the outside observer.

Full bio

I am the founder and CEO of VendScreen and Courtesy Vending. I have been a lifelong entrepreneur with a passion for applying breakthrough technologies to established business models. At age 17 I founded Courtesy Vending to help pay for college. I’ve since propelled the company’s growth from that first machine to its current status as the largest independent vending operation in the Portland area. Anticipating the rapidly evolving needs of vending operators, I once again drew on my entrepreneurial instincts, business sense, and industry experience to launch VendScreen, a game-changing product that advances vending’s position in the retail channel.