A power washing company, a jewelry business, an online car design shop. These are business ideas Entrepreneurship Club members came up with as part of their second meeting, but not only did they come up with possible ideas, but at their latest meeting, they heard real ideas from former alumni and successful entrepreneur Kush Mathow. On Nov. 15, Mathow came in to talk as the first guest speaker of the club.

Eighteen-year-old Mathow graduated in May 2021. Today, he is working as a stock trader, property realtor and flower shop owner. Beginning his journey of finances when he was in seventh grade, he sold designer shoes as a side gig. This would  give him $40,000, which he later spent on his first car.

“After getting my first car, my dad asked me why I worked all these years. ‘A Honda,’ I answered. My dad then told me I was able to afford the car because I had found a goal to hit. That’s when I realized a goal was what helped me to keep working and get money,” Mathow said.

After his first investment, Mathow became interested in finances and decided to look through the stock market. After saving up $12,000, studying the stock market through spring break and opening his first trading account, Mathow was able to build his income by $25,000. After a few more months of trading, Mathow had made $400k. That was when his dad gave rise to another idea: invest in real estate.

“I actually ended up cleaning the real estate property with my dad. I had a very [small percentage] ownership of it, but we got tenants in there leasing it from us so we got a payment every single month,” Mathow said.

Throughout his business journey, he has helped people build their finances, including one of his eighth grade basketball teammates. 

“He reached out to me saying he had $50,000 from family inheritance and said help me grow it. His mom had breast cancer and they needed to pay for her treatment,” Mathow said, “He grew that $50,000 to $300,000, was able to pay off for breast cancer fees and now he’s at the University of Miami managing their entire $500,000 in their fund.” 

Currently, Mathows owns an investment firm and a hedge fund, as well as a few properties in Central Florida. In total, his revenue has been $2 million for this year.

Entrepreneurship Club founder and president senior Jack Hulshof used to be Mathow’s classmate; he knew of his success and decided to reach out to him and see if he would like to give a speech and motivate the club’s members.

“I decided to come as a guest speaker because I was in a lot of these people’s shoes. As young as I am, I can inspire students and bring out their aspirations,” Mathow said. “If they work hard and are determined to take risks, they can excel 10 years ahead.”

Hulshof had previous experience with a service business. Starting in third grade, Hulshof bought candy machines throughout Central Florida. By eighth grade he had owned 19 candy machines in total, but due to lack of sales, Hulshof was forced to sell the machines his freshman year. 

Hulshof wants students to be inspired and motivated with their speakers and get the resources they need to create business opportunities of their own.

“I hope the impact of the guest speakers is just to motivate, to inspire. To show that there is a way, you just have to put your mind on it. I just hope that more and more people can be reached with a message like this,” Hulshof said.

As of now, Hulshof is scheduling other successful entrepreneurs to be guest speakers. Some other projects that Hulshof has planned for the club include volunteering opportunities, educational presentations and even a club nonprofit. The club will choose a product to sell and donate its profit to different charities or to Hagerty. Their next club meeting will be held Dec. 1 in room 2-120.