(At StartupNation's request, the following words of advice were provided by Brandon Bornancin, a winner in the 2008 StartupNation Dorm-Based 20.)

As an entrepreneur, I have been through three different start-ups.  One was an online affiliate recruiting agency that went great.  My second was a niche social network that was acquired with little to no profit, and my third is a high-tech mobile ad agency, EnMobile.  Every entrepreneur is going to have many ups and downs throughout his or her life.  Being up is always going to be easier to live through and remember than being down.  I have been down and out hard, many times.  It’s not what you do when you are up, but the hard work that you put in when you are down that matters.

The best piece of advice that I can give to everyone out there is to always follow your dreams and to do what makes you happy.  Do not make excuses for inaction and why you aren’t where you want to be.  If you are insecure, do not worry about it.  Everyone in the world is insecure.  You cannot underestimate your intelligence and determination to succeed and overestimate the competition. 

Life is too short to be small.  Think big and always do great things.    

 “For the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself:   If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?  And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something…almost everything- all things just fall away in your face of death, leaving only what is truly important.  Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose.”

-Steve Jobs, College Dropout and CEO of Apple Computer, Stanford University Commencement, 2005. 

I want to devote the award to the greatest man I know, my father.  I would have never been able to be the person I am today without his love and support.