How the student enterprise I worked for evolved from scarcity to abundance in just one generation. No rant, no resentment, just observation.

I grew up in a middle-class family in the 1980s and 1990s. I had everything I needed, but my parents were clearly Cold War children. Eating up our plates, including the crumbs, was a standard. When we bought something not strictly necessary, my father would ask if prosperity had broken out.

With this background from home, I went to university and started my professional career in the early 2000s. Just after the dot-com bubble and 9/11, I joined ETH juniors, the student enterprise at my university. We provided technology consulting to enterprises, bringing fresh views and cutting-edge technology knowledge from university students to enterprise customers.

Now you might wonder, why do I write about my first career experience more than 20 years later? It all has to do with a newsletter I recently received from ETH juniors. But let’s throw back to the early 2000s first.

Student Enterprise Life In The Early 2000s

When I was at ETH juniors from 2002 to 2005, we were an eight-person team, and we generated revenues of around 500k. Winning a deal was hard work, and nothing came for free. Enterprises were still scared from the dot-com bubble burst and 9/11, so money for consulting services was not easily spent. Furthermore, founded in 1997, ETH juniors was still a very young organization, led by very young people. Winning the trust of enterprises was blood, sweat, and tears.

Because we weren’t shy to do any job ourselves, we still managed to make ends meet and grow every year.

When there was an occasion to celebrate, we went out for a nice team dinner and had the company pay for it. I remember when a colleague and I discussed after a team dinner how cool it was that we could afford nice team dinners as students and have the company pick up the bill.

It was those experiences that provided a guiding light for my own career as an entrepreneur and founder of Yonder, a B2B SaaS company: Do a lot with little, stay true to yourself, and celebrate wins modestly.

This has served me well so far.

Student Enterprise Life in 2025

Now back to that newsletter I received from ETH juniors a few weeks ago. They looked back on a successful year — revenues were almost 10x higher than they were in my time. The brand is now a recognized name, and operations are highly profitable. They also set up a startup fund, providing non-dilutive funding to their alumni who start their own companies. My company has also benefited from this startup fund when we started from humble beginnings almost 10 years ago.

So far, so good.

What irritated me in the newsletter was the review of their team activities in 2025: They did two team trips in a single year, one to New York and another one to Sri Lanka.

When I read that, I reflected on those humble team dinners we held more than 20 years ago.

Like my father some 30 years ago, my first thought was: Has prosperity broken out?

Conclusion

Is this a rant against today’s generation of young entrepreneurs?

Not at all.

But it’s a powerful reminder of how ever-rising prosperity has changed people’s priorities. I’m grateful to have grown up in a middle-class family marked by the Cold War era. It taught me how to do a lot with little, for which I’m eternally grateful in my daily struggle as an entrepreneur.

Looking into the future, we shall watch with intent which entrepreneurial qualities will prove decisive — scarcity or abundance.