The term “entrepreneurial life cycle” has taken on a new meaning thanks to the Global Student Entrepreneur Awards (GSEA) and Accelerator, EO programs designed to nurture and guide entrepreneurs into the EO family. Two entre­preneurs who recently took this path are Zak Dabbas and Ryan Unger, EO Chicago members and founders of mobile marketing firm Punchkick Interactive. In this interview, Zak talks about the power of EO’s emerging programs and the impact they had on their entrepreneurial journey.

Your first experience with EO was through GSEA. What in­spired you both to join the program?
ZD: When my business partner, Ryan, first learned about GSEA, he was very excited about the possibility of meeting entrepre­neurs from around the world. For him, GSEA sounded like an amazing learning experience in a lot of different ways. It also sounded like a great opportunity to meet likeminded folk who shared the same passion to grow their businesses. I was also immediately hooked. I saw our participation in GSEA as a unique chance to explore new avenues for our business.