The Duke Global Entrepreneurship Network recently conducted an interview with ShareFile founder and CEO, Jesse Lipson. Jesse shares a number of insights on how to start a successful bootstrapped company successfully.

“I think that the concept of uniqueness is highly overrated when it comes to business ideas. Many aspiring entrepreneurs, especially students, feel they need to come up with a totally unique idea and if they later find someone already doing it, they give up. There is no need to be afraid of competitors as long as you have a clear path for acquiring customers and generating revenue. What you should really be afraid of is coming up with a totally new idea that no one actually wants to buy/use.”

He also believes that the time to start a business is when you are young and do not have some of the constraints that come with getting older.

“I would say that the least risky time to start a business is while you’re in school. As a student you can work on a business without needing to make a big salary, so the downside to starting a business in college is very small. In the worst case your business will fail, but you’ll still have some great experience that will help you get a job after graduation.”

Read the full interview with Jesse here.