by Jacob Fuhrer |
Students flew to New York over fall break to help turn the business ideas in their heads into reality. As part of the Pamplin School of Business Entrepreneur Scholars program (E-Scholars), the students met with charities and companies in New York to collaborate on ways to further develop their ventures.
Stephen Gallivan, Junior
Can you explain what your venture is and why/how you chose it?
It’s a mobile app/website that allows users to round up credit/debit transactions to the nearest dollar. The rounded-up change can then be donated to a charity or political campaign fund of the user's choice. This provides a platform for people to easily donate to charities and/or political campaign funds without having to pay a larger lump sum of money. The change adds up and makes a big difference in the end, and provides exposure for charities and political candidates.
Who did you meet with?
A few charity organizations.
How did your meetings go?
Exceptionally well. The people I met with were all thoroughly interested in my idea, and they all wanted to help any way they could. They all had advice that helped me to know how I might want to adapt my idea so that it may potentially have more success.
What were your goals for the trip?
To find out if my idea is something that businesses and people would like to use, and to learn more about the process of making ideas happen. Whether or not I choose to pursue my idea in the long run, I wanted to learn valuable tools and skills that’ll put me a step ahead in an increasingly innovative and entrepreneurial world.
What did you learn?
I can better understand the organizations that may want to be involved, and how I might work with each one differently. I also learned just how positively people react to business cards. People were always impressed with the fact that we students had business cards.
How do you feel now about the future of your app venture?
I certainly feel more confident about a successful future for my app venture. That said, the path I may take now differs greatly from the path I thought I would go. Instead of an app geared toward donating change to charity organizations and political campaign funds, I intend to use my idea as more of a platform to lease out to companies. Ideally, these companies would pay for this platform/service because they believe it will be an effective way to collect donations to promote a particular cause.
Katie Heitkemper, Junior
Can you explain what your venture is and why/how you chose it?
It’s an online greeting card platform which will allow users to customize high-quality cards with their own handwriting by means of a touch screen tablet/computer or scanned image. Customers simply use the website or mobile app to write their message, enter billing information then we provide printing and shipping services at no extra cost.
I have always enjoyed designing my own greeting cards, and I think there is a market of people who see the value of sending a handwritten card rather than an impersonal text, email or Facebook message.
Who did you meet with?
Tech companies and local print shops as well as some meetings with UP Alumni living in New York.
What are your goals for the project?
To further develop my business model and discover how my business could satisfy a real market need.
How did your meetings go?
Very well, I left New York City feeling motivated to make my ideas a reality. I had very few expectations going into the trip and I think that made my experience all the more special. The wisdom and feedback I gained was pivotal in deciding the next steps I need to take to make my business successful. I had nine successful meetings in NYC and nearly all of them were a result of the incredible network of UP Alumni and E-Scholars from previous years.
What did you learn from the trip?
Besides finding out the immense size and population of New York City, I learned a little more about the (business-to-business) space by talking to an enterprise software company and talking to a digital analyst about how to create an optimal experience for online users.
How do you feel now about the future of your app venture?
There are a few challenges I discovered including the cost of developing my mobile app and the existence of competitors providing similar services to mine. I hope to start a company which will insinuate the importance of meaningful communication in a digital age in addition to creating a memorable experience for the person who receives a real card in the mail. By making my product different and better than anything in the market and upholding my core values of genuine communication I believe I will be successful.
Megan Launceford, Junior
Can you explain what your venture is and why/how you chose it?
It’s an app for college dining halls that allows students to electronically purchase and track their meal points. The idea is similar to that of the Starbucks app where you can select the menu item ahead of time; a bar code appears for you to scan the transaction, and meal points would be automatically deducted from your meal plan.
Who did you meet with?
A few entrepreneurs with start-up companies of their own. I was able to learn a lot about what goes into a start-up and how best to successfully market your product. I also met with some people in digital software and software design that helped me get a better understanding of how to get an app developed and get it on the market.
What are your goals for the project?
I would love to actually launch my app in college dining halls across the country, starting with The Commons. I'd love for it to be adaptable to any form of dining hall, whether it be a "swipe in" method or points to dollars like ours. I think it could also expand past college dining halls into environments like corporate cafeterias as well.
How did your meetings go?
Really well! Everyone I met with was really helpful and encouraging regarding my venture. It was nice to get a third party's view and hear what questions and concerns immediately came to them. The people I met with gave me contact information for people they thought could help with my venture and other research information that’ll be helpful.
What did you learn from the trip?
That people are really willing to help you start a business! I was surprised that people were even willing to meet with me and it was great to see how supportive and excited they were to a college student they'd never met. It was a great for my professional development and made me even more excited to pursue my venture.
How do you feel now about the future of your app venture?
(This trip) made me more excited to get started. It made me feel like the possibility of actually launching this app is realistic and possible and I now have contacts in the industry that will be helpful along the way.
