Entrepreneurs Compete at New Venture Poster Competition

12/10/2013 1:27 PM

By Lindsay Anderson

Entrepreneurs campus-wide were invited to compete in Project Springboard’s New Venture Poster Competition Tuesday, December 3 at Bradley University’s Foster College of Business in Baker Hall.

Seven teams had five minutes to present and 10 minutes for a Q&A session, following the presentation.  In the space of a poster, teams were expected to describe the essence of their business using words, pictures, diagrams, the business model canvas or a more traditional method used by their field of study. 

The following business areas were addressed:

• What is the product or service being sold?
• Why should customers buy it?
• Who are the customers?
• How will the product or service get into the hands of the customers?
• What key activities will make this a success?

Team Muzmee, who first formed at Startup Weekend last month, placed first winning the $200 grand prize with its band/venue connector site.  Members of Muzmee included Doug Frieders, Bibhrajit Haider, Katie Jousma, Danny Petrow, Nate Pritzker, Seth Quansah and Harsh Shah.  Second place went to Energized Technologies for its battery jumper back product for golf carts, and third place went to Wajé for its clothing/art business.

Director of the Project Springboard New Venture Competition, Amy Fairfield Doering said, “This was the first year for the New Venture Poster Competition.  We are continuously improving Project Springboard and felt this was a good way to check on the status and development of the students’ projects.  To see entrepreneurial minds in action is truly exciting!”

Senior Shiv Patel, majoring in mechanical engineering with business administration and entrepreneurship minors, also attended this competition and has previously competed in Project Springboard.

“It was great to see so many engineering and business students collaborating on ideas,” Patel said.  “I thought this was a great opportunity to provide a hands-on entrepreneurial activity for students to participate in.  There is only so much a young entrepreneur can learn by reading books and analyzing case studies.  At some point, he or she must pursue a venture on his or her own to learn the key lessons of the startup journey.”

Project Springboard and its sponsors advance Bradley University’s entrepreneurship initiative by inspiring and educating aspiring entrepreneurs in the creation, start-up, and early stages of launching a business. The Project Springboard New Venture Competition brings students real-life business planning experience and the opportunity to win cash and services to help them successfully launch their new business venture.

The next Project Springboard New Venture Competition is scheduled for Monday, April 28, 2014.  If you are interested in participating, please go to www.bradley.edu/springboard for more information or contact Amy Fairfield Doering at [email protected] or 309.677.2295.