From idea spotting to the business plan and marketing strategy to the pitch, students in Beaver’s entrepreneurship elective have spent the term learning the different facets of being an entrepreneur and hearing from guest speakers from the entrepreneur and venture capitalist worlds.
In the midst of it all, each student developed his/her own idea for a new and innovative company – one that will make a positive impact on an industry or on society and also be driven by profit. The following three ideas were voted the best in class. Led by a student CEO, these ideas will be pitched to a panel of venture capitalists and entrepreneurs at the end of the term.
CEO: Julia Frangioni ’18
Company: Vend U
My idea is Vend U – a school store in a vending machine. My company (1) makes custom school apparel and (2) supplies schools with a vending machine to sell this apparel. We also give students the opportunity to design their own gear. I wanted to help the community and give my classmates something to be excited about at their school.
Where do you see yourself in 10 years? In 10 years, I would like to be a CEO of a company I created, whether it is Vend U or a new idea.
CEO: Michael Schaff ’16
Company: Smart Flow
Smart Flow is a plumbing valve that can be controlled from anywhere in the world, helping individuals and business owners save water by preventing leaks. Once it is installed, an individual can turn their water on or off from any Internet capable device, i.e. a laptop, an iPhone, etc.
I got the idea for Smart Flow going back and forth from my family’s house in New Hampshire. We don’t heat the house in the winter when it is unoccupied, which means we need to turn off the water at the end of the summer. Problem is we don’t alway remember to do this. So I thought “how great would it be if we could use the internet to turn the water off instead of having to do it in person?”
What strengths do you bring to the table as CEO and what challenges do you think you will face? I think my strengths are I am hardworking and I really want to pursue this idea. I think the biggest challenge I will face is getting from my current prototype to a final product that is ready to be placed on the market.
CEO: Joey Searle ’16
Company: Autumn Skateboards
Autumn Skateboards: a concept turning into reality. I can no longer stand the incessant breaking of skateboards. It is the freedom rooted in the sport that makes it so special, and I don’t want frustration and anger to correlate with an inevitable snapped deck. I plan on taking an informal approach to revolutionize and perpetuate a skateboard company that creates and distributes unbreakable boards.
Autumn will create a skateboard with unprecedented strength and consistent inflexibility by substituting the top-face grade ply and middle-core grade ply of Canadian maple with a layer of a Carbon Fiber-Kevlar hybrid – while still utilizing hard-rock Canadian maple.
In addition to creating a more durable skateboard, I never know what to do with the mountain of snapped skateboards sitting in my closet. I want customers to send in their broken decks so we can recycle and transform them into art.
What strengths do you bring to the table as CEO and what challenges do you think you will face? While I consider myself a leader, I mostly consider myself a motivated and self-determined skateboarder. I have such an unconditional love for the sport that no other person would be better suited to run this company than me.
A few of our hardest tasks will be establishing connections and developing a fully-functional skateboard with all the necessary materials.
Where do you see yourself in 10 years? It truly is hard to see myself and what I am doing in 10 years, but all I know is that I want to be me. Being me is skateboarding, and I truly believe this passion I have will stay with me forever. I see myself in the action sports industry, but more importantly, on a skateboard.