2013 Business Plan Competition
Posted by Joseph Phillips, Jr. on Friday, May 17, 2013 at 9:46 AM PDT
The 15th Annual Harriet Stephenson Business Plan Competition took place on May 15th. The winning team was Recurrence, headed up by Albers alum Brayden Olson (BSBA, 2008) and MSF student Juan Arango. Recurrence is a game simulation designed to improve leadership skills. Interestingly enough, its initial target market is higher education - business schools! Recurrence has teamed up with professors from UW to design its first game and is looking for other schools to partner with. Maybe it will be the Albers School someday!
First runner up was Nutraberry, a supplier of raspberry seed powder and oil to be used as an anti-oxidant food supplement. The company has been developed by Albers alums David Wishnick (MBA, 2011) and Elana Lausberg (MBA, 2008), and is already shipping product to manufacturers.
The second runner-ups were Octave and Universal Charge. Octave is an app that teaches you how to sing. Universal Charge will provide a payment system to electric vehicle owners for use at charging stations. Octave was founded by five undergraduate students, headed up by senior Alex Tsway and including Brett Kennedy, Chenyu Wang, Michael Fogarty, and Thanh Huynh. Universal Charge was developed by Brett Phillips, a current MBA student. Octave took the Community Choice award at the finals, I am guessing largely on the strength of the interesting concept and Adam's authentic and congenial presentation style.
The business plan competition is a great learning experience for our students and involves many volunteers as judges and mentors. The deeper the students get into the competition, (which includes a trade show and elevator pitch competition) the more mentoring and coaching they receive, and the more powerful the experience. The many volunteer judges and mentors are an important part of that and it could not happen without them!
And let's not forget that sometimes these businesses become a reality - the students go out and start them! In the process, they will almost always get assistance from members of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center Advisory Board and other friends of Albers. For example, we estimate that students have raised over $4.5 million in start-up funding through the competition as investors are exposed to the concepts and want to back them.
The business plan competition was a big success in its 15th year. IEC director, Sue Oliver, and program administrative assistant, Nettasha Reese, did an excellent job of organizing the process. Congratulations to them!