Friday, Sept. 28, the local “Launch It” initiative, hosted by Enactus in the Sheldon Hall Ballroom, provided local entrepreneurs the chance to expand their reach and display new ideas.
A layman description of the competition would be “Shark Tank” meets Oswego students. Many Oswego State students were challenged to create their own idea for a business while building up a team of individuals to work with. They then pitched that idea to a crowd of other students and judges to gain support.
In the coming weeks, a winner will be declared and provided a $1,000 grant to push toward their opening business, giving that team momentum as entrepreneurs.
This program is brought to Oswego State through the help of Enactus, a nonprofit organization based out of Springfield, Missouri. Its goal is to visit local universities to inspire on-campus entrepreneurs to take action and launch their businesses before they even leave school, as well as prepare them for the working world with a degree.
Isaac Mathews, president of Enactus, said the winner is ultimately determined by how realistic the venture is.
“They have to come up with a business idea. Then, they pitch it,” Mathews said. “We will have judges come in and decide what is the most viable based on their plan that they present. Whoever has the most viable plan will win the grant.”
The plans showcased Friday were diverse, from practical safety tools, such as surf boards that keep sharks away, to more novelty products, like pens with Chapstick at the end. A good portion of these ideas were focused on youth culture.
Oswego State students Miles Carter, Danny Vargas and Ryan Donahue have plans to create a magazine/journal completely dedicated to the things that college students do in their spare time, providing a large swath of articles from video games to sports to knitting. They said their goal is to make sure that every student can find something to talk about. Carter said it was all about creating a sense of universality within the magazine.
“We want everyone to feel like they can identify with different segments of the magazine and that they feel free to make submissions and expose themselves to a wider audience,” Carter said.
A large theme that most pitches had in common was the idea of connecting with college students. Out of the eight or so pitches, many of them revolved around getting students inspired, but also, many asked students to be connected. One app was pitched that would tell how busy each bar is, with a live feed describing certain events happening at each one of the bars in order to give party-goers stronger options and foresight when deciding where to spend the night.
Aaron Shopland, an Oswego State business major, and Michael York, a marketing major, presented an idea for a safety device that was inspired by their time watching “Shark Week.” The two of them came together to create a surf board with a natural deterrent against predators like sharks, allowing surfers to enjoy the hobby in safety.
Shopland said he was inspired after seeing similar ideas work on television.
“I noticed that the sharks had a natural repellent towards the magnets and magnetic fields,” Shopland said. “And I thought, ‘How could we incorporate that into something I care about?’ [which would] be surfing, and make it more of a safer sport.”
By putting those same magnetic waves inside the surf boards, they said they will be able to effectively keep sharks away from those swimming in more dangerous waters.
A small number of the pitches were able to comment, but each one of them is pursuing their goals with a clear passion.
The winner of the “Launch It” initiative will be determined in the following weeks.
Photo by Stephen Novak | The Oswegonian
