Entrepreneurship & Technology News 

For the Rollins Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology, celebrating a new office space meant music, free food, and an abundance of information for students interested in starting their own businesses. In September students at Brigham Young University were invited to attend a ribbon-cutting ceremony to learn more about the center’s new south campus space and its services for BYU entrepreneurs.

In the last two years, five teams from the BYU Marriott Sandbox program have won the entrepreneurship lottery: half a million dollars and access to Silicon Valley’s network of startup elites. But the secret of the BYU Marriott’s Sandbox teams’ success wasn’t luck—it was a willingness to fail.

From running side hustles to recording podcasts, strategy student Talmage Morgan has worked to open many doors for himself. Through an on-campus internship with the Ballard Center for Social Impact at the BYU Marriott School of Business, Morgan discovered an interest in social impact and gained insights that will help him achieve his lifelong goal of starting his own business.

Brigham Young University senior Kylee Black sat in anxious anticipation as teams were called up to the stage of the 2024 Utah Entrepreneurship Challenge. Third place was announced, then second place was awarded. For Black, the next moments were unforgettable. “I totally cried when I won,” she said. “It was incredible.”

A group of enterprising BYU students aim to significantly — if not entirely — reduce parking violations in paid parking lots, college and otherwise. And their idea, an AI detection and tracking system called Spot Parking, just got a major endorsement and $12,000 in cash by winning the 2024 BYU Student Innovator of the Year competition.

Sterling Petersen has such a passion for mountain biking, he decided to make it his day job. Since graduating from BYU Marriott’s entrepreneurship program, he’s created multiple startups focused on mountain biking products and has built a collaborative work environment in the process.

BYU Marriott School of Business dean Brigitte C. Madrian has announced Mike Hendron as the next director of the Rollins Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology effective June 17, 2023. He replaces Chris Crittenden who had served as the center’s director since 2021.

One of BYU’s student startups just walked away with the most prize money at the biggest and most prestigious collegiate business plan competition in the country. “Zaymo,” with its e-commerce tool that embeds the online shopping experience within a customer’s email, took home $875,000 in total cash investments after taking third place at the 2023 Rice Business Plan Competition last month. This comes after winning the $30,000 grand prize at the Utah Entrepreneur Challenge earlier this year.

Two tech startup teams from Brigham Young University won first and second place at the 2023 Utah State Lassonde Entrepreneurship Challenge. The students from the winning teams attribute their startup success to the mentor-heavy initiatives offered by the Rollins Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology within the BYU Marriott School of Business.

Jeffrey Burningham, BYU alumni, donor, and partner to the Rollins Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology, believes that the creative process is a pivotal piece to a fulfilling life. From creating startups in college to venture capital, to owning Peak Capital Partners, Burningham teaches and mentors with the message that everyone is capable of creating new ideas that can better lives and society.

From products for ‘plant parents’ to AI-powered learning platforms for teachers, this year’s Student Innovator of the Year Competition covered a lot of ground. Held every year at BYU, SIOY showcases student innovators vying for bragging rights and cash to get their ideas off the ground.

Pursuing goals proves difficult when life becomes unpredictable and demanding. However, Jade Rogers, a manager at BYU Marriott’s Rollins Center for Technology and Entrepreneurship, appreciates the value in life’s uncertainty. Trusting that God continually helps her realize her potential, Rogers moves forward through change and hard times with faith.

Whoever said “third time’s the charm” was obviously not an entrepreneur. There’s no magic number for successful business launches, but for Ben Miller, a BYU Marriott School of Business MBA alumnus, finding a profitable business idea took him four tries. He eventually cofounded SimpleNexus, a large, prospering mortgage industry platform that integrates multiple homebuying processes into a single system. In the midst of his success, Miller remembers the influence of the Rollins Center for Technology and Entrepreneurship and what he learned there about seeking and preparing for success.

Attracted by the sound of live music and the smell of free pizza, hundreds of students gathered to enjoy the Creators’ Kickoff, hosted by the Rollins Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology. Aside from the fun atmosphere and free food, students learned about the excellent resources and benefits available to them through joining Creators, the new student association connected with the Rollins Center, which is located in the BYU Marriott School of Business.

When April Teames Gantz isn’t enjoying the great outdoors with her husband, you’ll find her actively engaged in projects to benefit the community. A senior in the user experience (UX) design program at BYU’s College of Fine Arts and Communications, Teames Gantz participates in groups dedicated to various causes. As a student, she finds fulfillment through working with teams formed within BYU Marriott’s Rollins Center for Technology and Entrepreneurship.

With a background in fashion merchandising, Andrea Farrell used to travel to places such as Las Vegas, New York, and Guangzhou, China, for her day job. Now, as the financial manager for the Rollins Center for Entrepreneurship & Technology at the BYU Marriott School of Business, she spends most of her workdays in room 470 of the Tanner Building. Although Farrell has momentarily put business travel to rest, she’s found a job she loves, where she gets to see students realize their entrepreneurial dreams. 

As someone who has often felt like the odd woman out, Mikayla Cluxton knows what it is like to be lonely. As a second-year student in the entrepreneurial management program at the BYU Marriott School of Business, Cluxton recently created a startup, BeeFriend, to help alleviate loneliness in the geriatric population. Inspired by the iconography of a bee, Cluxton and her two cofounders are creating a hive for the senior citizens in their community to find friends.  

When students enter The Slab, the Rollins Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology’s newly remodeled office space in the Tanner Building, they will often be greeted by office manager Rose Blamires. She may be behind the soda counter making someone a drink, on her laptop completing various office tasks, or sitting in a brightly colored chair, chatting with a student about their aspirations. Whatever the activity, Blamires is an integral part of the BYU Marriott School of Business’s entrepreneurship center and strives to use her strengths to make the Rollins Center a place of collaboration and inclusivity.

As a young man with a limp and a stutter, James "Jim" Ritchie didn't believe he would be able to compete in life. However, a talk he gave as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints changed his life. A lifetime of business success later, Ritchie is now a Rollins Center Entrepreneur Founder with the Rollins Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology at the BYU Marriott School of Business.

Every year innovative students at BYU give their best shot at developing new technologies that can make the world a better place. With $50,000 in prize money on the line, the 2022 Student Innovator of the Year Competition once again delivered potentially life-changing results.