The world of entrepreneurship can be dog-eat-dog, but contestants found more than hard-nosed rivalry at the International Business Model Competition, held at Brigham Young University and Provo’s Utah Valley Convention Center last month.
Sponsored by the Rollins Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology at BYU and co-hosted by Harvard and Stanford, the one-of-a-kind competition brought student entrepreneurs and experienced business leaders together in a learning environment. Each student team received coaching from veteran entrepreneurs before pitching their business models to a panel of judges in hopes of winning some of the $100,000 in cash prizes awarded at the event.
“The lean startup approach to entrepreneurship is all about feedback and learning and we made an extra effort to focus on that this year,” says Jeff Brown, competition organizer and assistant director at the Rollins Center. “Every student had the opportunity to meet with at least two mentors that walked through their presentation and helped with business strategy.”
The competition is open to all students enrolled at an accredited institution of higher education. This year 40 student teams were chosen to participate from among more than 2,500 applicants from 200 schools and 20 countries. Students at the event found the advisement aspect crucial to their success.
“Our feedback sessions could not have gone any better,” says Mitchell Barneck, whose team Veritas Medical won first place and $25,000 for their infection-reducing catheter technology. “We were paired with mentors who gave us incredible advice on improving our presentation for the final rounds. That really helped us succeed.”
Team members of Veritas Medical include University of Utah bioengineering graduates Barneck, Nate Rhodes, James Allen and Ahrash Poursaid, and current University of Utah medical student Martin de la Presa. Tympanogen finished in second place at the competition with its non-surgical treatment for eardrum perforations, and team members Elaine Horn–ranney and Parastoo Khoshakhlagh from Tulane University received $12,000. Volleymetrics contestants Giuseppe Vinci, Jacob Hicks, McKay Perry, Austin Hayden, Colin Montague and Cecily Sumsion from BYU earned a third-place finish and $10,000 for their volleyball analytics service.
For more information on the IBMC and this year’s mentors and student teams, click here or visit the Rollins Center at BYU.
The Marriott School is located at Brigham Young University, the largest privately owned, church-sponsored university in the United States. The school has nationally recognized programs in accounting, business management, public management, information systems and entrepreneurship. The school’s mission is to prepare men and women of faith, character and professional ability for positions of leadership throughout the world. Approximately 3,000 students are enrolled in the Marriott School’s graduate and undergraduate programs.
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Writer: Mike Carpenter