An Early Start

FALL 2018 | DIVIDENDS

DISCOVERY

An Early Start

By Tom Lammert

ndrew Echols steps on stage, introduces himself and begins pitching his business idea, hoping it will be favorably received. His “Focus On” is an earpiece for students who have been diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). While statistics pertaining to ADHD’s prevalence are somewhat uncertain, he uses a number that aligns with the National Survey of Children’s Health estimate, noting that 6.1 to 6.4 million American children are at a learning disadvantage due to ADHD’s symptoms. Echols acknowledges that some find relief through stimulant medications or therapy but points out that these solutions do not work for everyone.

It is this gap in the market that led Echols to conceive the Focus On earpiece. The inconspicuous, portable device will produce sporadic sounds in the user’s ear, intended to bring a daydreaming student back to reality.

Echols tells his audience that an investment of $200,000 will produce 4,000 earpieces. This translates to a production cost of $50 per earpiece, and Echols plans to sell annual prescriptions for about $1,500.

Responding to a query about how he plans to market Focus On, he shares his intent to take the earpiece to healthcare providers, specifically pediatricians, with the hope of gaining their endorsements to establish credibility. His audience seems satisfied.

The pitch process is not unlike that experienced by most entrepreneurs, with one significant exception: Echols is in sixth grade. He is one of many Starkville students to have participated in the first Innovation Challenge last spring.

COLLEGE OF BUSINESS | MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY

The idea for the competition came about in early 2018. Scott Maynard, then Chief Executive Officer of the Greater Starkville Development Partnership, wanted to find a way to incorporate entrepreneurship into the curriculum for Starkville high schools. Aware that Mississippi State University’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Outreach (E-Center) excels at equipping college students to develop their own businesses, he contacted Jeffrey Rupp, the E-Center’s Director of Outreach. Together they came up with the Innovation Challenge, and International Paper signed on as the sponsor.

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The Innovation Challenge was designed as a competition for middle and high school students, individually or with peers, to submit plans describing a product and how they would market it.

Clockwise from top left: Go Bus team members were mentored by MSU student Cameron Maddox, cofounder of Cowbell Carts, LLC.

Jacob Miller, marketing major and founder of Black Creek Innovations, LLC, advised the Robo Drone team. Winners (from left) Ian Zhang, Lyem Ningthou, Andrew Yu and Vivik Nagarajan Finalists gathered with Jeffrey Rupp for a group photo in the E-Center.

The finalists received instruction from Chip Templeton, Director of MSU’s Small Business Development Center, in the COB’s Strategic Finance Lab.

Photos courtesy of Starkville High School and the MSU E-Center

Those who created the most feasible plans would then pitch to judges in a competition modeled after the pitching process MSU students experience at the E-Center. The winning person or team would receive $500.

Once the competition was planned, an informational meeting for interested students and parents was set. It was to take place at Glo, a company that epitomizes what the Innovation Challenge was designed to teach: that a problem or question can spark an idea that may turn into a successful business enterprise. Glo evolved from an MSU student’s desire to add colored light to tea bags as part of a branding project. Today, liquid-activated plastic Glo cubes are sold and shipped internationally. They light up drinks in restaurants and bars, are encased in bath balms and have even been featured in the VIP tent at the Oscars.

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MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY | COLLEGE OF BUSINESS

The Innovation Challenge winners receive their checks. From left are Jeffrey Rupp, E-Center Director of Outreach; Julie Kennedy, Armstrong Middle School Principal; Go Bus team members Andrew Yu, Vivik Nagarajan, Lyem

Ningthou and Ian Zhang; Hunter Harrington, Greater Starkville Development Partnership Director of Membership Development and Dr. Eddie Peasant, Superintendent of the Starkville Oktibbeha School District.

Photo by Brooke Lammert

When Rupp arrived at Glo for the meeting, he brought about 20 handouts for the turnout he anticipated. However, the room was soon crowded with more than 60 ambitious, inventive students and their parents, who listened as Rupp explained the contest.

For several weeks, students at Starkville’s independent and public schools – Armstrong Middle School, Starkville High School and Starkville Academy – as well as home schooled students, developed product plans. Rupp and E-Center students evaluated more than 50 entries and selected nine finalists to pitch their ideas to a panel of judges.

First, the finalists – 19 students, ages 12 to 17 – received the benefit of some guidance and instruction through the E-Center. Each of the nine teams or individuals were assigned an MSU entrepreneurship student as a mentor to offer suggestions and help with brainstorming. Sessions with COB faculty helped the budding young entrepreneurs understand how to develop business plans and market their products. There were two classes – one on marketing with Dr. Joel Collier and one on writing a business plan with Chip Templeton, Jr., Director of the Small Business Development Center.

DIVIDENDS | FALL 2018

FALL 2018 | DIVIDENDS

DISCOVERY

On April 28, the finalists arrived at Starkville Community Theatre. Approximately 50 people including Starkville Mayor Lynn Spruill filled the auditorium’s tiered rows.

When the final pitch competition began, each team was allotted three minutes to present its product or service, followed by two minutes of questions by the judges, who were business and community leaders.

Rupp introduced each of the finalists. Besides Echols, there was Piper Conrad, whose 100% Human would offer products from shirts and hats to customizable dolls offering reminders that humans have more commonalities than differences. Evie Daniels’ Healing Paws would provide centers for pet therapy. Andrew Yu, Lyem Ningthou, Vivik Nagarajan and Ian Zhang developed Go Bus, a phone app that tracks public school buses. The Robo Drone team, Darious Calhoun, Tyler Cash, Dylan Folds and Noah Scott – came up with a plan for drones to haul water in famine areas like sub-Saharan Africa. Hanna Jian and Kayleigh Thomas created an egg-free cookie dough that is safe to eat raw. Quorvon Lucious and P.J. Tate designed a solar-heated jacket. TeamUp Sports, an app created by A.J. Willard, Tyler Highfield and Bates Bennett, would connect amateur athletes for pick-up games in their communities. Marlee Jones prototyped a floating phone case that repels water and is shock-resistant.

Before leading off as the first to pitch, Echols handed a pamphlet to each judge, describing his product. Eric Hill, a judge and MSU’s Director of Entrepreneurship, could not contain his enthusiasm for Echols’s professionalism. Browsing the pamphlet, he leaned toward the judge sitting next to him and whispered, “This is fantastic. Our students [at the E-Center] need to step it up!”

An hour passed, with each team in succession describing a problem, presenting an innovative solution and responding to judges’ questions. As they pitched their ideas, their poise, acuity and presentation skills belied their age.

As the judges prepared to announce the winner, they praised the potential start-ups – Focus On, 100% Human, Healing Paws, Go Bus, Robo Drone, The Dough Company, Solar Heat, Team-Up Sports and Jones’ M and M Inventions. They reminded the teams that they were selected among dozens of entries for their thoughtful, creative ideas that addressed needs in the marketplace.

Then the final result was announced: Go Bus had won the inaugural Innovation Challenge.

The team members’ humility and graciousness in accepting their prize suggested their participation was about more than simply winning – it was about creating and sharing a good, valuable product.

From that perspective, each participant found success. They experienced some of what goes into building a business as well as the challenges and triumphs that can be involved. They put into practice speaking and presentation skills that will serve them in any career. And they took the first steps in developing business ideas that they may continue to pursue.

Based on the success of Starkville’s Innovation Challenge, the E-Center is growing the program statewide, for it achieved its purpose – to introduce secondary students in Starkville to the process of entrepreneurship. Rupp says they are currently working on similar contests with several schools around the state, including the Mississippi School for Math & Science.

COLLEGE OF BUSINESS | MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY

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