SA Collegiate Startup Round

On top of the wonderful panels and speakers this week, Startup Week gave students a chance to show off the entrepreneurial skills as well. So at Launch SA, 8 college teams, my own included, came together to pitch their business ideas. From apps to shoes to biomedical tech, these teams represented an array of unique products.

Being part of this experience was great for two reasons:

First, as an upcoming Stumberg competitor, it forced us to put together an actual pitch deck and begin practicing early on (procrastinator problems!). More importantly however, it gave my team an opportunity to practice pitching in front of a crowd and under a time limit. At the time, I was the member of our team pitching, and I have to say, I really enjoyed it. It was the first time we got to talk about our idea to people outside the entrepreneurship department at my school, and their positive feedback about our business (which I will describe more in-depth later!) really proved to us that we had something worth expanding on.

Outside of personal help, the Collegiate Startup Round allowed us to see what other college students were doing. For the duration of the pitches, I was proud to be a SA college student, and I was proud of what we were accomplishing. I got to see how creative and innovative students could be, and I got to share my own ideas with them. It was an opportunity interact with the other entrepreneurial minds of the community.

Overall, Startup Week was a wonderful experience. I’m definitely planning on attending more events next year, and I highly encourage all of you to do the same!

-Morgan King