Internships.com’s Campus Tycoon Award highlights the most creative and innovative business minds on college campuses today. They started in their dorm rooms, but their RA’s can’t keep them there for long. Right Now You’re Voting for Them, Soon You’ll be Working for Them. Internships.com will be highlighting each nominee on their site and will do a special feature on the nations next big Campus Tycoon!! Follow them on Twitter @internships.
Alex Goldstein- University of Wisconsin- College Travel Experts (Badger Trips)
www.collegetravelexperts.com
What was the inspiration behind your idea?
I have always approached the world with an entrepreneurial point of view. When I was a sophomore I saw a high demand of students who wanted to go to University of Michigan for an away football game. I organized buses to the event and made a simple one page website. It wasn’t until after running the trip I realized the potential of providing transportation for college kids to away football games and other events. From there, we began to organize full weekends filled with parties and deals at bars and restaurants. We also provided hotels for people who did not have friends at the school we went to. We have continued to raise the bar by chartering planes to away football games in Las Vegas and to Pasadena, CA for the Rose Bowl. We will continue to raise the bar–providing new and fun trips for our customers, while keeping customer satisfaction as the measuring stick of our success.
Given an unlimited budget, what two advances would come first for your business?
College Travel Experts Private Jet- It would be ideal to have our own private jet to travel to all CTE campuses to promote our amazing travel opportunities. This is a tough question and although our destinations change from trip to trip and from year to year, I would like to have one specific CTE headquarter. For example, to have a CTE island such as Richard Branson’s private island would be very cool. We would bring all of our team members to this island for training and rewards.
If a biography was written about your life to date, what would the title be and why?
Don’t let School Interfere with Your Education – Although growing this business has consumed so much of my life in college it has taught me a lot more then I could of learned in a classroom. Although we always worked hard at Badger Trips and CTE , we always made sure it was fun. Everyone that has been involved with the business can agree, we get our stuff done, but we do it in a way that’s fun for us and our customers.
Maurice Elliott- University of Arkansas- Fayettechill
www.fayettechill.com
What was the inspiration behind your idea?
The Ozark Mountains. There was no brand or company that represented one of the most beautiful areas in the nation.
If a biography was written about your life to date, what would the title be and why?
Idea to Realty. In a nutshell that is what I have done multiple times now from my 3 start-ups. Which is I have an idea and I make it realty from my knowledge of business and experiences. What separates me from 99% of my peers is that If I think I have a viable idea I will pursue it. With planning out a new venture there is only so much that a person can forecast. One actually has to get their hands dirty and build something out of nothing.
If you could have any two people, dead or alive, on your board of directors who would they be and why?
Ralph Lauren – His knowledge of the clothing industry and his ability to create a successful lifestyle product.
Guy Kawasaki – His extensive knowledge of business and venture capital.
Max Arndt- University of Minnesota-Toepener
www.toepener.com
What was the inspiration behind your idea?
In the beginning of our Entrepreneurship in Action class last fall, we were split into small teams and asked to brainstorm different things that we were interested in, problems that we saw, or trends that we recognized in the marketplace. One problem that was recognized was peoples’ concern with touching the door handle when exiting a public restroom. One of many creative ways the people have come up with to avoid this problem is to use an extra paper towel to touch the handle, which creates excess waste. So the question was posed, “Can we come up with a better way?” and the concept of the Toepener™ was born. The Toepener™ is a simple device that attaches to the bottom of a door, directly below the door handle. It enables a person to open a door using only their foot. It is currently available for sale on our website, Toepener.com.
If you could have any two people, dead or alive, on your board of directors who would they be and why?
Jim Skinner, President and CEO of McDonald’s – 30,000+ Locations with at least two bathroom doors each? You do the math.
Thomas Edison – Phenomenal ideator and engineer, holder of 1,093 patents. He couuld bring a lot to the team.
What is your primary social media medium used to reach your target demographic?
We pursue our end-users via social media channels like Facebook, YouTube, etc. in order to create awareness about the Toepener™, but our consumers (who are different than the end-users) don’t have a large presence in social media so we have pursued more traditional channels like direct selling and editorials in trade publications to reach them.
Bryan Roy – University of Arizona- Check
https://heycheck.me
What was the inspiration behind your idea?
You’re sitting around or getting prepped for the weekend when 9 p.m., 10 p.m., 11 p.m. rolls around. You wonder “what’s going on tonight?” and send that exact text to a handful of friends in all different social circles. Some go out to the bars. Others to house parties. Some text you back with a soft answers. Others text you back with another question: “Hey I just got (here), but you’re (there), how is it (there?) we might go (somewhere else) because (someone) said it was (something).”
Not only do you want an effortless glimpse at the most popular spots, but let’s add a roadmap of who’s there: Think she’s cute? Check her. Recognize him from class? Check him. Our internal messaging system builds a truly social network that allows users to explore and engage what’s happening around them.
It’s your night but we’ll help create it.
Given an unlimited budget, what two advances would come first for your business?
Hiring people. Everybody has ideas but only the ambitious hustlers actually execute, and the only way to succeed is surrounding yourself with the right ones. We welcome anyone with a background in computer science, data management and business development only if you know how to hit the ground sprinting through hurdles.
When an NFL player wins the Super Bowl, he says that he is going to Disney Land. If you win the Campus Socialite Award for Best Entrepreneur, where will you go and why?
Hands down, SXSW. It’s described as a college freshman orientation if your school was Disney World and your peers were America’s most innovative nerds.
Daniel Pearson – University of Central Michigan – The Hybrid Card Company
What was the inspiration behind your idea?
My inspiration behind every business venture I’m involved in is my love for things that are truly unique. The feeling I get from working with a team to create something that can have an impact on our world much larger than myself is indescribable. The pay isn’t bad either.
If you could have any two people, dead or alive, on your board of directors who would they be and why?
I would love to have worked with Andrew Carnegie because he was so great at allocating his resources effectively. His fortune still works for the common good. He was responsible for the development of over 2500 public libraries throughout the world, that fascinates me. I would do anything to have Warren Buffett on my board as well, he not only has amazing business acumen but he is also very socially conscious. I don’t think many people in our world would be able to responsibly handle the kind of wealth that man has.
If Internships.com asked you to apply as an Intern for Charlie Sheen using only 140 characters and a hashtag, what would your tweet be?
Senior in College. Veteran in Business. Outlaw in Bed. #howsthatforwinning
Patrick Galbraith – University of Kansas – SneakHype
www.sneakhype.com
What was the inspiration behind your idea?
The inspiration behind SNEAKHYPE was basically to create the dopest website on the Internet. There are a lot of good sneaker blogs out there, there are a lot of good music blogs, a lot of good art blogs, and funny blogs… but we wanted to make a website that had all of those things. SNEAKHYPE doesn’t fit into any one category. SNEAKHYPE is a combination of kicks, clothing, music, art, architecture, or anything else that we consider cool. There is something for everyone and that is the goal.
If a biography was written about your life to date, what would the title be and why?
“When Keepin’ it Real Goes Right: The Life and Times of Patrick Galbraith.”
Such a title is appropriate for two reasons. First, it’s a word-play on a popular Dave Chapelle skit that would immediately capture the attention of the target demographic of the biography. Secondly, and more importantly, the title implies that staying true to yourself and pursuing your passions will create success on some level. We created SNEAKHYPE to outlet our creativity and interests with an audience. The daily grind forces us to conform to a lot of societal norms, but at the end of the day, I can go home and share “the dopeness” with tens of thousands of people who are looking for a quick escape from their own grind.
If Internships.com asked you to apply as an Intern for Charlie Sheen using only 140 characters and a hashtag, what would your tweet be?
Sup Charlie, heard you need an intern. I’d send you my application but only nice guys apply. I’ll see you on Monday. #Sneakhype
Arielle Patrice Scott- Cal-Berkeley-GenJuice
www.genjuice.com
Nick Cash-University of Northern Iowa-The Book Hatchery
What was the inspiration behind your idea?
I’ve tutored many students on the ways of computer programming. The textbooks were always expensive and worthless, so we never used them. Eventually I thought I would help more students if I wrote a short e-book on some of the basics, and that is where the story of Book Hatchery really begins.
Our of curiosity I decided to see how hard it would be to sell an e-book, and I was appalled by the complexities involved. So I went to work making some software to make my life a little easier by having it handle much of the formating and whatnot. Somewhere along the way I realized I was just one of thousands of people with that problem, so I decided to broaden my scope and create Book Hatchery, a one-stop shop for people who want to sell books digitally without any hassles.
If a biography was written about your life to date, what would the title be and why?
I think the title might be, ‘From Everything To Nothing and Back Again’.
I had a fantastic childhood until about 4th grade. That’s when my family became plagued with health problems and the financial burden that accompanied them. Life became quite a challenge at that point. My father is in his 50s and lives in a nursing home, and my mother passed away in 2006 when I was a junior in high school. My brothers and I have had to bootstrap our way through college without much support.
Still, there was always light at the end of the tunnel. I’m nearing the end of college, and I’m loving life as an entrepreneur. If someone would have told me a few years ago that I would be running my own company when I was 21 I would have thought they were crazy. You just never know where life will take you.
If Internships.com asked you to apply as an Intern for Charlie Sheen using only 140 characters and a hashtag, what would your tweet be?
Mr. Warlock – Please use your highly evolved brain to teach me to be a grand wizard master. I’d like to learn more about epic #winning
Keith Solomon- University of Maryland- USA’s First College Competitive Eating Team
What is your definition of a “Campus Socialite”?
A Campus Socialite is somebody who takes their collegiate experience to a new level. Part of college is making friends, getting involved with clubs, and supporting school athletics. All these aspects are great and something most college students do, but a campus socialite goes outside these norms of the collegiate experience, and does something different and exciting so that their time in school can be something extraordinary.
What was the inspiration behind your idea?
As a freshman, I ate dining hall meals 2 to 3……to 6 times a day. At the end of the semester, me and my friends would have a good amount of dining points left over. We would spend these extra points on whole pizzas and a massive amount of chicken wings. We would have small competitions to see who can eat the fastest. The idea was born freshman year, and was executed junior year when the University of Maryland got an officially sanctioned Competitive Eating team.
If a biography was written about your life to date, what would the title be and why?
It’s Always Sunny in New Jersey. I have an extraordinary amount of Jersey pride. Assuming it is not an autobiography, I would like it to be written by Charlie Sheen.
