Category Archives: EnTERPreneurs

Jan 14 2014
2 Comments
EnTERPreneurs, Uncategorized

It’s True: College Students Are Taking Risks and Starting Companies

I first met student entrepreneur Brooks Gabel in 2012 when he began coming to the Dingman Center to get feedback on what seemed like a brazen business idea for such a young man. Brooks was taking a big risk and I wondered how he’d accomplish such a mission and bring it to fruition. I know now–through two long years of customer discovery, pivoting, research, passion and just plain hard work. Now a senior at the University of Maryland (UMD), Brooks is the founder of justlikeyou.org, a non-profit organization providing a free and anonymous social network for people 13 years and older going through the coming out process. Through developing online and mobile technology, coordinating LBGTQ competency/suicide prevention training and connecting users from the network to their local communities, justlikeyou.org is working to eliminate the burden of coming out. I recently sat down with Brooks to talk about the history of his company and his plans for the future.

1412352_312467612224254_976433253_o

Danielle Bennings (DB): Tell me how and why you started your company?
Brooks Gabel (BG): The company started after my decision to leave UMD’s Division 1 swim team. It was my personal perception that the college community was not accepting of an openly gay athlete. That was the time when I swore to myself that I would do something to create inclusive environments in our schools, on our teams, and in our communities.

DB: How did you first get involved with the Dingman Center?
BG: I started coming to Innovation Fridays to talk to the Entrepreneurs-in-Residence. The idea started as a question of whether the personal narrative could guide a discourse around the coming out process. The feedback I got was to test it, so I started the Just Brooks blog and began writing about my personal story. Eventually I invited some of my friends to write about their stories. After a month, emails began flooding in from UMD all the way to Australia from people who could relate to my story. It was at this time that I realized my idea could have huge impact on a global scale.

1391558_311764908961191_424127873_n

Members of the justlikeyou.org team

DB: What happened next?
BG: In January 2012, my parents helped me fund the site and we hired a web development company based in Washington D.C. to develop the social network. In the beginning it was just me facing plenty of people that told me no. Since then we’ve developed a custom social network that connects free users with other people going through the coming out process and volunteers who have been through it before. The Just Like You team has gone from being a team of solely myself to a team of 21 people; 16 from the U.S. and five who are international. We all collaborate through Skype and conference calls to deliver on our mission.

DB: Have you made any connections on campus?
BG: We recently brought on a UMD student that you connected me with. He is another entrepreneur working in the Startup Shell who will film a campaign video that addresses our story, the problem we’re solving, the solution we’ve created, the team creating it, and where your donations will go for our Indiegogo campaign.

photo 1

Brooks Gabel, Founder, justlikeyou.org

DB: I know you’re embarking on a crowdfunding effort. Tell me more about your Indiegogo campaign.
BG: Our Indiegogo campaign is a $50K online fundraising campaign to generate awareness about the network and to raise funds to develop technology, coordinate LBGT competence and suicide prevention trainings, and connect users from the network to their local communities. It will launch on February 1, 2013 (my birthday) and will continue until the site launch on April 13, 2014.

DB: That’s great–I’ll check it out. What do you plan to do next?
BG: Unlike my peers, I haven’t gone on a single interview. This will be my job after college. This is what I want to do. I understand that I’m not going into investment banking, but at the same time this is the resource I never had.

photo 2

Brooks Gabel, Founder, justlikeyou.org

DB: What is your ultimate goal for what justlikeyou.org will become?
BG: We see this as being an international operation. We designed it so that the resources aren’t bound by language or location. Everyone’s story is unique so there is a seemingly infinite amount of people who can engage in the discussion and ultimately we would love for people who have come out, for people who have an LGBT sibling or friend or parent, to join the conversation. The social change will happen when we recognize that the story of the ally is just as important as the person who is going through the process.

DB: Brooks, thanks for answering my questions. I hope we’ll continuing seeing you in the spring.
BG: I will continue spending a lot of time here — the Dingman Center bullpen has become my office. I still meet with Dingman Center staff and EIR Harry Geller to field new ideas and update them on my progress.

To connect with Brooks, email him at brooks.gabel@justlikeyou.org. Connect with justlikeyou.org on Facebook and Twitter. Follow the Dingman Center blog for updates on the justlikeyou.org Indiegogo campaign and to read about other student entrepreneurs.

Tagged , , , , , , ,
Aug 21 2013
Leave a comment
EnTERPreneurs

Young Entrepreneur Creates a New Way to Smell Good

Get to know Allan Nichols and his startup, Sweet Buds. As a member of the EnTERPreneur Academy, Allan won a $1,000 grant from the Dingman Center earlier this year. This EnTERPreneur Academy company is redefining the way women wear perfume with an innovative earring backing that releases small amounts of perfume throughout the day. We caught up with Allan to check in on the progress Sweet Buds has been making since we last saw him at the beginning of the summer.

Tell us a little bit about your business. How did you come up with the idea?
We are Sweet Buds; a fragrance company developing earring backings that release perfume throughout the day. The idea came about in a study abroad class in China through the QUEST program this past winter break. My team members and I were very excited about the project and we decided to pursue it outside of the classroom and make an actual company around the idea.

How have you been working with the Dingman Center?
We applied for the EnTERPreneur academy the first time we heard about the incubator program. Being first time entrepreneurs, we really had no idea where to go from the initial idea. The Entrepreneurs-in-Residence have been very helpful guiding us along the way, giving us advice on how to brand ourselves, perfect our pitch, and providing resources and contacts we otherwise wouldn’t have access to. We have also used the Center’s Test the Market Kiosk to conduct preliminary market research.

Sweet Buds team using the Test the Market Kiosk in Van Munching Hall

Sweet Buds team using the Test the Market Kiosk in Van Munching Hall

How will you use the $1,000 grant from the Dingman Center?
So far we have used some of the grant money to pay for patent attorney fees and file for a provisional patent for our idea. I have also been collaborating with a freelance engineer to help us finalize the actual design of the product.

What has been the most challenging aspect of starting a business?
Right now our biggest challenge is the actual design of the earring backing and getting it to dissipate perfume the way we want it to. I have an initial prototype already 3D printed, but there are some revisions that need to be made. Trying to get the perfume to release correctly when punctured by the earring itself is difficult.

Who are your competitors?
One of our major competitors in this space is actually Dustin Hoffman’s wife, Lisa Hoffman. She runs a company called Lisa Hoffman beauty which has a wide range of fragrance jewelry. The main differentiator is that her jewelry utilizes fragrance beads while ours will use regular liquid perfume. The beads make the jewelry reusable but also more expensive. We plan on being daily disposables providing our customers a cheaper option to use when they want.

What entrepreneur or business person would you love to connect with?
I would love to connect with David Kelley and the rest of the IDEO team. I am really interested in design and what they have been able to create through their design processes is nothing short of incredible. We have a lot to learn in regards to design and he could definitely teach us a lot.

Have you had to change your business model since you started?
We are still in our infancy stages so we haven’t made many changes yet but we did spend a lot of time thinking about whether we wanted to license our designs out to larger retailers in a B2B model or directly sell our product to the consumers. For now we are sticking with selling to consumers but that could change down the line.

What kinds of resources will you need next?
As we keep designing and editing the prototype will require more capital to fund. So far we haven’t had to bootstrap this project but that might be a possibility to solve this problem. We are also seeking fragrance manufacturers to partner with and to put their perfume into our product. Contacts in the fragrance and jewelry industry would be very helpful.

AllanAllan Nicholas is a junior Mechanical Engineering and Operations Management double major. He is involved in QUEST, EIP, and Hinman CEO’s and is an aspiring entrepreneur.

Tagged , , , ,
Aug 08 2013
1 Comment
EnTERPreneurs

Student Entrepreneur Pursues a Mega Idea for Staying in Shape

Over the last few years, the Dingman Center has been working with Obidi Orakwusi to launch his company, Gym Supreme and its first product the Mega Bar. The Mega Bar is an innovative and versatile piece of exercise equipment priced lower than its competitors. A member of the EnTERPreneur Academy, Orakwusi won a $1,000 grant from the Dingman Center earlier this year. We caught up with the student entrepreneur to get an update on his business.

 GS logo

How did you come up with the idea?

The idea came to me in May 2011. School was out for the summer, I had no plans, and I realized I probably was not going to have a job. So I thought to myself, “why note create a job?” I got motivated and began sketching the concept of the Mega Bar on the back of a job application.

I designed the Mega Bar with a friend in mind. My friend had no gym membership, so every time he went back to school he had to settle for resistance bands, which are incapable of working the entire body. With that in mind, my goal was to create a product that would provide an effective workout at home. Unknowingly, my friend was my first target customer. Once I had a reasonable sketch, I made my first prototype with plastic straws, toothpicks, and paper clips to test out the simple physics. Then, I built a full scale plastic prototype. It took me some time to order a production prototype because I was constantly making measurement adjustments. I’m a bit of a perfectionist sometimes.

Tell us about your team.

During the process of developing my startup, I learned not to rush into decisions. I don’t have a full team yet, but I do have friends with skills and connections like my corporate lawyer, web site programmer, investment banking buddy and a colleague of mine with connections to QVC and sporting good chains.

How have you been working with the Dingman Center?

The Dingman Center has been an amazing resource for me. I get to meet and connect with fun business-minded colleagues that give me advice and feedback. Dingman Center Angels Review Days, workshops, and everything Dingman offers gives me different perspectives on what I knew and what I need to do. It always feels good when I say Gym Supreme is a member of the Dingman Center EnTERPreneur Academy at the Smith School.

How are you using the $1,000 grant from the Dingman Center?

The grant was an amazing cushion that opened up cap space for legal fees associated with the utility patent, trademark and the purchase of social media advertising. Although the grant will be split across several expenses, I know it would not have been possible to get all the legal work finished this summer without the grant.

What has been the most challenging aspect of starting a business?

For me it has been a mixture of funding and tedious patent work. The lack of funding prevented me from rushing into decisions because when you have plans that cost more money than you have, there is usually a wait period between milestones. The wait allowed me to analyze needs and create a hierarchy of tasks.

What goals have you set for the upcoming year?

One of my patents arrived on my birthday–that was a nice gift. The main goals remaining for 2013 are the Pitch Dingman Competition and a Kickstarter pre-order. The Kickstarter campaign is time dependent on the number of potential consumers I attract using various social media campaigns. When I feel there is enough interest from a significant number of followers that will likely purchase the MegaBar, I will launch the pre-order. With good revenue from that, Gym Supreme will become eligible and will apply for Cupid’s Cup in 2014, beginning the search for capital.

Have you had to change your business model since you started?

Oh yes. Initially, I was focused on a model that cuts out the middleman in order to maximize profit from sales and avoid margin reductions from wholesale. I soon learned that avoiding the big retail orders might not be effective because I would give up visibility on very popular retail platforms and have to rely solely on my own marketing to make sales. This would result in an increase in consumer acquisition costs and a decrease profit. That strategy is possible, but requires too much capital infused into marketing. The model is evolving to include a platform that will provide recurring revenue if properly executed.

How do you stay motivated to work on your business when success doesn’t come as quickly as you hoped?

I believe there is a reward associated with the risk I am taking and the reward is success. When I imagine the success of Gym Supreme I stay focused, get excited, and keep going because I am determined to reach that goal. If I give up before anything significant happens, I have defeated myself.

GDP_9540 (1)Obidi Orakwusi is the Founder of Gym Supreme and a member of the Dingman Center’s EnTERPreneur Academy. Stay connected with Gym Supreme on Facebook and Youtube or visit http://www.gymsupreme.com.

Tagged , , , , , ,
Jun 19 2013
1 Comment
EnTERPreneurs

7 Things I’ve Learned About Student Entrepreneurs

People are often surprised at how many students are starting businesses. We see it everyday. From engineers, to journalists, to student athletes, a few things are common among young Terps who work with the Dingman Center. Here are seven things I’ve learned about today’s generation of entrepreneurs:

7. They can dream up a new startup idea every hour and get enthusiastic about it every time.
Justin Searles of VentureBoard has pitched 3 ideas during his time at Maryland; each one better than the last.

6. Student entrepreneurs are great multitaskers. They can work on several startups at a time, all the while managing coursework load and maintaining their grades. 
Ben Simon is putting an equal amount of energy into 2 startups: Food Recovery Network and MyMaryland.net

5. They prefer to work on their startups at night—that’s when Dingman shared work-space is buzzing with activity.
You can often find Cristina Huidobro and her twin sister Catalina working on Destinalo in the Dingman Center’s bullpen.

4. Student entrepreneurs don’t think they know it all. In fact, they prefer getting advice and coaching from seasoned entrepreneurs over figuring everything out on their own.
161 students pitched their business ideas to our entrepreneurs-in-residence this past year.

3. They aren’t afraid to share their ideas, offer advice and help each other, even if it means helping their competition.
Daniel Noskin of Parallel Tracks helped fellow Pitch Dingman Competition competitor Suyash Mehta of UPride to perfect his pitch and win 2nd place.

2. They prefer to work in a small startup space rather than in a nice corporate office.
Ben Solomon just completed his MBA, but instead of looking for a corporate job he plans on working on his startup The Hyperion Project from a local business incubator.

1. While they are risk-takers, they are not reckless and take calculated risks.
Eric Mintzer of imagine(x) lined up paying customers before quitting his job and working on his startup full-time.

The campus is mostly quiet during the summer so I can’t wait for the students to return in August full of fresh ideas and determination. Who knows? Maybe there will be even more to learn from a new class of student entrepreneurs.

ACheadshotSince joining the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship in 2008, Alla Corey has been managing the center’s service offerings for student entrepreneurs including Pitch Dingman, Dingman Jumpstart, EnTERPreneur Academy, Terp Marketplace, and Cupid’s Cup Business Competition. Prior to joining the Dingman Center, Alla spent 8 years in the publishing industry. Alla graduated from the part-time MBA program at the Robert H. Smith School of Business in May 2013 and is re-discovering TV, movies and books in her newly found leisure time.
Stay connected with the Dingman Center FB-f-Logo__blue_1024 twitter-bird-white-on-blue

Tagged , , ,
Jun 05 2013
Leave a comment
EnTERPreneurs, Events

Gearing up for Dingman Jumpstart

The Dingman Center team is excitedly preparing for another Dingman Jumpstart! This 5-day intensive entrepreneurship bootcamp allows students and alumni with a business idea  to take a deep dive into the exploring potential business models through hands-on workshops, interactive panel discussions and advising from successful entrepreneurs. Participants also get the added benefit of attending networking events with other entrepreneurial people, providing invaluable connections. Take a look at the pictures below for highlights from last year’s Dingman Jumpstart.

If you want to participate this year, apply and register soon to reserve your space. Apply by Friday, June 7 for a $100 discount on the registration fee! Looking for more information? Contact Alla Corey at acorey@rhsmith.umd.edu

Stay connected with the Dingman Center FB-f-Logo__blue_1024 twitter-bird-white-on-blue

Tagged , , , ,
Nov 15 2012
Leave a comment
EnTERPreneurs

EnTERPreneur Academy Profile – Triple Impact

To celebrate Global Entrepreneurship Week, the Dingman Center is featuring a series of blog posts about our EnTERPreneur Acadmey, a program to help guide student ventures from idea to launch. The Academy provides members with a variety of resources including startup fundamentals workshops, advising, office space, selling opportunities and seed funding. The Academy’s three stages Idea Shell, Hatch and Terp Startup provide students with specific resources and requirements that suit the level of progress for their ventures.

Our last featured startup is Triple Impact, founded by EnTERPreneur Academy member Abby Murray and her co-founders. Abby is a senior at the University of Maryland who came up with Triple Impact as part of the Smith School’s Social Innovation Fellows Program. Triple Impact won the Audience Choice Award for the Pitch Dingman Competition at last year’s Social Enterprise Symposium (hosted by the Smith School’s Center for Social Value Creation) and is poised to do great things in the Corporate Social Responsibility space.  Read the Q&A to find out more about Triple Impact!

Q: Please describe your business.

A: Triple Impact works closely with a company’s Corporate Social Responsibility department or leadership development team to provide the corporation’s employees a system where they can leverage their skills to support underdeveloped communities. We coordinate meaningful corporate service projects both domestically and abroad that provide benefits the company, the employees and the community. Through these meaningful projects, we strive to transform communities and enrich companies through developing employee leadership, world awareness and motivation.

Q: How did you get the idea for your business?

A: In the fall of 2011, my partners and I were brought together by the Robert H. Smith School of Business’ Social Innovation Fellows program where we were given the assignment of developing a business plan for a non-profit or social enterprise. We soon realized that we all had a similar view: one should not have to choose between conventional and altruistic career paths. Triple Impact was created to be a solution for having to choose between going into a corporate setting or the field of development/non-profits after graduation.

Q: What phase is your venture in and what are your next steps?

A: We recently presented to our first potential client, the R.H. Smith School of Business, which is developing a leadership institute for its top-performing faculty and staff.  We are also registered as a Benefit L.L.C. in Maryland. From a marketing perspective, we have created a website and set up various forms of social media.  We are currently in the process of scaling our business plan to a more manageable size and setting realistic goals for the next year. Additionally, we are working to form strong partnerships with both local and global non-profits as well as organizations in the development field. This will not only be very helpful to us from an informational perspective but it will give us access to communities worldwide.

Q: What drew you to become entrepreneurs?

A: We are all business students with entrepreneurial mindsets as well as a passion for service. As a result of our involvement in the Social Innovation Fellows Program, we saw that it was possible to combine these two passions. Triple Impact is a company that we all truly believe in and we can all see ourselves spending the rest of our careers working towards our ultimate goal: to live in a world where all corporations enrich the world we live in as part of their normal operations.

Q: As a student startup, what are some of the challenges that you face?

A: Like many startup companies, Triple Impact faces challenges in obtaining customers. While we have done extensive research, built our networks, and honed our leadership skills with service projects abroad, we face challenges in identifying ways to convey our value to potential clients. To address these challenges, we have been proactive in seeking advice from investors, professors and mentors to build a plan to not only boost our experience but also our confidence. We are also focusing on understanding our market, clearly identifying our unique value proposition and establishing an experienced set of advisors who can offer advice while lending credibility to our venture.

Q: How did the Dingman Center contribute to the development of your start up?

A: The Dingman Center has always been a great resource and has truly been the differentiator in the development of our company. We participated in the Pitch Dingman Competition this past March and received $250 in seed funding by winning the audience choice award. With this money, we were able to advance our business by printing business cards and hiring a web designer. Through working with the Dingman Center and the momentum we gained from Pitch Dingman, we were able to reach out to our first investor who contributed $1,000 to help kick start our business.

Q: What about being a part of the EnTERPreneur Academy excites you the most?

A: We are all incredibly excited about being a part of the EnTERPreneur Academy. When building a venture from scratch, it is always great to be surrounded by like-minded individuals who share the same passion for entrepreneurship. The idea of collaborating with other student entrepreneurs who can also make an impact on the development of our business is really exciting. In addition, having a designated office space where all four of our founders can meet is also a great help given our busy schedules.

Tagged , , , , , , ,
Nov 14 2012
Leave a comment
EnTERPreneurs

EnTERPreneur Academy Profile – Comrade Brewing Company

To celebrate Global Entrepreneurship Week, the Dingman Center is featuring a series of blog posts about our EnTERPreneur Acadmey, a program to help guide student ventures from idea to launch. The Academy provides members with a variety of resources including startup fundamentals workshops, advising, office space, selling opportunities and seed funding. The Academy’s three stages Idea Shell, Hatch and Terp Startup provide students with specific resources and requirements that suit the level of progress for their ventures.

Today’s featured startup is Comrade Brewing Company, the dream company of EnTERPreneur Academy member, David Lin. David is a Full Time MBA student at the University of Maryland who can frequently be found in the halls of the Dingman Center volunteering with programs and absorbing everything he can about entrepreneurship. David’s company, Comrade Brewing, was an honorable mention at the 2012 China Business Plan Competition and also an audience choice award winner at Pitch Dingman.  Read the Q&A to find out more about David and his business, Comrade Brewing Company!

Q: Please describe your business.

A: Comrade Brewing Company will be a Denver, CO based business that will brew and serve hand crafted beer, free of corn syrup and chemically modified hop extract. Customers will be able to visit and drink beer by the glass on the brewery premises.  The brewery will follow a tasting room model, where no food and only beer is served.  I’m planning to head back to Denver after finishing up my MBA this semester and I hope to open sometime in 2013.

Q: How did you get the idea for your business?

A: Ever since I started brewing professionally in 2005, I have known that I eventually wanted to work in the craft beer industry full time.  I saw the success of other breweries and thought to myself, hat a great way to make a living, doing what I love and what I would normally be doing anyways. After two years of brainstorming, the name of Comrade Brewing came to me one day while I was on vacation.  In the brewing industry, there is a lot of camaraderie between small breweries who often help each other out. I want to showcase this “brotherhood” as well as provide the foundation for some funny “tongue in cheek” beer names.  The idea for a tasting room model was something that always intrigued me as I visited breweries across the country.
Q: What phase is your venture in and what are your next steps?

A: We’re on our way to becoming operational.  I have already taken on a talented brewmaster as a partner, contracted my raw materials, talked with equipment manufacturers, met with cities, and looked at zoning.  I also have nearly all the funding I need as well as the domains, social media handles, and incorporation needed to start my business.  My next step is to sign a lease on a building, place the down payment on the brewhouse, apply for federal and state licensing and permits, and begin construction.

Q: As a student start up, what are some of the challenges that you face?

A: This is a brick-and-mortar business, and because my business is located in Denver, being 1,500 miles away makes it difficult for me to do things like overseeing construction.  There’s only so much I can do electronically or via paper.  While I’m enjoying my time as a student here at Smith, I am eager to head back to Denver once I graduate to oversee the remaining steps to opening the brewery.

Q: How did the Dingman Center contribute to the development of your startup?

A: The Entrepreneurs in Residence have been an incredible resource. Some of them have had relevant experience on starting a food service company and have advised me on the common pitfalls of the industry. Being part of the Dingman Center’s active entrepreneurial community has also given me the opportunity to listen to a variety of business ideas and taught me how to look at them from a more critical business standpoint giving me a framework that I would use while running the brewery.

Q: What about being a part of the EnTERPreneur Academy excites you the most?

A: Meeting all the other students who are as passionate and driven as I am. There are so many people out there that say that they have a passion for something, but in reality I believe they just like the idea of that something.  My fellow Academy members are people with the initiative to actually pursue their passions.  The networking with these passionate people, as well as sharing feedback on our ideas, has been incredibly helpful and rewarding.

Tagged , , , , , , , ,
Newer posts →