Fredrica Antwi, a senior studying Accounting and Finance at the University of Maryland, was tired of spending a ton of money purchasing hair products to tame her naturally curly hair. After countless trips to the beauty supply store left her broke and unhappy, she decided to do something about it.
“I would spend so much money purchasing products but at the end of the day, they would end up in a cabinet somewhere unfinished,” said Fredrica.
So, she came up with Locks of Curls, an exciting way for people with naturally curly hair to experiment with products without a huge commitment or breaking the bank.
Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) is the world’s largest celebration of the innovators and job creators who launch startups that bring ideas to life, drive economic growth and expand human welfare. For one week every November, organizations around the world participate in Global Entrepreneurship Week with events and programs that celebrate entrepreneurship. After a successful GEW 2013, the Dingman Center is back at it, November 17-21, for a week-long celebration of entrepreneurship at the University of Maryland. Here’s what he have planned for this year.
Monday, November 17
Smith IS Global All Day, Grand Atrium, Van Munching Hall
Nov. 17-21 is also International Education Week. Wear your “Ask Me About My Global Connections” sticker and share yourstudy abroad experience, research, language, family story, etc. from around the world. Check the Smith kiosk for daily events or stop by Smith’s Office of Global Initiatives for a schedule.
Tuesday, November 18
Global Experience By Design 6-8:30 p.m., 6137 McKeldin Library
Where do entrepreneurial and innovative ideas come from? Using Design Thinking is a great place to start! Come to this hands-on workshop ready to work with a team on the pre-seeded design challenge Global Experience by Design in order to learn about design thinking. Leave ready to apply this process to a problem you are passionate about solving. This event is co-sponsored by the Academy for Innovation & Entrepreneurship and the Entrepreneurship Connector Club.
Silk Road Rediscovered With Prof. Anil Gupta
Noon-1 p.m., 2505 Van Munching Hall
Join the Smith School’s MBA Entrepreneurship Club and Professor Anil Gupta for an intimate conversation about his latest book, The Silk Road Rediscovered, the first book ever to provide a roadmap to understanding corporate linkages between China and India. Over lunch, Professor Gupta will discuss the growing challenges and opportunities to doing business in China and India. Attendees will also learn how leading innovative companies are pioneering the path between these emerging economic giants, followed by a Q&A.
Terp Marketplace 3:30-5:30 p.m., Grand Atrium, Van Munching Hall
Shop the latest products and services from your fellow Terps while helping student entrepreneurs test the market.
Pitch Dingman Competition
6-7:30 p.m., Frank Auditorium, Van Munching Hall
Five student entrepreneurs will pitch their business ideas to a panel of judges for $3,500 in prizes. As the signature event of the week-long celebration, all attendees will receive a free gift sponsored by Route One Apparel
Register at ter.ps/Nov20
Pitch Dingman Competition Judges Panel:
John Gambaccini, Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice
Ashish Gambhir, founder, newBrandAnalytics
David Quattrone, Chief Technology Officer, Cvent
Kathryn Stewart, Managing Director, Cranbrook Capital
Friday, November 21
Innovation Fridays: Pitch Dingman
11 a.m.-1 p.m., 2518 Van Munching Hall
Have an idea for a business? Entrepreneurs in Residence are available to hear and offer feedback on new business ideas. No appointment needed; just come ready to talk about your business idea and receive actionable next steps.
MBA Venture Capital Investment Competition: Final Round @Smith
1:30-5:00 p.m., Frank Auditorium, Van Munching Hall
Watch MBA teams negotiate term sheets with local startups in this annual mock venture capital competition. Negotiations will take place from 1:30- 4:30 p.m., followed by the awards ceremony and reception at 5:00 p.m. The winning team will represent UMD at the regional finals, to be held at Georgetown University on January 30, 2015.
We’ve all heard stories of entrepreneurs whose businesses began on the backs of napkins. But how about the back of a job application?
For one Dingman enTERPreneur, what began as a sketch for an at-home, all-in-one fitness device on the back of a gym job application, has turned into a fully operational business. Today, Gym Supreme’s founder and Dingman enTERPreneur Academy graduate, Obidi Orakwusi, has a patented at-home gym device, Mega Bar, and is launching the company’s first kickstarter campaign.
In 2013, the Dingman Center blog caught up with Obidi. To learn about the genesis of his idea, check out that post here.
Since we’ve been uber-focused on the lean launchpad methodology and customer discovery around the Dingman Center lately, we asked Obidi to share some of those insights from his startup journey.
When Obidi initially gained the idea for Mega Bar, he was confident that it would sell. Mega Bar was not the first at-home gym on the market, but Obidi noticed that what was available at an affordable price point was not the best quality. This validated his hypothesis and he saw an opportunity.
What was your path like toward customer discovery?
I did things a bit backwards. I did much of my customer discovery after the prototype had been developed. I walked around campus and stood outside of Eppley Recreation Center with a clipboard to take notes from discussions with potential customers, who were undergrad students ages 18-22. Through those interviews I found that although my product was an improvement from a quality and design standpoint — think the Nokia compared to an iPhone — it was too expensive for the demographic on campus. The needs matched but the price didn’t. From there, I segmented the target market and shifted focus to a more of a working class, young professional crowd that had money but limited time. Within this space I found my target customer and learned what I was really solving for them: saving people time. This customer spends a majority of his/her time at work, leaving minimal time — sometimes just a few hours at home or outside of the office. With that limited time, people may not always feel like working out, but Mega Bar can help.
What was the biggest challenge in developing and commercializing a new product?
From my experience, the biggest challenges in creating a new product and commercializing it, are marketing and pricing. Pricing will narrow your target market and really affects revenues. For example, if you try to force the price to fit a cheaper audience, you might be faced with a situation where your margins are just too low to keep the company growing. Once you have a set price, the hardest thing is figuring out how to reach the market with the highest willingness to pay when you have no budget for marketing, because marketing has to be continuous for it to be effective.
How did you navigate the patent approval process?
Getting a patent so early on was a great boost of confidence, and the fact that it arrived at the door on my birthday last year was unbelievable. I knew how important it was to have a patent in the pipeline, but I didn’t have the resources to pay excessive legal fees, so I had to learn it all. I read all the rules very carefully, read articles, and called the USPTO anytime I had a question. With all the knowledge I gained, I was able to submit the patent application and receive the approval to grant the patent within nine months of applying, which is extremely rare. I applied for my second patent last summer.
Have you tried any unique marketing campaigns?
I’ve tested three different marketing strategies. The first two were great strategies, but they wouldn’t work with the minimal resources the company had to work with.
The first was a social media campaign. The second involved attempts to have influencers in the fitness industry promote the company, and then the 3rd strategy was to get a booth at a fitness convention. The social media strategy was put on hold because it felt like the posts were getting nowhere without paying for ads; it was taking too long. The fitness influencers marketing strategy didn’t work because we couldn’t afford to send in free gear so early on or pay them to promote to their fan base. I also tried to get the Mega Bar featured in major fitness publications, but the cold emails felt like putting a message in a bottle and throwing it into the ocean of emails that those publications received everyday.
The entire time, I was trying to figure out a way to reach an audience that would also see the value in the product, but I realized that I had been searching for the marketing middleman that would help us reach the potential consumer, when I should have actually been the one reaching directly to the early adopters because middlemen are always more costly. I had to find a way to reach directly to consumers that would understand the value of the product just by seeing a 30 second video of what the product can do without further explanation, so I decided to get the company’s first booth at a personal training convention to gain exposure for the Mega Bar. That turned out to be the most effective strategy based on time and the little resources the company had.
What resources have you found to be most valuable to you as an entrepreneur?
The most valuable resources found throughout my journey, thanks to the Dingman Center, are the entrepreneurship classes. It started with the Entrepreneur Academy that eventually evolved to Fearless Founders. From that class, I learned so much about how to understand your target customer. Everything about the Dingman Center has been a great resource for me along the journey. From winning the first funding ever for the company, which went toward the issue fee for the first patent, to being able to talk to other successful entrepreneurs to get feedback. It’s all been a source of encouragement to keep progressing.
At the Dingman Center, I attended Pitch Dingman on Fridays where I could talk about creative ideas and strategies freely without being looked at like a crazy person because I was so young. You run into a lot of doubters when you first start your idea because no one believes you, but at Dingman, they believe you and are always there to help you succeed even if you are trying to turn water into wine. I had the chance to go on a trip to New York this past spring to show off the cool ideas that are coming out of UMD to Terps who now live in Manhattan. That would have never happened if the Dingman Center didn’t hook us up with a booth at Cupid’s Cup earlier this year where I connected with the UMD Alumni Association.
University of Maryland President Wallace Loh with the Mega Bar
What advice do you have for student entrepreneurs?
The biggest advice I would have for student entrepreneurs is to be confident, but don’t think you already know everything about your idea on day one. Be confident about your idea, but don’t be arrogant because it is just an idea until you can start selling it or acquiring users. You will need help to keep your idea progressing, but watch out for anyone who starts wasting your time because you can not replace time. Learn from the good things that happen along the journey, and also learn from the bad. Every experience will help you understand what to do the next time.
What’s one of the biggest lessons learned in starting Gym Supreme?
I’ve learned so much through building a product and launching a brand to push the product, but the biggest lesson that I’ve learned is that you should always test out your theories, never rush into decisions. Starting a company with no money after product development will force you to find new solutions to overcome marketing barriers.
You recently launched a Kickstarter campaign. What do you hope to achieve through Kickstarter?
My main goal with the Kickstarter campaign is to launch the first sales of the Mega Bar and to introduce Gym Supreme’s story to the world. The goal is to raise $12,000 through sales so that the company can finally generate revenue.
Do you have any bootstrapping tips for our readers?
Start saving your money now! Before senior year, I had a work-study job on campus and saved every paycheck. By the time graduation rolled around, I had enough money to develop a prototype.
Never jump into decisions without thinking twice about it. When you receive that first offer, don’t just take it. Be cautious of investors who are just opportunistic and don’t genuinely believe in your product.
Also, be resourceful. For example, I taught myself to code, which saved a lot of expense and was something I could figure out through studying.
What’s your long-term vision for Gym Supreme?
The long term goal for Gym Supreme is to become a fitness lifestyle brand that creates excellent products, which help us all stay consistent with our health goals. I want this company to help anyone that has a desire to Lift Good, Live good, and Look Good®.
To learn more about Gym Supreme and to place your order for the Mega Bar, visit their Kickstarter Page to support the $12,000 goal.
And, be sure to connect with Gym Supreme on social media:
Meet Tenaj Ferguson, Fearless Founder and CEO of Lady Epicure Gourmet.
While attending the University of Maryland, Tenaj turned her passion for health, nutrition and her Bahamian culture into a thriving business. Today, Lady Epicure Gourmet brings a taste of the Bahama islands to their customers through their all-natural gourmet popsicle line.
We recently caught up with Tenaj to learn more about her journey and her tips for future fearless founders.
This year marks the 9th annual Cupid’s Cup business competition chaired by Founder & CEO of Under Armour, Kevin Plank. Plank partnered with the Dingman Center to find the most passionate student entrepreneurs running impactful businesses and in 2013 they took the competition national. Before this Cupid’s Cup was a University of Maryland-only competition and in 2007 the winner was Goozex.com. Today’s guest blog is from Goozex.com co-founder, Valerio Zanini. Read about his journey with the Dingman Center and where Goozex.com is today.
When Jon Dugan pitched Goozex.com at a Pitch Dingman event in 2005 he lost the competition. The idea was great, but his business plan needed further exploration and development. Just one year later, Goozex.com was open for business and in a few months had gained thousands of users and won the prestigious IMA Interactive Media Award for best website design. How Jon was able to create a viable business and launch it while still in college is a fascinating story that shows how the Dingman Center can have a huge impact in shaping entrepreneurship in the DC region.
In all senses, Goozex is a Dingman Center success story of teaching the right methodologies to start a company, providing the right support, and trusting entrepreneurs in their vision. Jon Dugan was a senior at the University of Maryland when he pitched the Goozex idea at the Dingman Center. One of the judges who voted against his business plan later invited him back to the Center and offered help in developing a better model for the company. I was that judge, at the time a second year MBA student and Dingman Scholar helping local entrepreneurs start their businesses. I paired with Jon and together we brainstormed product ideation, refined the business model, and connected with key suppliers.
Within a few months we had a working model of Goozex and a team to launch the business. We partnered with a software development company in Italy to cut down on costs, and brought in another MBA classmate to lead the marketing strategy in preparation for the launch. Mark Nebesky joined the company eager to jump on an entrepreneurial opportunity and excited to be working in the video game industry.
I had come to the US from Italy to obtain an MBA degree at the Robert H. Smith School of Business. I had received offers from other MBA schools around the world but chose UMD for one key reason: the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship. Smith was the only business school with an in-house entrepreneurship center and a curriculum designed to foster entrepreneurship among the student body, and support new entrepreneurs in launching their ventures. To me, UMD was the best choice and I joined the 2006 MBA class with the clear intent of participating to the Dingman Center’s activities, and one day starting my own company.
The Dingman Center supported Goozex in so many ways. It provided the very first seed capital that was used to sign the contract with our first supplier and incorporate the company: we were in business. The Dingman Center gave the newly born startup its first office space: it was just a room shared with other businesses but it gave us a sense of stability and belonging. The then-Director of the Dingman Center connected us with the founder of another video game company: over the years this proved to be the most productive partnership for Goozex. The Entrepreneurs in Residence provided us with advice, support, and even participated in the seed stage round of financing. I am sure that Goozex would not have existed without the Dingman Center and its great people.
Over the years Goozex.com grew to become the #1 online platform for used video games in North America. We were consistently rated the best trading platform for several years in a row by third party websites. We created an engaged community of users many of whom are still with us years later. And we received multiple offers for acquisition, including one from one of the largest media conglomerate in the US (the owners have a castle in California!). We were excited by the opportunity, but even more excited by the growth prospects of our company and turned it down. We had recently launched our Facebook application (at a time when the Facebook App marketplace was considered the ultimate thing in business and everyone was striving to get there). And we had two big partnerships lined up and ready to close. It made sense to us, at the time.
But by 2009 things had started to get sour. The economy was in chaos. Entertainment spending declined, as did Gamestop’s used market for the first time in a decade. Prospective investors disappeared, followed by the two big partnerships. In just a few months we were back to the drawing board figuring out how to pivot and grow Goozex again.
We owned a solid and appreciated brand, a loyal user base, and played in a very large market that, despite the continuous challenges posed by digital games, showed little signs of shrinking. We knew Goozex could make it, and we decided that if we didn’t find the resources needed to grow the company, we wanted to find a new acquirer who had the possibility to scale it up. We rolled up our sleeves, cut down our costs, and doubled up our efforts.
Things really turned around when we finally found an interested buyer, a company who believed in the Goozex’s vision and wanted to restore its growth potential. We sold the company on November 15, 2012.
The Goozex story is one of endurance, passion, and ingenuity. It was a bumpy ride, but a fantastic ride nonetheless. It has shaped my life and that of all Goozex founders and associates. And I believe it’s a great Dingman Center success story. The resources, trust, and support offered by the Dingman Center were priceless. And it certainly proved that I made the right choice in attending the Robert H. Smith School of Business!
Valerio Zanini
Co-founder and CEO, Goozex.com
2005-2012
A better job search system. Destroyed iPhones. Email without boundaries. Bacon. Those are just some of the business ideas submitted for the fall Pitch Dingman Competition set for Thursday, Nov. 21 at 6:30 p.m. The Dingman Center is hosting the competition as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week. For those of you in the know, this will be no ordinary Pitch Dingman Competition. We have secured an all-start line-up of judges lead by Timothy Chi, CEO of WeddingWire. Chi will deliver a keynote address before the finalists take the stage to pitch. Joining Chi on the judge’s panel are Alex Triantis, Dean of the Smith School; Tari Cash, Under Armour; Amy Millman, Springboard Enterprises; and Smith School alumnus Lane Wiggers, Cordam Group.
As part of the expanded competition, applicants participated in an additional round of screening. Last week, ten semifinalists pitched Dingman Center staff and entrepreneur-in-residence, Harry Geller. The pitches were strong and the decision was tough. Take a look below to learn about the five startups competing for $3,500 in prize money in the final round. Attendees also get a say–register today to make sure you get a seat and vote for your favorite startup to win the $500 Audience Choice Prize. Congratulations to the finalists!
THE FINALISTS
Bacon Barbell / Toni Zhang:Bacon Barbell makes tank tops for gym bros. The founder has designed tank tops that accentuate the muscles lifters work so hard to gain.
Kivvik / Leon Nwankwo: Kivvik plans to revolutionize the job search industry by establishing a user friendly system that improves compatibility between employers and professionals.
Pride Shorts / Ian Moritz: Pride Shorts combine classic khaki shorts with college pride patterned embroideries creating clothing that incorporates college spirit with everyday lifestyle.
Quickmailcheck / Sam Feldman: This service allows “dumb phone” owners to access email without Internet. The service works 100% through text and picture messages.
SellMyOldTech.com / Harrison Baum: This startup provides the fastest and easiest way to sell old or broken smartphones. The team erases the phone and disassembles it to use the parts in another device.
About Timothy Chi
Timothy Chi Chief Executive Officer, WeddingWire
Timothy founded WeddingWire with the vision of infusing technology into the wedding and event industry. In less than five years, WeddingWire has become the largest online marketplace connecting local merchants with engaged couples. For over 100,000 local merchants, WeddingWire provides a marketing platform to reach prospective clients, to manage multi-media assets, and to network with other merchants. For engaged couples, WeddingWire provides vendor recommendations, local business reviews, personal website creation, and a suite of online planning tools.
Previously, Timothy co-founded Blackboard Inc. in 1998. While at Blackboard, Timothy pioneered many of Blackboard’s product and strategic initiatives, helping the company grow to over 600 employees and a valuation of over $750 Million.
Timothy holds a B.S. degree in Operations Research/Industrial Engineering from Cornell University and a Master’s of Science degree in Engineering Management from Tufts University.
As UMD undergrads started the new semester this week, the Dingman Center saw many old and new students coming to visit. During the summer, we worked diligently to make quite a few changes, one of which is Innovation Fridays, formerly known as Pitch Dingman. The experience is the same, only the name has changed. Students can pitch their ideas and receive feedback from experienced Entrepreneurs in Residence. We are excited to kick off Innovation Fridays today and expect to see more students this year! Now, enjoy this edition of worth reading.
Often times, one of the biggest challenges entrepreneurs encounter is creating brand awareness with little capital. Here are the 7 Marketing Tips for Bootstrapped Startups.
There is an old saying that goes ”learning by doing”, but it is equally important to learn before doing. To be a successful entrepreneur, you need to learn how to be a leader first. Here is a list of 30 Books To Make You A Better Business Leader. Choose a few, apply theories learned, and make yourself a better leader.
On Friday May 3rd, 2013, five student startups pitched to a panel of judges for the last Pitch Dingman Competition of the school year. The student entrepreneurs ranged from University of Maryland undergrads to Executive MBAs, pitching everything from a food truck concept to a mobile application for farmers. In the end the judges and audience both chose Vitus, an IT platform for veterinarians, as their winning startup. Vitus won the $1500 grand prize and the $500 Audience Choice Award, bringing their total winnings to $2,000 of seed funding. BOVER, the aforementioned mobile app for farmers, received 2nd place honors and $500 in funding. Congratulations to both startups, the Dingman Center can’t wait to see where you go next!
We’d also like to recognize Cart Noodles, Terpiture and Sweet Buds for giving great pitches as well. It takes a lot of courage and poise to pitch a business, and these enTERPreneurs showed them in spades! We’re excited to see how much all of our finalists have grown since their first advising session and wish all of them the best of luck!
About Vitus
Team: Mark Olcott, DVM; Kalpesh Raval; Aman Sharma; Greg Rea; Kristina Bailey
Affiliation: Executive MBA cohort 12
As a practicing veterinarian, Mark Olcott can say with complete confidence that the way medical information is shared in the pet industry is broken and outdated. Vitus will use modern information technology to create innovative, web-based personal health records for pets that will help veterinarians grow their practice, improve hospital efficiency and save lives.
Vitus will enter the market by focusing on ER/specialty hospitals, as these facilities have the biggest “pain” and outsized influence. By using a two-sided market model, Vitus will build a large, monetizable network of pet owners and veterinarians united to help pets live longer, healthier lives.
What an eventful day for the Dingman Center! Thanks to everyone who came out to our last Pitch Dingman Competition of the year. It was a packed house today at Tyser Auditorium! Congratulations to Vitus, an IT solution for veterinarians, who won 1st place as well as the Audience Choice Award! Runner up was BOVER, a mobile app for farmers in developing countries. Special mention also goes to the other competitors, Cart Noodles, Sweet Buds, and Terpiture who also put up a valiant challenge. It takes a lot of guts to pitch in front of a panel of experts and all of our finalists are will on their way to startup success!
For the rest of you aspiring entrepreneurs, here’s some articles worth reading to get you on your way as well!
The last Pitch Dingman Competition of the school year will take place this Friday, May 3 at 11 a.m. in Tyser Auditorium, Van Munching Hall. Five ambitious student startups from the University of Maryland will compete for the chance to win $2,500 in startup funding. After the pitches, attendees will vote to award their favorite startup $500 for the Audience Choice Award. After the competition, students can stay for an entrepreneurial mixer where we will celebrate another successful year of Pitch Dingman. Lunch will be provided! You can RSVP to attend Pitch Dingman here.
To get you ready for Friday, here’s a little preview of our finalists:
Cart NoodlesTeam: Hon laam Fung
Our mission is to provide affordable and authentic Hong Kong styled cuisine served in a fast and convenient manner tailored towards college students. With all ingredients ready and cooked, customers only need to specify what they want in their order, and the time they spend waiting is however long it takes to move through line. In less than three minutes, the transaction is complete and the consumers enjoy gourmet soup noodles with a price lower than anywhere on campus.
Sweet Buds
Team: David Kravitz, Ningwei Li, Allan Nicholas, Peter Weng and Erica Yingling
Imagine a future where all you have to do to smell great is put on your earrings. Sweet Buds allows for a functional and worry free way to smell great throughout the day. Our innovative idea revolutionizes the way you wear perfume by conveniently placing it in your earring backing. The perfume releases when our customer puts on the earring and punctures the plastic backing. The perfume then diffuses slowly from the opening allowing the user to smell great all day. This will change the way people wear perfume.
BOVERTeam:
Ethan Grundleger, Mohammad Zia, Hafie Yillah and Saheed Badmus
BOVER is an E-commerce platform that connects small-scale farmers with large scale retailers. Our system uses SMS technology paired with a web-based marketplace to enable small scale and low yielding farmers to aggregate their yields, and sell at a fair market price to small and large buyers. The mobile application and website will work in tandem to streamline agricultural value chains around the world. The project’s innovation lies in its ability to move the agriculture value chain towards the 21st Century by increasing transparency and promoting modernization
Vitus
Team: Mark Olcott, Kalpesh Raval, Aman Sharma, Greg Rea and Kristina Bailey
As a practicing veterinarian, I can say with complete confidence that the way we share medical information in the pet industry is broken and outdated. At Vitus, we will use modern IT to create innovative, web-based personal health records for pets that will help veterinarians grow their practice, improve hospital efficiency, and save lives.
Terpiture
Team:
Johnny Dubbaneh, Ronnie Dubbaneh, Danny Dubbaneh, Alacendro Paratore and Shahzad
Terpiture is a furniture rental business created to help make the move-in and move-out process smooth for both students and their parents. Having Terpiture on campus will be an asset exclusive to the Maryland community, making students’ time here more enjoyable.The great thing about Terpiture is that it’s very simple and easily accessible. It will be available via social networking, texting, and email, which will make the students’ experience even more personal than having to deal with a large corporation.
Terp Marketplace
Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship 