My Experience as a Start-Up Challenge Participant

As a Duke Start-Up Challenge participant myself, I know just how amazing of an experience the Challenge was and how the experience changed the direction of my start-up experience. I entered into the Duke Start-Up Challenge my freshmen year, new on campus, and not knowing about the plentiful resources Duke could offer. The first round started with my having to develop Star Toilet Paper from a business, which had been running, into a written idea summary and business plan. The fact that our team had to hammer out each aspect of our business, from a summary to a competitive analysis to financial projections, was essential to our future growth.

At the time, there was a pitch event in the Fall where participants had 60 seconds to give their elevator pitch and the winner of each track was able to participate in the Pitch Finale event in Reynolds Theater in front of hundreds of people. I was fortunate enough to win my track based on Audience Choice, but another huge win for the night was the fact that a professor in the Markets and Management Studies department approached me and asked if she and her class could assist in creating marketing materials. Of course, I answered in the affirmative and the next semester, I worked with her to create new marketing materials and videos for Star Toilet Paper. In the subsequent weeks, I worked hard to practice my pitch and really secure details about the company, ready to perform it in front of hundreds of people and have the following Q & A from the judges.

In both years, the ability to win thousands of dollars is a huge appeal, and probably the reason I entered as a freshman. However, I did not know the incredible resource the Start-Up Challenge was beyond providing funding. By the end of the judging in the first round, I had in-depth feedback from almost 100 judges, almost all of whom are Duke alumni and entrepreneurs themselves. Furthermore, and this continues to this day, many of them are willing to go beyond the simple judging and offer their personal help.

In addition to judging, the necessity of putting together ideas and having to get them down on paper is one that most young businesses do not, and therefore cannot, do in the beginning stages. For example, understanding the essence of a business or start-up is absolutely essential to a fledgling company. Being able to expand from a single sentence mission statement to a 15-20 page business plan is something that takes time, that takes planning, and that takes understanding of every aspect of a business.

The Start-Up Challenge also offers an opportunity to get real feedback from real people. Feedback from family and friends is fantastic as a first step, but in order to improve, people need to objectively tell you where your idea falls short and, as a result, how to make the best product. I have come to learn that people telling you the faults in your idea are not telling you the idea is bad, but rather that the idea is good, has potential, and should be continuously improved to provide the great concept to the public. A mediocre idea is hard to improve, but a great one should never stop improving. The alumni connections, the judging, the writing experience, the pitching experience, and the overall resources the Start-Up Challenge offers make it an incredible option on campus for the innovative minds of our Duke University students.