Entrepreneurs Pitch Ideas at First Student Startup Competition

Today, one recent Texas Tech University College of Media & Communication graduate, Abigail Arroyos, was awarded full funding for a year in the master’s degree program from the college.

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David Perlmutter, dean of the Texas Tech University College of Media & Communication, speaks before the Student Startup Competition in the Matador Room of the Student Union Building on Monday.

Inspired by the ABC show “Shark Tank,” in which hopeful entrepreneurs announce their business ideas to investors, the first Student Startup Competition was held in the Matador Room of the Student Union Building on campus today, and four student groups competed for this prize by pitching their media-related ventures to a panel of judges.

Beginning the event, David Perlmutter, Ph.D., dean of the college, described how the idea of an entrepreneur has changed since he was in college, saying he would have visualized “entrepreneurs” as a few young innovators working out of their basement and doing something completely independent.

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Geoffrey Graybeal, assistant professor and coordinator of the Student Startup Competition, introduces the panel of judges.

“Now I know from talking to our alumni over and over again, they want entrepreneurial thinking inside our company, inside our government agency, inside our nonprofit,” Perlmutter said. “We don’t want drones — we want creative people who will challenge us.”

Speeding along the competition, Geoffrey Graybeal, Ph.D., assistant professor and coordinator of the competition, introduced the judging panel, which was comprised of Perlmutter, Joe Fairless of Fairless Investing, Mat Threadgill of Standing Dog Interactive and Will Lowry, associate director and program manager for the Texas Tech Accelerator.

“We here at Texas Tech like to say ‘From here, it’s possible,'” Graybeal said, “and I think you’ll see today that media innovation is in fact possible here in the Hub City.”

Develo

Comprised of Carmen Askerneese, Anna Cordaro, Casey Smith and Garrett Wright, the team of Develo took the stage. The team members explained their business is an online community for video gamers and gaming developers.

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Carmen Askerneese, left, and Casey Smith, pitch their ideas for an online gaming community, “Develo.” Other members included Anna Cordaro and Garrett Wright.

“‘Develo’ is a Latin word for ‘unveil,’ and our goal is to unveil the gaming industry, which is something that isn’t being done right now,” Askerneese said. “There isn’t a company out there in the game market that is doing anything like what Develo provides for our clients.”

As a group, the team explained how online tutorials aid gamers in learning, and a matching system will allow individuals to collaborate and connect with others in the gaming industry.

A live demonstration of the website was accompanied with data, describing the U.S. gaming market as well as Develo’s target audience of young males and females. Smith explained revenue would be provided by user subscriptions.

Chewsit

Standing alongside Jessica Castro, Mikalah Knight, Olivia Sikora and Sarah Monroe, Wesley Metter explained how students and young professionals often feel stressed when mealtimes approach, as they do not typically have time to go grocery shopping.

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Wesley Metter, a member of the “Chewsit” team, describes a food delivery service. Chewsit was comprised of Metter, Jessica Castro, Mikalah Knight, Olivia Sikora and Sarah Monroe.

“We have developed a superior alternative to give our users a more satisfying meal,” a team member of “Chewsit” said. “One that is quick and easy to prepare, nutritious and delicious. We understand that finding time to create such meals is stressful.”

The group described a meal service which would deliver specific ingredients to doorsteps — eliminating shopping and preparation time. The team claimed Chewsit would be a two-tier system, with meals divided into two different price ranges to meet expense needs.

Food bloggers and those who hashtag certain phrases receive incentives from the company.

Chronovos

“According to the National World War II Museum, there are less than 900,000 surviving American World War II veterans, out of the roughly 16 million who served,” Abigail Arroyos said as her business partner, Benjamin Jarvis, explained that the number is dwindling, with approximately 492 U.S. World War II veterans dying every day.

In order to preserve memories from “endangered events,” such as WWII, the two-person team wants to conduct interviews nationwide and create an online story archive. After protecting recollections from the war, memories from other events — such as the first moon landing or President John F. Kennedy’s assassination — could be collected.

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Benjamin Jarvis explains “Chronovos,” an online memory curation database. The business is a two-person team of Jarvis and Abigail Arroyos.

Explaining “Chronovos” would initially gather audio recordings but hopefully progress to video interviews as the business develops, Jarvis and Arroyos described their idea was inspired by similar story-gathering platforms, “Humans of New York,” “Detour” and “Storycorps.” Prior to Chronovos, the two created “Humans of Lubbock,” sharing lives of locals.

“Individuals will be able to go online to listen to and watch online videos, podcasts, audio clips, even contribute to the online archive via the mobile app,” Jarvis said.

“Industries will be able to take advantage of advanced search features that will allow them to access the Chronovos database. Industries such as film and television will be able to find new and interesting content for feature films and documentaries. Museums and galleries will be able to curate content.”

Raza

Researching Hispanic involvement in politics, Noelle Vela discovered numbers were low.

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Noelle Vela presents “Raza,” an app to engage Hispanic high schoolers in politics.

“In order to bridge this gap, I present ‘Raza,'” Vela said.

“Change the game; change the race; change the vote. This idea will have gamification features, will also help identify and choose the presidential election and expose Hispanic youth to this event.”

Presenting features of the app, Vela explained options of games and quizzes to engage high school students. Raza would be offered in both English and Spanish language settings.

Winners

Following presentations, the judges had an opportunity to ask each team questions regarding their budding business before leaving the room to converse and decide the winner.

“We picked Chronovos because we liked the endangered events angle,” Fairless announced as the winners, Jarvis and Arroyos, stepped on stage again to receive their awards from Graybeal.

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Geoffrey Graybeal, assistant professor and coordinator of the event, right, hands Abigail Arroyos and Benjamin Jarvis their awards for winning the first Student Startup Competition.

As Jarvis is graduating this semester from the master’s program, Arroyos will receive the graduate degree funding, she said in an interview with The Hub@TTU. Jarvis and Arroyos will also both receive a roundtrip plane ticket.

“Chronovos is something that I really, really want to continue because I’ve always loved the history aspect,” Arroyos said, explaining how this is the perfect time to begin a business with the environment of encouraging entrepreneurship.

“I think it’s really, really imperative that something like this starts now because, like I said in the pitch, we have five years of these memories left, and after that, they’re gone.”

[Editor’s Note: Abigail Arroyos is a former staff member of The Hub@TTU. Arroyos graduated in May 2014.]

About Allison Terry

Allison Terry is an electronic media and communications major from Lubbock, Texas. She hopes to work in the media industry after graduation.