After our Randall Family Big Idea Competition Virtual Awards Ceremony, we at the Big Idea Center caught up with the grand prize winning team, Polycarbin, to discuss how three medical school students became entrepreneurs and what their next steps are to bring to life their idea to reduce the amount of biomedical waste that ends up in landfills or incinerated.
My startup, Healthy Soul, first came to me as a dream to try and fix the ever-increasing issues of hunger and food-related illnesses within my community’s homeless population. To help bring this dream alive, I went all around campus in the search of resources that could support me with my idea. Luckily, I stumbled upon the Big Idea Center, saw a large poster for the Randall Family Big Idea Competition (RFBIC) at their office, and decided to participate in the competition. Throughout the RFBIC, we pitched our ideas and received feedback from numerous judges in the innovation community. Right before the final round, I was first introduced to the Big Idea Center’s Blast Furnace (BF) program. Babs Carryer, the director of the Big Idea Center, and I had set up a Randall progress meeting and during that time she had informed me of their summer accelerator program. Essentially, it would be a key factor in helping me understand all the nooks and crannies of what goes into a startup. At this point, I had been working on Healthy Soul for about 5 months. If I was serious about getting my business up off the ground, Blast Furnace would be essential for my progress, and the next step of turning my idea into a reality.
Let’s talk about Customer Discovery.
Hi guys! My name’s Danielle. I’m a senior marketing and supply chain management major at Pitt and I will be graduating in Spring 2020. With that being said, my two years as a Big Idea Center intern are sadly coming to an end. As I get ready to say goodbye, I thought I would reflect on some of the best parts of my internship.
Decades ago, the most successful people took pride in the size of their Rolodex, a simple wheel with alphabetical slots was specially designed to hold index cards containing people’s contact information that could be inserted or removed. The Rolodex was a status symbol that showed the size of their network. Although every person in a network was not necessarily a job opportunity or potential client, each was an entry point to meeting other people.
Every business competition is essentially a story telling competition. Pitching your idea involves telling a good story. “IN A GALAXY FAR AWAY AND LONG AGO”…… all good stories have a STRONG BEGINNING, a middle that has a logical flow, and a strong ending. The best openings are the ones that grab your listeners (judges, investors, etc.) early. If you can make an emotional connection with your audience, then you’re off to a good start as you have their attention. The story for business competition pitches must include all the elements of starting a business.
Whether you’re thinking about starting your own company, or you’re like me and are currently navigating the startup world, there’s one thing I’ve noticed that all successful entrepreneurs have in common, and it’s grit. Being able to push forward and persevere when there are hold ups, hiccups, insistent doubters, or even healthy distractions in your life, is something I’ve found separates those who get ahead from those who don’t. Many startups fail early on because the founders hit their first barrier and instead of being resilient and working hard to solve the problem, they become discouraged - resulting in a mindset that their issues can’t be fixed or overcome. I can almost guarantee to you that no fruitful startup has gone from ideation to the market place without having multiple roadblocks along the way. Roadblocks are a sign that you’re trying, so be persistent, and think of them as stepping stones to reaching the final destination – a successful product launch. While startups are sadly not as easy as Shark Tank makes them look, I have found three ways to stay gritty and relentless while on the startup pursuit:
Garrett Coyan, MD, MS: Post-Doc, Resident, and (newly minted) Medical Entrepreneur
