Entrepreneurs in action! Check it out and get inspired!
Nathan Schwagler, creative in residence at USF-St. Pete, teaches creativity in entrepreneurship at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg, where he is responsible for the integration of creative thinking skills into entrepreneurship curricula. He wrote an article in 83 Degress recently about his experience on the Miami StartupBus. Ten young professionals from the Tampa Bay area were on board the StartupBus as it made its way from Miami to Austin in early March. Three of the ten are part of the Entrepreneurship Program at USFSP!
Nathan Schwagler was also part of the winning team that created MyNewman.
My Newman: Tampa Team Rolls To SXSW Finals On The StartupBus
Excerpts:
On March 7th, 2011, a motley crew of entrepreneurially inclined web designers, developers, marketers and business strategists from the Tampa Bay region combined with 19 other entrepreneurs from the Southeastern United States and boarded a bus in Miami, FL.
The mission, should each “buspreneur” choose to accept it: brainstorm business concepts with complete strangers, converge upon the best ideas, form implementation teams, and then turn the most promising ideas into functioning businesses — in 72 hours. Oh, and by the way, you must do this on a bus, enroute to the South By Southwest festival in Austin, TX.
As the bus approaches Austin, a panel of experts will evaluate your technology and business model. If everything checks out, you’ve earned yourself a slot in the semifinals. Great job. Now get back to work! The finals are in three days.
Three Rules of StartupBus:
• There are no rules
• Don’t expect to sleep
• Don’t rely on the on-bus wifi
On The Road
The Miami bus fielded seven extraordinary teams: BookmarksFor.tv, FulFilld.com, Grupii, Isitgood4.me, Online Supply List, Story Set Go, and MyNewman. The judges picked BookmarksFor.tv and MyNewman to make it through the first round and into the semifinals.
MyNewman, the world’s first anti-social social network, drew equal parts love and hate from the audience and judges, and made its way into the final round. The genius of MyNewman resides in the compatibility engine it uses to match individuals with other users in their network, or “nemisphere.”
Think of the people that you love to hate. You don’t necessarily know why they annoy you, but behavioral scientist Sean Lux and software architect Greg Ross-Munro, the creative geniuses behind MyNewman, think they do. And they’re banking on the idea that given an opportunity, you will engage with your nemeses (anonymously) online. The business model involves targeted ads to the highly sought after 18-34 year old male demographic, and also a marketplace for the digital prankster – dubbed the crAPP store. Clever, isn’t it?
…
Buspreneurs Unite
St. Petersburg buspreneur Reuben Pressman appreciated the dynamism of business building with strangers and time pressure: “It’s an incredible opportunity. I learned about the importance of adapting to new scenarios and working with new people fast.”
So, what’s next? Well, the ripple effects of the StartupBus experience are already being felt in the community. Some of the teams on the Miami bus have continued development on their projects, and, two Tampa Bay buspreneur alumni just received a license to host a local Startup Weekend!
It’s this kind of passion and drive that Florida’s entrepreneurial ecosystem so desperately needs (an early stage investment fund wouldn’t hurt, either). All in all, I leave this experience confident in the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Tampa Bay, and excited to know that the region will be well-represented and competitive in next year’s StartupBus challenge. Godspeed.
Tampa Bay Region Buspreneurs:
Jessica Barnett – USFSP Entrepreneurship Club Member
Kyle Eschenroeder
Sean Lux
Will Mitchell
Mitch Neff
Kirsten Peck
Reuben Pressman - USFSP Entrepreneurship Club Member
Greg Ross-Munro
Nathan Schwagler - USFSP Entrepreneurship Club Mentor
Susie Steiner
Read Original Article At 83 Degrees
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