Spring BPCs a Huge Success!

This May, BUILD’s freshman student business teams competed for seed money before large audiences of supporters at our Business Plan Competitions. From the sound of their names, it was as though superheroes were about to face off. Team Excel! Fantastic 5! Team Xenon! Perhaps these BUILD students will indeed save the world -- one business at a time.

This event marked the culmination of a year of hard work by our freshmen students and their volunteer business mentors. During the competition, each team presented a business plan before a panel of judges who scored them based on content, presentation skills, persuasiveness, and feasibility. Teams’ written business plans were also scored prior to the competition. Our first place teams walked away with $100 per student to start up their businesses as well as automatic entry into the after-school Youth Academic and Business Incubator.

BUILD Peninsula

Twenty-four teams competed at BUILD Peninsula’s 11th annual BPC, held on May 8th at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Fantastic Five had the best overall business, impressing the judges with candy in the shape of sushi. In the best written business plan category, iHoodies wowed the judges with hooded sweatshirts that had built-in earphones.

A diverse panel of Silicon Valley business and entrepreneurial professionals attended the competition to serve as judges. The final round judges included Twitter Founder and Chairman Jack Dorsey, Wahoo’s Fish Tacos Co-Founder Wing Lam, Stanford University Professor Milbrey McLaughlin, and Guitar Hero CEO and Founder Kai Huang.

Despite all the nerves of competition, the BPC was also a time for students and staff to reflect. BUILD senior Carlos R. recounted how BUILD has impacted his mentality as a student, a role model for his younger brothers, and a teen growing up in an under-resourced community. “It was at BUILD that I realized that I can be on a path to future success for me and my family, not in spite of my obstacles, but because of them,” he said. “BUILD also allowed me to think like an entrepreneur, and to seize every opportunity that comes to me. By turning my obstacles into opportunities, I am happy to say that I will be the first in my family to graduate from high school and go to college.”

BUILD sophomore Mayerlin G. also reflected on the meaningful experiences she has had so far. “The most important tool that entrepreneurship has given me is the confidence to be independent and speak my voice - even when it is not what other people expect from me,” she said. “I no longer let the wrong crowd influence me - I speak my own mind, especially when it comes to my own life.”

BUILD Oakland

Twenty-four teams competed in BUILD Oakland's 4th annual BPC at U.C. Berkeley Haas School of Business on May 22nd. Congratulations to Team Excel for winning first place with their hand warmer product! Team Xenon was most impressive in the written business plan category with its astrological shirt product.

Team Excel's COO, Auset W., admits that the whole experience was very nerve-wracking. "My mind was everywhere from my part to how to show our product with confidence and excitement while being nervous," Auset said.

In the end, team members felt nothing but joy when they found out they had won the competition. "I started to cry," said Taylor A., Team Excel's CEO. "All year I worked so hard to win."

But the act of competing or winning certainly was not all that students got out of the experience. "I learned that just because you're young doesn’t mean you can’t do anything," Taylor said. "So many people have done wonderful things coming into this program."

BUILD Metro DC

Seventeen teams competed at BUILD Metro DC’s 2nd annual BPC, held on May 22nd at the George Washington University School of Business. Congratulations to Team Happy Paws for getting first place overall! Legendary Icons scored first place in best written business plan.

While the competition was tight, the atmosphere was joyous as students, mentors, and BUILD staff reflected on how far everyone had come. Kade'jah W., a sophomore student, said “I am a young entrepreneur and my future is bright. I am grateful to BUILD for never giving up on me and I know I will make everyone proud when I graduate from high school and go on to college.”

In her speech, Gloria Townsend, a BUILD business instructor, pronounced a simple yet compelling truth that reflected upon the students’ accomplishments: “Adults, very bright adults at that, come up with money-making ideas, but don’t have a clue on how to operate a business – BUILD students are ahead of the game.”