Each year, teams from MBA and graduate programs all over the world take part in the investment competition circuit. These events afford all participants an opportunity to make new connections, refine business plans, and hone their presentation skills. But for some, the competitions are part of an even bigger journey: taking their startup idea and transforming it into a real business. This is the case for both Cricket Flours and AirFit, two teams that represented the Oregon MBA and Lundquist Center for Entrepreneurship (LCE) this year in competitions in the United States and abroad.
Cricket Flours
The Cricket Flours team—Omar Ellis, MBA '15; Paul Butler, JD/MBA '16; and law student Charles Wilson—jumped all over the globe to pitch their insect-sourced protein powder. In February, the three hopped a plane to Thailand to compete in the mai Bangkok Business Challenge at Sasin University, where they were one of only four teams to make it to the finals. In March at the University of Manitoba's Stu Clark Investment Competition, Cricket Flours leapt to first place and also won for best elevator pitch. More recently, the team was crowd favorite at the Willamette Angel Conference—no small achievement for a company whose core product is ground crickets—and also won first place at Fertilab's annual Pitch Stream competition.
Business has been chirping along for quite a while now for the startup thanks to brisk online sales and a new cookbook. Both Ellis and Wilson will continue with the business after graduation.
Dual Achievement in Texas
Together, Cricket Flours and AirFit achieved a rare distinction when they both made the semifinals at the University of Texas's Global Venture Labs Investment Competition (GVLIC). This was the first time ever that the University of Oregon placed two teams simultaneously in this elite round.
AirFit Takes Off
AirFit's story starts back in 2013 when Ty Manegold, MBA '15, entered the Oregon MBA program with the beginnings of an idea for a line of airport-based gym facilities that would provide travelers with a healthy way to recharge before their next flight.
Intrigued by Manegold's concept, Cynthia Sandall, MBA '15, came on board at the beginning of fall 2014. Together, Manegold and Sandall worked to bring AirFit through LCE's year-long Venture Launch Pathway curriculum, then on to the investment competition circuit, and finally into the real world.
While developing their business plan during the past three terms, Sandall and Manegold took full advantage of the resources on tap at the Oregon MBA program, tailoring their coursework so it served the bigger picture.
“In every course I took during my second year in the MBA program, my term projects were built to contribute to AirFit," said Sandall. “All our professors and instructors were very accommodating in allowing us to slightly alter the final deliverable, so it added value to our company while staying within the scope of the course."
Along with their impressive showing at GVLIC, this spring saw Team Airfit compete in the Cardinal Challenge at the University of Louisville; in the University of Oregon's New Venture Championship; and in Fertilab Pitch Stream, where it won the People's Choice Award.
Manegold and Sandall will continue with AirFit and are already in talks with representatives from San Francisco International Airport and New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport. In the next 18-24 months, there's a strong chance international travelers out of both those airports will have a healthy new way to unwind between flights.
It's the Experience that Counts
Although all this year's Oregon MBA student competitors are now graduating with businesses to pursue, LCE program manager Nathan Lillegard is quick to point out that—regardless of whether they develop full-fledged companies—students have much to gain from their investment competition experience.
“If they decide to go forward and do a business, great. If Ty [Manegold] decided he wanted to go off and work for an investment bank, also great," said Lillegard. “Either way, our students have all this experience, and do all this cool stuff. They learn a ton."
Still, for those who already have a business idea they wish to pursue—or those who aspire to uncover a business idea worthy of pursuit—LCE offers the tools and environment to make that happen.
For prospective students with startup dreams of their own, Lillegard offers the following invitation: “Bring your ideas here, and we'll help you spend two years refining them and getting ready to launch, so that when you do launch, you make a lot fewer mistakes."