What inspires someone to become an entrepreneur?
Do they hope to “put a dent in the universe” like Steve Jobs? Do they picture serving neglected consumers and applying groundbreaking models like Sam Walton? Are they consumed by the impulse to raise quality and reduce costs like Henry Ford?
Or, in the case of Hayden Earl, are they pulled by the love of a community – and a calling to protect it?
AN “UBER FOR BOATS”
A senior at Cornell University’s Nolan School of Hotel Administration, Earl learned to sail when he was five-years-old on Cape Cod. Later on, he competed for the U.S. Olympic Development Sailing Team. Such experiences imbued a passion for the Massachusetts coast’s natural beauty – and the ecological balance needed to sustain it. The latter hit home when Earl visited his coastal hometown several years ago. The view was unforgettably eerie: fishing boats no longer dotted the harbor. The reason spurred him to action.
Hayden Earl, BoatCape, Cornell University (Nolan)
“I learned that overfishing from tourists – coupled with environmental degradation which had brought warmer waters to Cape Cod and driven the fish population north – had destroyed our fishing industry and the livelihoods of many,” he tells P&Q. Dwindling catches had led to dwindling incomes, and my town’s fisherman had been displaced. It was in this moment that I felt a deep responsibility to help uplift my community.”
In response, Earl launched his venture, BoatCape, in the summer of 2022. The venture provides guided tours where visitors can “explore Cape Cod’s natural beauty like a true local – and with one” in Earl’s words. Thus far, BoatCape has attracted over $80,000 in investment. Long-term, Earl hopes to build an “Uber for Boats,” where he envisions tourists using an app to reserve a boat and a captain for a tour. In the meantime, Earl points to his yacht charter service serving a dual purpose.
PROVIDING A LIVING TO DISPACED FISHERMEN
“[It] provides my community with a way to earn an income and stay connected to its coastal roots. BoatCape [also] aims to educate visitors about the importance of environmental stewardship, out on the water, where seeing is believing!”
Earl himself has long dabbled in entrepreneurship, with ventures ranging from shoveling snow to teaching sailing to selling sodas. Now earning a BS in Hotel Administration, Earl says the Nolan School has been “extremely supportive” of BoatCape. Not only has one of his professors, Tom Estad, guided him though launching and scaling his venture, but has even put his students to work on it.
“This fall, I am a teaching assistant for his Communication for Entrepreneurs class as well as helping develop curriculum for his Business Writing course for the second year in a row, where his younger students will pitch new side ventures for BoatCape,” Earl adds.
STUDENT FOUNDED STARTUPS BY UNDERGRADUATE BY BUSINESS MAJORS
BoatCape is one of the startups honored by Poets&Quants in its 4th annual ‘Most Disruptive Business School Startups of 2024.’ This fall, P&Q reached out to 33 of the highest-ranked business schools of 2024. Ultimately, P&Q received 29 submissions back from institutions ranging from the Wharton School to the University of California at Berkeley to IE Business School. Like previous years, P&Q sought startups, founded by business majors, with the potential to become game-changing forces in their respective industries. In many cases, they are evolved beyond dorm room concepts and laboratory protypes to highly-funded enterprises.
Take CR3 Markets, a commercial real estate fintech started by Jakub Drwal, Jack Wayman, and Andrew Vittiglio at Notre Dame’s Mendoza College. It has already raised over $800,000 in funding. Carnegie Mellon University’s Sitewiz, an AI-powered E-commerce solution, and Babson College’s BOND, a leadership and personal growth platform, have attracted $133,000 and $155,000 in funding respectively. At the Wharton School, Ace Kim and Julian Ward have raised $137,500 between angel investments, grants, and bootstrapping for SphereUs. This venture focuses on automating various process involved in brand ambassador programs, such as identifying and training ambassadors and measuring their performance.
“In recent years, marketing through macro-influencers and content creators has become more expensive and less effective,” Kim explains. “With the explosion of TikTok and short-form content, people are bombarded with sponsorship-after-sponsorship. This has led to “ad-blindness” where audiences increasingly ignore content creator product placements. In contrast, brand ambassadorship (marketing through micro-influencers) has gotten more effective, as consumers continuously rely more-and-more on their own social circles for product recommendations.”
SWAPPING OATS FOR CHICKPEAS
Izzy Gorton, ChiChi, Washington University (Olin)
At Washington University’s Olin School, Izzy Gorton and Chiara Munzi are disrupting the quick breakfast market – and have raised $234,000 to take their startup national. Rather than relying on oats – high in carbs and sugar – for hot cereal, the founders are using high protein chickpeas. It is a solution, Gorton says, that is appealing to consumers looking for more plant-based and dairy-free options. Their product, ChiChi, now sells across 34 grocery stores and St. Louis and Los Angeles, having sold 50,000 pouches by the beginning of fourth quarter. At the same time, ChiChi claimed first prize in the 60 Day Hustle, an accelerator competition sponsored by Amazon Prime.
For Gorton, ChiChi’s success has been a community effort. She credits Doug Villhard, Olin’s academic director for entrepreneurship, for teaching them to “innovate quickly, gain fast traction, and get consumer feedback right away.” Another professor, II Luscri, pushed the founders to enter competitions and allowed them to “stink up his space with cooking chickpeas.” They also leveraged the school’s Skandalaris Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship to guide the launch of their venture. Even more, adds Gorton, they took advantage of their startup-friendly local ecosystem.
“Local St. Louis grocery stores gave us the opportunity to launch as a student startup, offering invaluable proof of concept that accelerated our growth and product innovation. St. Louis is a great place for entrepreneurship because of its supportive network, affordability, and strong sense of community. The city fosters innovation, particularly in the food industry, and is incredibly welcoming to new companies.”
CATERING TO THEIR PEERS
In some cases, student startups stemmed directly from their experience. Exhibit A: GradMeet, a mobile app launched by Jack Saltel, a 2024 graduate of Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business. The app, he says, is designed to help recent graduates make friends and build networks in their new cities. He does this through “curated group experiences,” with like-minded members selected through “a personality quiz and value-based matching algorithm.” Last summer, Saltel executed the concept by hosting GradMeet’s MVP Chicago Launch Party, which drew 122 attendees on a shoestring budget. This was just the first step in a much larger vision.
“The long-term goal with GradMeet is to expand to major cities across the U.S. and beyond,” Saltel writes, “becoming the go-to application for new grads who are moving to a new city to start their career to combat the growing loneliness epidemic among young adults. By leveraging in-person group experiences, GradMeet aims to eliminate the awkward barriers of meeting new people and truly build authentic friendships. In the future, I aim to build strategic partnerships with local businesses, event venues, and large corporations that hire recent graduates. My vision is to redefine how new grads navigate the start of their post-college.”
Mohit Mirpuri lays out an equally ambitious vision for his venture. A senior at the Villanova University School of Business, he has launched College Couture. Matching high quality gems and striking designs with a lower price point, he plans to “disrupt” the school jewelry market, which includes college-specific graduation rings, necklaces, earrings, and bracelets. In the process, Mirpuri adds, he hopes to make collegiate jewelry “smarter, more stylish and more meaningful.” Thus far, he has established sales partnerships with Villanova Athletics and Playfly, a leading sports marketing and technology firm. By the same token, he has earned the endorsement of Villanova’s Women’s Basketball Coach, Denise Dillon, who wears a Villanova pendant from College Couture.
In the coming months, he plans to add new schools through Playfly too. “My long-term goal is to expand College Couture to over 250 schools across the Northeast and Southeast, with plans to eventually target colleges in the Northwest and Southwest,” Mirpuri explains. “I envision three primary product lines focusing on graduation gifts, alumni gifts, and staff/faculty gifts. Through our partnership with Playfly, we’re positioned to achieve substantial market reach within the collegiate space, ultimately making College Couture the leading name in fine, customizable collegiate jewelry.”
Next Page: NASA-Funded Fire Reduction System, Caregiver Support, and More.
Page 3: In-Depth Profiles of 29 Student Startups
