Kogod School of Business
What comes to mind when you hear the term “mid-summer festival?”
It may evoke imagery of a midway, complete with rides, carnival music, and funnel cake.
On AU’s campus, though, festivities of a different sort take shape each year when the calendar flips to July—one befitting the university’s rich culture of entrepreneurship.
A tradition that began in 2020 amid the all-virtual world of the pandemic, students from across campus came together again over 16 days this summer to connect, learn, and compete as part of the Fifth Annual Startup and Standout event, AU’s all-virtual summer extravaganza celebrating all things entrepreneurship.
The event blends networking, hands-on learning opportunities, and a pitch competition—all against a backdrop of finding new, innovative ways to enact change.
Startup and Standout 2024
This year, 158 participants, ranging from current students to incoming first-years and recent graduates, took part in the event, which was hosted by the Kogod School of Business and Veloric Center for Entrepreneurship, the university’s cross-campus catalyst for promoting the entrepreneurial mindset.
“Startup and Standout engages incoming first-year students in AU's entrepreneurship community and provides an opportunity for continuing students to remain engaged between semesters,” said Danielle Vogel, Kogod professor and assistant director of the Veloric Center. “It brings student entrepreneurs together with the entrepreneurially-curious to take some risks, make new friends, and build their public speaking and presentation confidence along the way.”
Throughout the event, participants learn and collaborate through discussions, workshops, and ultimately, a team-based showdown dubbed the “Solution Slam,” where participants develop an idea for a new product or service centered around making a meaningful social impact.
On the line: $10,000 in prize money.
A Full-Year Focus on Entrepreneurship
For some students, Startup and Standout is a way to keep their networking and entrepreneurial skills sharp during the summer months.
“As an international student from Ghana, the festival breathed life into my creative abilities as an emerging entrepreneur,” said Joseph Atchulo, part of the winning team in the Solution Slam, which proposed new ways to improve the eye care sector in Africa.
For others, the event is a way to upskill and, in some cases, wade into entrepreneurship for the first time.
I have always been scared to communicate ideas or talk in front of a crowd, but this experience helped me build confidence and proved to me that there’s a better world out there for bringing forth new startups."
Bright Amenyo
Student, Kogod School of Business
Vogel views growth—and the collaboration between experienced and less experienced entrepreneurs—among the most lasting benefits each summer.
“It's designed to be inclusive and encouraging of everyone interested in exploring the entrepreneurial mindset,” Vogel said. “The result is a wealth of collaborative ideas for social change imbued with a rich diversity of lived and learned experiences.”
In many ways, this two-week summer event is also a preview of what’s to come over the rest of the year at the Veloric Center, which continually offers students and recent alumni real-world, hands-on opportunities to pitch ideas, think critically, and test their presentation skills.
Startup and Standout is one of four flagship competitions the center hosts annually. Others include the Changemaker Challenge in the fall, the Venture Capital Investment Competition in the winter, and the Sustainability Invent-o-thon in the spring.
These experiential opportunities and rich entrepreneurship-focused curricula in Kogod’s Department of Management have combined in recent years to propel Kogod to rankings among the most innovative business schools in the US.
And these programs likewise loom large in inspiring the next generation of changemakers.
“This program has made me certain that I will become an entrepreneur one day,” said Kogod business administration major Sam Scherban, a Startup and Standout participant. “I learned a lot about teamwork and sustainability.”
“Being able to brainstorm and develop a viable business model with a group of people you didn’t know a week before forces you out of your comfort zone,” added Kogod finance major Caleb Tebo.
158 students representing 27 undergraduate majors across the AU campus participated in Startup and Standout 2024.
Finishing first in the competition and winning the $5,000 prize: Team VisionPulse, comprised of Joseph Atchulo, Angelina Lombardo, and Niveditha Pillamari.
In second place, winning the $3,500 prize: Team SproutUp!, comprised of Bright Amenyo, Paschalina Paraschou, and Sam Scherban
In third place, winning a $1,500 prize: Team Nutrition To-Go, comprised of Caleb Tebo, Sara Velcani, and Isabela Barriga.
More than a dozen AU alumni served as judges for the competition.