Contest yields thriving
products
By Kurt Esposito
and
Laura Pelner
A company that has just received permission from
the Food and Drug Administration to market a new bio feedback device
worldwide received its start from Purdue.
Three years ago, it won the Burton D. Morgan Entrepreneurial
Competition — a business plan competition for undergraduate and
graduate students.
The device helps elderly women who suffer from
incontinence, which is the inability to voluntarily retain a bodily
discharge.
Students are helped with market research and the
creation of a business plan to learn how to both develop and market
their product. Shailendra Mehta, director of entrepreneurship initiative,
said students learn that even though they may develop a great product,
the product will not sell itself.
"People should jump in with both feet and learn
how to swim," he said.
Even if students do not have a business idea they
can still sign up and be paired with someone who does have a plan. Non-students
can also sign up as long as they are partnered with a Purdue student.
Callouts for the15th annual competition will be
held from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. tonight and Thursday in the Krannert Auditorium.
Mehta said the competition has produced many successful
businesses. Last year's winners — Griffin Analytical Technologies
— developed a portable mass spectrometer, a machine used to measure
the colors formed when white light is dispersed, that has the potential
to have a billion dollars in sales, said Mehta.
Kintan Brahmbhatt, junior in the School of Science
and winner in last year's competition, said participating is beneficial
because of the learning experience. He said he was trained in every
aspect of starting a business.
Competitors start by developing a marketing proposal.
From these, 20 semi-finalists are selected who develop complete business
plans. Of these, five finalists are chosen that will make presentations
in February to determine a winner.
Winners will receive $50,000 and subsidized space
in the Purdue Research Park for their business.
The judges for the competition are venture capitalists
and entrepreneurs who sometimes help out the novice businesses. Mehta
said, "The potential funders and partners are even more useful than
the $50,000 we give away."
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