Technology Archives - Venture Lab

Using Smartphones To Save Lives: Aaron Goldstein W’16

By Nadine Kavanaugh

Aaron Goldstein W’16 was recently named Entrepreneur Magazine’s College Entrepreneur of the Year! In honor of his achievement, here’s Wharton Entrepreneurship’s interview with Aaron from our fall newsletter.

Fever Smart is a smart thermometer that allows parents to monitor their child’s temperature continuously and remotely. It’s already FDA approved, and their Indiegogo campaign this fall reached its goal in just 4 days, and ultimately raised $62,986—157% of their $40,000 goal. The great press that Fever Smart got in CNET,Business Insider, VentureBeat, and more undoubtedly helped.

What Cooperative Robots Can Do For Us: Dick Zhang at TEDxPenn

By Nadine Kavanaugh, Associate Director, Wharton Entrepreneurship

Last fall, TEDxPenn: Creating the Sound took attendees, me among them, into a fascinating world of sound and technology. Among the speakers was Penn alumnus Dick Zhang, co-founder of Identified Technologies—a member of the Venture Initiation Program, finalist and winner of the Committee Award for Best Use of Technology in the 2014 Wharton Business Plan Competition, and winner of the 2012 Y-Prize. I blogged about my experience at TEDxPenn here; now you can see Dick’s talk yourself: Read more What Cooperative Robots Can Do For Us: Dick Zhang at TEDxPenn ›

How To Get Tech Work Done, a Guide for the Non-Tech Founder

By Isaac Sukin, W’14, Founding Member, Dorm Room Fund Philly Investment Team

You’ve got a great idea, you’ve validated the market—but you don’t have the technical skill to build it yourself. What do you do? As a programmer myself and a member of Dorm Room Fund, one of the first venture capital funds run by students, for students, I get asked about this a lot. The advice that I give depends on how much you need done—and how much you’re willing to pay.

The Good Side of Having No Career Plan to Follow

By Lynne Kielhorn WG’94, co-founder of NovaKera and NanoDrop Technologies

Most people probably will tell you that high achievers must set an aggressive goal, develop a smart plan and work hard putting that plan into action. And indeed that is how many entrepreneurs find success. However, there are others, like me, who are quite content to be drawn toward one challenge after another without a specific career plan or path in mind. For us, life thrills do not come from meeting big career milestones, but rather from the excitement of learning something new and never knowing what will come next. My new hypothesis is that having this outlook attracts a disproportionate share of opportunities. And when it comes right down to it, I’m not sure there is anything more valuable in the entrepreneurial world than great opportunities. This is my career story, still without a plan.

Funniest Moments from the Wharton BPC

Editor’s note: This post originally appeared on the Wharton Magazine blog.

The Wharton Business Plan Competition (BPC), in all its 15 years, has hardly been merely a ha-ha affair. Among the first and best in academia, the competition spans two semesters every year, during which time students strive through multiple grueling rounds to reach the Finals and their chance to be number 1 startup on campus. It’s a legitimate opportunity to earn prize money and recognition that could help propel a startup closer to sustainability and success.

Co-chairs of the Wharton Business Plan Competition Committee, first-year MBAs Manasa Tanuku and Johannes Quodt, present during the Finals closing reception. Photo credits: Alyssa Cwanger, C’04, CGS’06.

Identified Technologies and DigiPuppets Win $7500 Each

By Nadine Kavanaugh, Associate Director, Wharton Entrepreneurship

Every year, Wharton Entrepreneurship gives several awards to students who demonstrate clear entrepreneurial prowess. There’s the Wharton Venture Award, which gives several students $10,000 each to work on their ventures for the summer rather than going the more traditional internship route, and the Loveman Award, a cash prize of $1,000 , which goes to the undergraduate specializing in Entrepreneurship with the highest cumulative GPA. But only one award requires the recipients to have first won something else before they even qualify for consideration: The Emil K. Woods Award.

Slidejoy Wins Wharton Business Plan Competition Perlman Grand Prize

By Nadine Kavanaugh, Associate Director, Wharton Entrepreneurship

Slidejoy - Grand Prize Winners (smaller) — Slidejoy team: (from left to right) Diana Kattan W’12, Jaeho Chung (on leave), Robert Seo WG’12, and Sanghoon Kwak G’14/WG’14 (Team Leader)

Slidejoy, founded by Sanghoon Kwak G’14/WG’14, Jaeho Chung alumnus, Robert Seo WG’12, has won the $30,000 Perlman Grand Prize at the 2014 Wharton Business Plan Competition. The prize was awarded at the Wharton School’s annual Venture Finals, May 1, 2014, where student finalists received more than $125,000 in combined cash prizes and in-kind legal/accounting services. Read more Slidejoy Wins Wharton Business Plan Competition Perlman Grand Prize ›

VeryApt, Wharton Business Plan Competition Finalist

By Ashrit Kamireddi WG’14, Team Leader for VeryApt

Team Members: Scott Bierbryer WG’14, Andrew Mackowski, Ross Bierbryer

VeryApt is TripAdvisor meets Pandora for apartments. VeryApt helps users find an apartment they will love, quickly and easily by combining user-generated reviews with big data analytics to deliver intelligent, personalized apartment recommendations.

Identified Technologies, Wharton Business Plan Competition Finalist

By Andy Wu PhD’16 (Team Leader) and Dick Zhang ENG’15 (on leave; Team Member) for Identified Technologies

Identified Technologies delivers a system of flying robots to collect data, for today’s data-driven industrial businesses, in settings where it is too dangerous or physically impossible to currently place sensors.

Abaris, Wharton Business Plan Competition Finalist

By Matthew Carey C’07/WG’15, Team Leader for Abaris

Team Members: Jason Grimes WG’15, Nimish Shukla G’15/WG’15, Adam Colombo ENG’14/W’14

Abaris is an Orbitz for Annuities. We are creating the first of its kind online marketplace enabling consumers to easily compare quotes on insurers’ guaranteed lifetime income offerings.