Elliot Steeves-

The annual Gustie Entrepreneur Cup will take place in the Beck Atrium on Saturday, May 11th, at 11:00 a.m. The event is the culmination of a multi-step process for several student projects involving their new business ideas.

The Cup is a competition and learning opportunity for students in which they develop original entrepreneurial ideas, as well as submit business plans and pitch their projects to alumni judges. The event is part of the creation of the newly formed Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurial Leadership.

In addition to two different categories of competition, there are multiple levels of prize money: $5,000 for first place and $2,500 for second. The winner of each category will advance to the Minnesota Cup.

The categories encompass either scalable or sustainable projects.

“Scale projects are more about growth,” Professor of Business and Economics and Director of the Center for Innovative and Entrepreneurial Leadership Tara Cadenhead ‘97 said. “Sustain is more for lifestyle and community-based projects.”

There were five steps by which each student pitched and submitted their business idea for the competition. First, students attended an info session or idea lab, where they brainstormed ideas. Then, there was a startup lab where students would analyze whether an idea had enough potential to be carried forward.

After practicing a pitch for a business to a small group, students refined their pitch with an alumni mentor or entrepreneur. All this will culminate in final pitches at the Gustie Cup itself.

“The first session had a lot of ideas,” Junior Petr Phillipov said. “During the final session, we whittled those ideas down to be more robust. Some people wanted to solve a problem if they did not have a concrete idea, and figure out how the project would come about.”
Cadenhead helped many students prepare their ideas for the cup, whether it was the pitches themselves or the submission process.

“Our goal is to engage students from across campus, not just in the Business and Economics departments,” Cadenhead said.

The goal of Cadenhead and the rest of the CEIL is to grow participation and engagement with the Gustie Cup substantially within a one year period. They hope that students recognize the value that can come from innovating their own business or product plan.

“Students are innovators regardless, even though only some actually go to become entrepreneurs,” Cadenhead said. “So, even if the prize money is important, learning how to take an idea into a business or non-profit is a very valuable skill.”

Philippov emphasized that doing this kind of work alone was extremely hard, and the fact that the Gustie Cup gave students the opportunity to do it as a part of a larger project was key to their success.

“The competition increases motivation and engagement, and the experience gained from that process is a lot,” Philippov said.

Other departments besides Business and Economics are involved in widening the appeal of the Gustie Cup. In particular, the Fine Arts department encourages students to participate who are taking the Art Entrepreneurship minor.

“Every student is an innovator, and should think like one,” Cadenhead said. “Some will become entrepreneurs. We also have students from fine arts, from music, from computer science, and from theater.”

Philippov’s idea was related to a new computer program that he came up with. He received assistance from Computer Science professor Guarionex Salivia in developing the idea for the resulting business.

“He was super supportive, and helped with anything I needed,” Philippov said.

It is not just computer projects that get attention at the Gustie Cup. Other project ideas for everything from entertainment to retail to nonprofit and civic service ideas get special attention at the event.

Additionally, students will be happy to know that Paddlefish Brewery, the winner of the 2023 competition, will host the afterparty. Further, Eric Johnson ‘23 will serve as an alumni judge at this year’s event.

Both Cadenhead and Philippov encouraged students to attend for the perks and for the reward of seeing ambitious students put their projects to light.

“There will be fascinating ideas, impressive things from peers, and free lunch!” Cadenhead said.

“Students who are a little timid at their business ideas can see other people do it, and find the motivation to enter into next year’s competition,” Philippov said.