Students from eight school districts across the county, including two in North Carolina, will pitch business plans virtually to Shark Tank’s Daymond John and actor Nick Cannon, with $10,000 on the line.
Read MoreRodar decided to start his own line last December, and so far, his SALVO LLC bags have received rave reviews on social media and from bloggers and suppliers. Now, he is creating a line of book bags that will be manufactured out of a small village in Spain. Why Spain you ask? Because according to Rodar, “everybody who’s somebody in the leather goods industry manufactures there (Gucci and Prada to name a few).” Nine months from now, Rodar says he thinks ThinkHouse will have helped him establish his brand. Six others with equally ambitious goals will join Simpson and...
Read MoreI won’t lie. Ten years out of college, I’m pretty freaking envious of the new digs, new technology and new features on so many college campuses these days. My only positive memory of my college dorm’s basement was the free ice cream during exam week. At N.C. State’s new Innovation Hall at Wolf Ridge Apartments on Centennial Campus, smart and eager young people can quite literally start businesses and build products in theirs. At their disposal are MakerBots and laser cutters, iPads and smart whiteboards and they can fix up meals in state-of-the-art kitchens while they work. Breaks can...
Read MoreTo use a slightly modified turn of phrase – it takes an ecosystem to build a startup. Especially for young entrepreneurs — the more mentors, investors, advisors, incubators, inexpensive office space and other support infrastructure there is in place the more likely it is that their crazy idea will beat the odds and succeed. Why? Because running a startup is hard even for the most experienced of us; and we can all use as much help as we can get. Thankfully, Groundwork Labs – the “no strings attached community supported technology accelerator” located in the American Underground at the...
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