Tag: competition

A team of operations and supply chain management graduate students from Washington University’s Olin Business School came in second place at the regional finals of the Supply Chain Finance Community’s Global Student Challenge on Thursday, March 9. The competition, held at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, was designed to promote awareness on the topic of supply chain finance and risk management.

“The Challenge engages participants to consider corporate strategy and business objectives and to manage cross-functional trade-offs in the value chain. Cross-functional understanding and collaboration are key components, as teams work together to turn their company around.” ~ globalstudentchallenge.org

The competition was based on a business simulation called The Cool Connection. According to the competition’s website, this simulation “provides insight in the complexities and inter-dependencies in supply chains operating under uncertain and volatile market conditions.”

The Olin team, composed of Xingxing Chen, Fasheng Xu, Yu Li, and Yunzhe Qiu, performed consistently well over multiple rounds, and stayed within reach of winning throughout the competition. Unfortunately, they were ultimately edged out in the final round of play. However, they placed ahead of strong competitors from Duke, USC, Maryland, and other top universities. They will find out in the coming weeks if they will advance to the global final to be held in the Netherlands in April.

On behalf of the Olin community, The Boeing Center for Supply Chain Innovation would like to congratulate the team on its excellent performance! All of them have sharpened their supply chain management skills through their participation in mini-consulting projects that BCSCI conducts with its member companies. Our students’ success at the Global Student Challenge serves as another validation of their capabilities.

By Evan Dalton

For more supply chain digital content and cutting-edge research, check us out on the socials [@theboeingcenter] and our website [olin.wustl.edu/bcsci]

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A Boeing Center digital production

Supply Chain // Operational Excellence // Risk Management

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Arch Grants launched its 2017 Global Startup Competition application cycle and will award up to twenty $50,000 equity-free cash grants and pro bono support services to innovative and scalable startups that agree to locate their business in St. Louis for at least one year. Through the industry-agnostic Global Startup Competition, Arch Grants funds innovative technologies, products, and services wrapped within scalable business models that have the potential to make a national or international impact.

The Arch Grants Global Startup Competition will be open from March 1 to May 15, 2017.

As a nonprofit organization, Arch Grants accelerates economic development in St. Louis by funding for-profit companies in order to retain and attract the most innovative entrepreneurs to the St. Louis region. “Arch Grants offers a unique opportunity to startups by offering equity-free cash, pro bono services, and access to the fastest growing startup city in the nation to help entrepreneurs build their companies with a solid foundation to open up space for them to take risks where they need to,” says Interim Executive Director Ben Burke (Olin PMBA’14).

Tyler King, Co-Founder and CEO of Less Annoying CRM , a 2014 Arch Grants Recipient from California, speaks from experience, “We moved here after we looked at all the pros and cons of cities across the U.S. The number one key for us was building a great team, and St. Louis is the best place to build a great team.“ With the advantage of dozens of four-year colleges, universities and Fortune 1,000 companies, St. Louis couples its low cost-of-living with access to talent, expertise, and business development opportunities.

Since 2012, Arch Grants has awarded more than $5.2 million in cash grants to 96 startup businesses that were ready to call St. Louis home. With the help of their program and support services, these companies have gone on to retain over 330 jobs, generate nearly $50 million in revenue, and attract over $100 million in follow-on capital.

This regional impact can be traced to the impact that the organization has on its Recipients. “Arch Grants fast forwarded everything we were doing. We got our first client, we hired our first full time employee, and have expanded into a totally different network,” shares Christina Hawatmeh, Founder and CEO of Scopio , a 2015 Arch Grants Recipient from New York.

Among the many reasons to choose St. Louis for your startup, the sense of community and low degrees of separation in St. Louis are two factors that Arch Grants helps amplify.

Pravina Pindoria, Founder and CMO of Tallyfy , a 2014 Arch Grants Recipient from England, shares that “as soon as we landed, they [Arch Grants] said, ‘Who would you like to speak to?’ Within a couple of weeks, we had these warm introductions made with the C-suites of Emerson, Purina, and Nestle.” Pindoria says. “The sense of community spirit fostered between Arch Grants and these corporations in town is pretty incredible.”

The organization understands the benefits of creating an inclusive community, a result supported by a 2015 study by McKinsey & Co. that found “companies in the top quartile for racial and ethnic diversity are 35 percent more likely to have financial returns above their respective national industry medians.”

“We’re proud of the fact that 68% of Arch Grants Recipients are led or co-led by a women, person of color, immigrant, or veteran entrepreneur.” says Dalychia Saah, the Global Startup Competition Manager. “To Arch Grants, diversity is not about brownie points, it’s about innovation that stems from people with differing backgrounds working together to solve problems.”

The Arch Grants Global Startup Competition will be open until May 15th. Arch Grants Recipients will be announced to the public at their Annual Arch Grants Gala on November 3rd.

Interested entrepreneurs can check out the Arch Grants Global Startup Competition today and learn more at archgrants.org .

Source: Arch Grants News Release

Calling all entrepreneurs! It’s time to sign up for the business plan competitions managed by the Skandalaris Center. There are workshops, advisors, and coaches to help first-time entrepreneurs through the process. Registration for information sessions is required.

Skandalaris Center Cup (SC Cup) Info Sessions
$5,000 award to student-founded, for-profit startups, with the potential for further investment.
3 info sessions:
Thursday, September 29th, 5:00 – 6:00 PM, DANFORTH CAMPUS, MALLINCKRODT 128
Wednesday, October 5th, 12:00 – 1:00 PM, DANFORTH CAMPUS, MALLINCKRODT 128
Wednesday, October 5th, 12:00 – 1:00 PM, MEDICAL CAMPUS, FARRELL LEARNING AND TEACHING CENTER (FLTC) ROOM 214

Link here to register.

Social Enterprise and Innovation Competition (SEIC)
Impact. Innovation. Income.
Do you want to work with students from across campus and community experts from all of St. Louis on key social challenges?  Do you want to learn skills to help you create sustainable social change? Up to $100,000 in investment and services available to selected participants.
Kick-off Event:
Friday, October 14, 3:00 – 5:00 PM
Brown Lounge (2nd Floor)
Link here to register.

Washington University Startup Training Lab (WU-STL) Workshop Series
Want to learn more about how to start a startup? Join us for these bimonthly entrepreneurial skills series offered by the Skandalaris Center in collaboration with the Brown School of Social Work. The workshops take place on two Fridays per month, 1-5pm and are free and open to the public.
Begins:
Friday, October 21st, 1:00 – 5:00 PM, Mallinckrodt 128
Link here for more information.

If you think you’ve read this story before, you have, sort of…Andrew Glantz, BSBA’17 and his startup company’s app, FoodShare, won the qualifying round of the national RECESS competition last week and advance to the semifinals later this month. If he wins that round, he will compete in the national championship on June 9 in Los Angeles.

Judges included BazaarBoy CEO Eric Hamblett, BSBA’13, Build-A-Bear Founder Maxine Clark, and WashU Investment Management Co. CIO Kim Walker.

Since launching the app a year ago, Glantz has been winning startup competitions from coast to coast. The FoodShare iPhone app helps St. Louis locals discover and recommend restaurants, while transforming restaurants into social enterprises. Every time a user dines at a FoodShare partnered restaurant, FoodShare donates a meal to someone in need through Operation Food Search.

Read more in Student Life on his latest win.

Congrats, Andrew!!

From March 4-5, 2016, I had the privilege of traveling with three of my peers to southern California to participate in the USC Value Investing Group’s First Annual Investment Conference, where we were awarded 2^nd Place.

Our team was comprised of members of the Washington University Student Investment Fund (WUSIF): Vaibhav Sharma (Junior), Peter Lu (Junior), Ray Su (Junior), and myself (Freshman). WUSIF is a group of students who are passionate about long-term value investing and have been given the opportunity to manage approximately $150,000 of Washington University’s endowment fund. This semester, Vaibhav is serving as Co-President of the fund, while Peter, Ray, and I are involved in portfolio management.

Our team came together after receiving an invitation to the USC competition from a former Washington University student. The competition required an initial submission of a two-page executive summary, a commonly used form of reporting in equity research.

We scoured the market for a company we believed investors were currently undervaluing and ultimately settled on Arista Networks. A relatively new competitor in the network technology field, Arista’s stock (NYSE: ANET) was not recognizing its full value due to an ongoing lawsuit with industry giant Cisco and overly conservative estimates about the company’s ability to expand their customer base. As we researched, formulated an investment thesis, and built our valuation model, we became confident that Arista was, in fact, a diamond in the rough.

We faced some adversity after our initial submission in early February. The market began to realize the very same thing we had. When we submitted our executive summary, ANET was trading around $59 per share. By the time we were headed off to Los Angeles, ANET was trading at nearly $67 per share.

However, we faced some adversity after our initial submission in early February. The market began to realize the very same thing we had. When we submitted our executive summary, ANET was trading around $59 per share. By the time we were headed off to Los Angeles, ANET was trading at nearly $67 per share. Though our base case still maintained a 24% upside, pitching Arista Networks as an investment had just become significantly more challenging. However, with Vaibhav’s encouragement, we remained confident that Arista still had room to grow.

The competition was spread out over two days. The first day consisted of a keynote address from Arthur Lev, the former Chairman of Morgan Stanley Investment Management, and a networking dinner that was held in USC’s finest dining room. The second day consisted of the teams’ pitches: we were divided into rooms and were evaluated by a preliminary panel of judges. Following the pitches, we were treated to lunch and given the opportunity to learn from all of the judges in the form of a career panel. The three finalists were announced and we presented our pitches to the final panel of judges.

All facets of the competition were valuable experiences, but we were particularly impacted by the chance to present to notable members of the finance community and hear from them in the career panel. We were excited to finish in 2^nd Place, but are also looking forward to attending future competitions and continuing to represent Washington University in a positive manner in the financial services industry.

Guest blogger: Daniel Mangum, BSBA ’19, is a member of the Washington University Student Investment Fund.

Not long after we met Andrew Glantz, BSBA’17, cofounder of FoodShare (see blog post), he started winning startup competitions that are leading to more competitions, recognition, travel, and award money! Congrats to Andrew and the FoodShare team. Here’s the latest on their winnings:

The Mobileys: A competition for the most innovative mobile app that will make a difference. FoodShare won the People’s Choice Award and a grant for $2,500 as well as an all-expense paid trip to D.C. on December 9-11 to attend business conferences/meetings.

2nd Annual U.Pitch College Elevator Pitch Competition & Showcase:       Andrew was selected as one of 24 semi-finalists for the U.Pitch competition in Chicago for December 7th. Sponsored by Future Founders, a non-profit organization that believes every youth can become an entrepreneur.

Global Student Entrepreneurship Awards: Sponsored by the Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO), FoodShare won the regional competition and an all expense paid trip to to the next round, the National GSEA finals in Miami Florida in February. The winner of the National competition moves on to compete at the global finals in Bangkok, Thailand. The regional win also scored these perks for FoodShare: $300 of spending money for the Miami competition; an all expense paid trip to the EO Roundup conference in Houston for 2.5 days of learning and networking; attendance at 4 learning days at the EO Accelerator; sales and marketing training form a local EO member business; and tax returns done by a local EO member’s business.

SLU’s ‘Real’ Elevator Pitch Competition:
FoodShare has been named one of the top 10 “Social Impact” finalists and beat out hundreds of other student submissions from all over the nation. The Final Round takes place Dec. 6 at One Metropolitan Square in St. Louis, MO.
1st Place – $2,500 and an expenses paid trip to SXSW Interactive in Mar 2016
2nd Place – $1,500
3rd Place – $1,000