A day of innovation by Krystal RiveraLast week students gathered in CCNY's NAC courtyard in support of those participating in the Zahn Center’s 60 Second Startup Pitch Pizza Challenge. The Center supports students entering the startup economy, a new trend in business. “Everything is surrounded by startups,” explains Alexey Niyakin, a volunteer at the event. Take airbnb for instance, what used to be a startup has grown into a multi-billion dollar company. “It just takes someone to have a new idea,” she adds.
Lindsay Siegel (above with student entrepreneurs), executive director of the Zahn Center, hosted the event as a kickoff for the 2017 startup competition. The challenge allowed for young aspiring entrepreneurs to present their ideas, answering 4 big questions: What is the problem they’re solving? What’s the big idea? Who is the customer, and how they’re going to make money?Junique Folks, a psychology major at city college took full advantage of the opportunity as he’d been working on his big idea since April. “I had never previously given an elevator pitch in front of judges, especially in a public space,” Folks excitedly explained. “To see words that I've only ever seen written or heard, discussed casually with friends, fly from my mouth to any nearby ear was formative and transcendent.”
The application for Zahn’s 2017 startup competition closes November 13th, when 10 teams will be chosen to launch their idea, win $150K in prizes, and meet with investors.Who’s up for the challenge?
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