After months of preparation and weeks of competition, senior Trevor Mengel and Sam Brown ’12 won first place at the Kenneth A. Freirich Business Plan Competition. Their idea? An online social network for pick-up sports games called Slingshot. By providing people an outlet to join in an active sport, the two hope to get America out of their couches and into the parks, fields and quads of their communities. Her Campus got all details we could without giving too many hints to Slingshot’s competitors. Check out this witty duo in the interview below!
Her Campus: Tell me about your business plan.
Trevor: I would, but I might have to kill you… actually. We’re in stealth mode right now so without really getting deep into things, we’re creating a network and mobile application for bringing people together through activity.
Sam: As Trevor said, we have a general idea of what we want Slingshot to be, and what it is becoming; however, we are really excited to see what it develops into and how it evolves over the next couple months. We really feel that we’ve created a product that has infinite potential.
Her Campus: How did you guys come up with the idea?
Trevor: The idea grew out of a 5 min conversation between Sam and I at the Parting Glass in December.
Sam: I was eating a Hamburger, medium-well, cheddar cheese, jalapenos and barbeque sauce. Trevor was eating bangers and mash (gross).
Trevor: It’s not about the idea though. Good ideas happen every day. We’re in this to solve a problem. A lot of technology really sucks. It enables passive communication and laziness. There is a huge obesity epidemic in the US. People need to stop playing in the virtual world and get out and do stuff. We’re creating something that helps them accomplish this.
HC: How long did it take you to develop the plan to make it competition-ready?
T: The plan was sort of an afterthought. Yes, it was important, but we’re more focused on creating a viable business. There are many other elements to this project that are arguably more important, like forming a kickass team. Since we had been working through things since January, composing the business plan only took about three days. However, competition-ready does not mean VC ready. There’s still a lot to be done.
S: The competition really wasn’t in the picture at the beginning, as Trevor said, but when it came around, we realized that it was the perfect opportunity to get our idea in front of some experienced “business people” and force us to push ideas to paper, and bring our plan to action. We spent a few all nighters in the library (and then back to my house or Trevor’s when the Library kicked us out), but everybody in the competition had to write a business plan and we knew that if we wanted to come out on top we would have to differentiate ourselves in a different way. Slingshot isn’t just an idea.
HC: How was the selection process for you guys—stressful, fun?
T: There was some good competition and we were really impressed with the other groups. Luckily, we went last and were pretty confident that we had done our best in the pitch and demo. After that it was out of our hands.
S: The first round was stressful, yes, but we really did (and still do!) believe in our product, pitch and business plan so we felt like we had a solid chance at advancing. Come the second round, when looking at the competition we really had no idea who was going to place. Every group had a different element to their plan and situation that gave them a unique opportunity for the grand prize. The whole process was a great experience though— definitely an emotional rollercoaster and I was extremely nervous/anxious when Ken was about to announce the finalists.
HC: How do you plan to use your winnings?
T: We’re going to build product and ship it in the most effective way, in the shortest period of time. I imagine we’ll use most of the cash to get Slingshot in front of potential users.
S: I really wanted to go on vacation with it, but Team Slingshot vetoed that one. We want Slingshot to happen, and the winnings are going to help us get off the starting block. Getting funding and services is really hard, especially for college students our age, and having these resources at the beginning is a huge plus.
HC: How is the site going to work? What kind of sports will be offered?
T: The site is going to work over the Internet and mobile will be a big part of it. We’re starting with pickup sports, but will give users the option to use the technology for other activities as well.
S: Facebook sort of works like it did when it first launched back when I was a freshman in high school. Right now it’s one thing, but if things go as planned, our product will continuously evolve into something very different, based on what consumers want, need, like and hate. We’ve planted the seed.
HC: How soon should we look forward to seeing Slingshot in action?
T: Not soon enough but expect something after Fun Day.
S: We hope that you already are looking forward to seeing Slingshot in action.
Here at Her Campus Skidmore, we certainly are looking forward to it! We’ll keep you updated on the status of Slingshot via Facebook and Twitter, so keep an eye open! Congratulations again to Sam and Trevor and best of luck from the HC team.
Check out this video of the moment when Sam and Trevor won!
Sources
Photo: http://cms.skidmore.edu/news/news.cfm?passID=2766