BYU entrepreneur challenge begins

Excited chatter filled the air as hundreds of anxious entrepreneurs gathered at Wednesday’s kick-off meeting for the Miller New Venture Challenge–the challenge that could give them the resources they need to make their dreams a reality.

The Miller New Venture Challenge, formerly known as the BYU Business Plan Competition, is one of the largest business model competitions in the nation in terms of total cash prizes. Thanks to a generous donation from the Larry and Gail Miller family, the competition will give eight BYU students $15,000 and mentor services to help them actualize their business ideas.

At the kick-off event, budding entrepreneurs learned about all the resources available at BYU to help them prepare for the Miller New Venture Challenge. Darren Craner, the campus-wide marketing lead for the competition from Orem, said they hoped to share three key messages at the kick-off meeting.

“The main message of tonight includes three things,” Craner said. “You don’t need to be a business student to compete or start a company, this school has so many resources available to help students, and you don’t have to have an idea to enter because you can help others who have ideas.”

Craner explained that the competition will occur in three stages throughout the year. The first event is the Big Idea competition, where students will share their business ideas and receive immediate feedback. The second is the business model competition, where students will take their ideas and present a plausible business plan. Finally, their effort culminates at the New Venture Challenge Final, where the they will compete for cash prizes.

Tyler Girsberger, an entrepreneur from South Jordan, attended the event to fuel his entrepreneurial fire. He said both his great-grandfather and his mother have started successful companies, and he is ready to follow their lead.

“I don’t feel like working for someone else,” Gersberger said. “I want to be able to do things my way. This event is a huge motivator. I want to have what they have, and seeing them be successful makes me want to be successful.”

Past winners of the Miller New Venture Challenge are now running successful businesses. Some of the businesses include 1-800-CONTACTS, Property Solutions and Active Alarm. Salem Staley, the vice president of communications for the competition from St. George, said he is excited to see what new businesses will evolve from the students in the competition.

“Our goal is to launch as many successful companies as we can out of this room,” he said.

If students did not attend the kick-off meeting, they can still enter the competition. The necessary information and details about the schedule are posted on the competition website.