Recent news reports about hacker attacks on well-known commercial and government sites point out the need for security services, said Kazanciyan, 18. But while most attention has focused on the big Internet corporations, smaller companies need to address the very same issues. I saw the contest as a good opportunity. They spent the next several months refining their plan and searching out advice. Students, with the freshest ideas and minds, have an advantage.
Age is indiscriminate.
It's the idea, the quality of the idea. While some existing incubator web sites offer large cash prizes or audiences with venture capitalists, the essentials necessary to actually run the business and help it grow are left up to the entrepreneurs. StartEmUp's founders decided to take incubating help to the next level by assembling a professional advisory board and a series of partnerships to guide student startups around the early business obstacles. Securing early financial help from family and friends, StartEmUp assembled its final business plan and began building partnerships through the fall semester and winter break. After announcing the competition for student business plans in mid-January, the students traveled to Miami during spring break to meet with venture capital firms and to attend an incubator forum.