11/04/21

HAYS, Kan. – Kansas Startup is back to full strength and will kick off on Friday, Nov. 12, at Fort Hays State University’s Robbins Center.

The 48-hour hands-on event, which runs through Sunday afternoon, offers the opportunity for people to pitch ideas for new ventures, form teams around the best ideas, then turn those ideas into reality. Teams work on plans ranging from solving problems in their community to launching nonprofit organizations.

Henry Schwaller IV is an instructor of management and entrepreneurship at FHSU and a local businessman, who has been involved with the event from its start in 2013. He always looks forward to the weekend but is especially excited about this year’s event returning to the in-person format after most of it was conducted over Zoom last year.

“There is far more energy and enthusiasm with the in-person competition,” Schwaller said. “We work best and learn best when we are face-to-face.”

Schwaller said pre-event enrollment has been strong thus far and expects up to 50 or more participants. Anyone interested in participating – students and community members – can still sign up at https://kansasstartup.com/.

The event begins at 6 p.m. Friday with a barbecue meal. A formal presentation will follow the meal, along with some icebreaker exercises. Individuals pitch ideas for new ventures, then teams are formed and begin discussing strategy for their presentations.

Participants are encouraged to come as individuals and form impromptu teams, so they can get out of their comfort zone, Schwaller said.

On Saturday, the teams work on developing their ideas with the assistance of coaches and other experts, then transforming it into a launchable venture. They then complete the task of transforming their ideas into a launchable venture. 

Prizes will be awarded to four teams – $1,000 for first place, $500 for second, and $250 for third. The founder’s award of $250 goes to a team that didn’t place in the top three but worked hard on its presentation.

Schwaller said that people from the community traditionally drop in on Sunday’s presentations, adding that students especially benefit from the participation of community members.

“We bring in folks with specialized talent,” Schwaller said. “That gets the teams targeted assistance.”

Schwaller said he notices a vast difference in creativity from the first couple of years of Kansas Startup, noting that presentations have advanced from starting food trucks and sports bars a few years ago to ideas of community revitalization, nonprofit consulting, and nurse recruiting.

“Ideas have gotten much more sophisticated over the years,” he said. “We now have a generation of students who are learning these types of collaborative-type participation in class. Our campus is a petri dish for creative, innovative thought, and our students are really benefitting from it.”