Freshman Kevin Kirk was the youngest person to ever enter the Cupid’s Cup entrepreneurial competition, which is sponsored by Under Armour CEO and alumnus Kevin Plank.
And now he’s the youngest to take home a prize from the event, which was held Friday at the business school.
Kirk’s entry, which detailed how he would use the $15,000 top prize to begin selling his company’s beach-themed women’s accessories through mall kiosks, won the $5,000 people’s choice prize after an audience vote.
Kirk, who has been selling his products at women’s sporting events for the past three years, faced stiff competition from graduate students and recent alumni who have formal training in business and teams of people working under them.
However, Kirk expressed confidence in his products and his strategy. “I feel like [my products] sell themselves,” he said.
First place went to Anaptyx, an Internet service provider that plans to make wireless Web access eco-friendly for apartment buildings.
Maverick Development, creator of WorksCited4U and other sites, took home the $7,500 second-place prize.
Jonathan Rust, the CFO of Anaptyx and a Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship graduate student, said the prize money would help the company expand its marketing and services.
The competition, called the Cupid’s Cup after one of Plank’s first businesses, Cupid’s Valentine, drew in corporate representatives and big-shots, prompting a flurry of business card exchanges. But for many, the highlight was hearing from Plank, whose company’s meteoric rise soon after he graduated from this university is seen by many as a testament to the possibilities for student entrepreneurs.
Plank, sporting a blue Under Armour vest over a polo shirt instead of a suit, said creating a successful business requires a belief that what has not been done before can be achieved.
“No one else knows how great your business can be,” Plank said.
Plank should know. Cupid’s Valentine began with an idea that students might buy roses on the campus on Valentine’s Day. The venture took off and Plank used the $20,000 he earned during four years to create Under Armour, which also sprang from an idea he had to create moisture-resistant clothing for athletes.
The five competitors pitched their visions for their respective companies to the judging panel, composed of Under Armour executives and other high-powered figures behind companies like Honest Tea and Genius Rocket.
One of the companies that attended the event, Goozex, was the winner of last year’s cup. Since winning, the video-game-trading company has multiplied its membership roughly by 10 and exchanged more than $14 million in games in 2007, said Goozex Director of Marketing Mark Nebesky.
Even though his company didn’t place in the event, Kirk said he couldn’t help but feel that the experience was about more than the money.
“Kevin [Plank] said I was going places and gave me some great advice,” said Kirk, who was also offered an internship by Plank. “And he said I can always try and win it all next year.”
