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The Geniuses At Harvard Business School Just Came Up With These 14 Startup Ideas
Students from Harvard Business School recently launched their startups as part of Harvard's "startup bootcamp" program for first-year students.
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The Field Immersion Experiences for Leadership Development 3 program is a 10-week crash course in building a company from scratch with a limited budget, and on a tight deadline.
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Click here to jump straight to the startups >
Steven Sinofsky, the former president of Microsoft's Windows Division, worked with a section of about 90 students this year, led by Professor Jan Hammond. Each startup team had roughly six students.
Here's a breakdown of the program, courtesy of Sinofsky:
- Two weeks to develop a product concept.
- Funding simulation (“stock market”) which gives some teams the opportunity to raise more capital and others will need to make do with less, and thus pivot their ideas.
- About 8 weeks to fully develop the idea, go to market strategy, prototype or actual product, and basically to show that the product can be made.
- Launch day – this is where we are today! On this day your product or service is ready to be used by people. The stock market is opened for trading and based on the launch readiness and pitches, the value of companies goes up or down and some companies do not make it past this stage.
- About 3 weeks to actually sell the product or service and ready for …
- IPO day!
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Even though it's merely an academic exercise, the products are real and intended for people outside of Harvard to use.
View The Rental offers objective information about apartments and houses for rent in Boston or Cambridge. It provides remote video chat via Skype for people who are unable to see the apartment in person.
View The Rental will scout out the apartment or house for you, and stream a live video walkthrough. Or, you can receive a report via email.
RescueMe is an all-in-one travel pack for medication. Each pack includes a First Aid kit, cold, headache, and flu medicine, ear plugs to block out unwanted noise, and a refillable carrying case.
MyFriendBert sends expert-planned, customized date itineraries to your email. Its experts have "scoured the earth" to find hidden gems for the perfect date. With MyFriendBert, you can book a date within a matter of seconds.
When you sign up, all you have to do is enter your email address, select what kind of dates you want to receive. So either classy, trendy, active, or laid back. The next step is to select how much you're willing to pay.
LaunchPad connects job- and internship-seekers with advisors to help them determine how to stand out in the applicant pool.
LaunchPad sets up one-on-one conversations between students and industry experts who can offer relevant advice and feedback on how to be attractive to employers and find a job.
Easybiodata is aimed toward single people in cultures that practice arranged marriages. With easybiodata, parents and extended family members can create and set up profiles for their loved ones within a matter a minutes.
The idea is for relatives to spend less time sending emails, and more time finding the perfect candidate.
Dinner Rally brings the food to you that otherwise wouldn't be available. And at an affordable price.
Every day, Dinner Rally picks one of the best restaurants in Boston and selects their three best dishes. You can place you order without worrying about spending a minimum, and get it delivered to you at 7pm every night.
Sepono makes it easy to find and book appointments for spas, massage services, housekeeping, and much more within 30 minutes to an hour.
For now, the service is only available in Cambridge, Mass., and offers access to about 1,400 spas.
SitCrawlWalk makes it easy for parents to discover products for their children in each stage of their baby's life.
SitCrawlWalk curates the best baby products and offers reviews by widely-trusted parent bloggers.
PaintSteps helps fuel creativity in children by enabling them to design and paint their own shoes. Each kit comes with white canvas shoes, acrylic paint, a palette, brushes, and a book full of inspirations to their creative juices flowing.
stARTworks is an online marketplace for custom art from local artists. Users can also create custom art work using their own photos.
BlinQ is a mobile application for crowdsourcing advice from your friends in real time.
The app is currently available for iOS and Android devices.
PrepChef offers meal kits with a recipe and ingredients, and delivers it to your door for $14.99 per serving. Before you order the meal, PrepChef tells you about how long it will take to prepare.
It's currently only serving the Boston, Cambridge, and Allston. But it will soon expand to other major metropolitan areas in the U.S.
Party In A Box wants to help you "crush your next party with the best themes a bunch of business school students have to offer."
Party In A Box delivers supplies and decorations for a variety of themed parties right to your door.
"Feeling nostalgic for Backstreet Boys, slap bracelets and the Fresh Prince? Check out our 1990s box. Missing Ferris Bueller, track suits and bad hair? Our 1980s box has you covered. Your friends at Party-in-a-Box are also here for you on those special, once-in-a-year events: St. Patrick's Day, Cinco de Mayo, Independence Day, the Kentucky Derby, etc."
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