ISU professor lets students loose with $5 to create a business venture

Students at Iowa State University are learning it doesn’t take a huge investment to launch a successful business venture. This semester Andreea Kiss, assistant professor of management at ISU, gave each student group in her course a $5 initial investment and let them loose on a four-week challenge to create a business plan and raise as…

Students at Iowa State University are learning it doesn’t take a huge investment to launch a successful business venture. This semester Andreea Kiss, assistant professor of management at ISU, gave each student group in her course a $5 initial investment and let them loose on a four-week challenge to create a business plan and raise as much capital as possible. “Most entrepreneurs start very small, with a very limited amount of resources, and that’s what I tried to emphasize to students,” Kiss said. “I think the very essence of entrepreneurship is working under conditions of uncertainty and ambiguity with a limited amount of resources.” Many groups chose charitable ventures, such as organizing a 5K run or selling Christmas ornaments, to raise the money as they found investors were more likely to get involved. At the end of the challenge, nearly $14,000 was donated to local charities, including veterans’ organizations, food banks and homeless shelters. — Source: Iowa State University 

 


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This story is part of the AIM Archive

This story is part of the AIM Institute Archive on Silicon Prairie News. AIM gifted SPN to the Nebraska Journalism Trust in January 2023. Learn more about SPN’s origin »

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