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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