StudentBusinesses.com – an online resource dedicated to an elite group of student entrepreneurs – is launching this week on the Harvard Business School campus.
The website initiated its launch in Boston at the end of September, starting with the Harvard College campus and expanding to other campuses across the area. Although the student entrepreneurship space has attracted significant interest (with several recent multi-billion dollar successes), access to student entrepreneurs is currently limited and unstructured, and student entrepreneurs often struggle to acquire early-stage capital and trustworthy professional advice; StudentBusinesses.com aims to fill these needs for student entrepreneurs. The website was founded by two Harvard College students, and its Board of Advisors includes Tom Harrison (CEO of Omnicom Group’s Diversified Agency Services), Bob Higgins (Managing Partner of Highland Capital), and Trey Grayson (Secretary of State of Kentucky).
The site will give a select group of students and recent alumni the opportunity to (i) showcase their startup or business idea to a selective group of experienced professionals; (ii) network and build connections with other promising young entrepreneurs; (iii) engage in online discussions about various business topics and startup ideas; and (iv) access proprietary educational content (including analysis and interviews) designed specifically for student entrepreneurs.
Membership on the site is free for students and recent graduates, and is strictly by invitation-only to ensure a high quality of membership. Promising students who are not currently working on a startup can still receive an invitation to join the site; these students will be able to build a personal profile that will be viewed by promising entrepreneurs across the country, and will be given the opportunity to browse and contact other members of the site. Experienced professionals who wish to contact promising student entrepreneurs will also have an opportunity to join the site on a by-invitation basis.
Tom Harrison, CEO of Omnicom Group’s Diversified Agency Services (the world’s largest holding group of marketing services companies), had this to say about StudentBusinesses.com: “I find StudentBusinesses.com is most innovative and insightful and is extremely relevant to the current trend we are seeing in many industries where young entrepreneurially-minded students want to create a difference by bringing novel solutions to consumers through the expression of entrepreneurial business plans.”
Trey Grayson, Secretary of State of Kentucky, adds the following: “I am excited about the launch of StudentBusinesses.com, and look forward to its expansion to other markets to help students across the country execute their business plans.”
Students and recent alumni may complete a simple application for membership at www.studentbusinesses.com.
