StartUp Term

If you dream of starting your own company, StartUp Term offers practical experience in every part of the entrepreneurial process, from developing a business plan to pitching your product to potential investors.

For 10 weeks, participants work in teams of four to transform original business concepts into real services and products. While each group must include at least one member who has studied computer science and one who has studied business and management, the program is open to students in every academic discipline. (Past participants have included students from history, studio art, and environmental studies.)

Along the way, you'll tackle a wide range of responsibilities, including building and maintaining a project website, developing your product, evaluating potential markets for your product or service, and connecting with suppliers and customers. You'll also compile financial projections and take care of administrative tasks like ordering business cards and opening bank accounts.

Teams have 24/7 access to a shared off-campus workspace in downtown Galesburg. Most of the time, you can expect to work independently and set your own schedules, but all participants come together each week to demonstrate their progress during milestone presentations.

Throughout the process, you will be mentored by three Knox faculty members: Jaime Spacco, associate professor of computer science; John Dooley, William and Marilyn Ingersoll Emeritus Chair in Computer Science; John Spittell, Wagner Distinguished Chair in Business; and Tim Stedman, visiting assistant professor of art.

At the end of the 10-week term, you'll make a final pitch to a panel of judges that includes Knox alumni and local entrepreneurs. Some groups even continue to operate their businesses after the program is over.

James Adamson is a studio art major and a design and computer science double minor from Elkridge, Utah.  

I have ADHD and have a hard time focusing on schoolwork. I was in this interactive design class, and we were thinking of creative ideas. I had the idea of creating a Chrome extension or computer app that helps you stay on task. Some people use YouTube videos or timers or ambient noise, but I wondered if you could combine the elements of all these things into a single extension with an onscreen element. 

StartUp Term brought this idea to life. It was cool to have a structured term to focus on one thing and be dedicated to something with a group of other students.

We created and illustrated an animated character (sort of like Lofi Girl) that stays on your screen where notifications for the Pomodoro timer and the user interface are in your web browser. A sound mixer controls ambient noise that can be customized to something like outdoor sounds or white noise. If you’re studying and seeing others focused, you’re more likely to stay focused, so creating that and bringing all the elements together is what makes our product unique.

The amount of hours the five of us on the project team put into development was incredibly satisfying. Including various aspects and different perspectives and relying on others to contribute to the complexity of things…it was incredible. Even though we ran into some hiccups, we learned so much. I couldn’t have accomplished the same amount of success or results on my own. I needed to rely on other people. 

I use it myself. It’s pretty, and I’m proud of it. We took something from idea to completion. The Knox Immersion StartUp Term gave us the time to make that possible.