Knox College students presented business proposals on various compelling ideas at the High-Voltage Entrepreneurship Competition held February 25, 2023. By working with the Knox Entrepreneurship Society's executive team, students learned and demonstrated skills that are valuable to real-world proposal presentations. The purpose of the event was to help students prepare and gain experience to enhance their skills for the StartUp Term, an immersive 10-week business course. 

Jeffrey Gomer, professor of practice in business and management and faculty advisor of the Knox Entrepreneurship Society, explained that students must be able to present their ideas thoroughly and engagingly during the StartUp Term. To prepare for this opportunity, the club modeled the competition after the TV show Shark Tank. 

The participants came up with interesting ideas across several fields, including an application that combines weather forecasting and maps, a website that organizes people to carry out tasks for organizations, and another explored an application to manage time better. 

Ujjwal Singh ’25 was named the winner of the competition for creating a proposal to help reduce tax fraud. 

Johnston Burke ’25, secretary of the Knox Entrepreneurship Society and the runner-up of the competition, found the competition to be a great learning experience. He says it helped him develop skills in communication, teamwork, and planning. “I am glad I had the opportunity to work collaboratively with my team and efficiently put together ideas. It was a learning experience in terms of understanding compromise and resolving conflict.” 

Burke also noted that he and the executive team were thrilled to be able to provide a program that offered a great learning opportunity for the College. 

“The project was extremely exciting for us. It took a lot of work to put together, but I am proud of what we have achieved,” stated Shubham Nain ’25, vice president. Gen Kuninaka ’24, outreach chair, added, “When we discussed this in the fall, I was excited to put it all together and I think we make a great team.” 

Avi Rajbhandari ’24, president of the Knox Entrepreneurship Society, complimented the rest of his executive team for their hard work. “I am pleased with how the event played out,” Rajbhandari said. “I was a tad nervous at first about how the turnout would be, but it was great to have four teams with their presentations. I am looking forward to expanding this to a wider portion of campus next year. I want this to be an opportunity not only for business and economics students but for everyone. I am excited to see the future of this club.”