Everyday We’re Bundlin’ Bundlin’
During the summer of 2012, Cassie interned at Catapult, a company that helps young entrepreneurs start and grow their own businesses. She loved her time there, and since then the company has continued to grow (catapult to new heights of success if you will - sorry I had to do it) and is now called Quarter Zero. Cassie has stayed in touch with the founder, Josh Collins, and he invited us to work with their summer entrepreneurship program.
Quarter Zero’s summer program provides its students with three whirlwind weeks of developing their businesses, working on and refining their pitches, and forming lasting friendships. (Can I send myself to this camp please?!) They spent a week in Chicago, San Francisco, and New York City and since we couldn’t make it to the other two locations, we sent them a bundle of Bundles all about their Quarter Zero experience. We interviewed alumni, Quarter Zero team members, and Cassie shared a lot of information about her own experience. By the time we met the young entrepreneurs in person, it felt like we already knew each other!
Resting Pitch Face
We met with the students to help them work on their pitches for their Demo Day, where they get to pitch their business in front of judges for a $1,000 prize. The entrepreneurs have incredible ideas and many of them have businesses that are already generating revenue. #impressive
It was fulfilling to be able to work with the students to shape their pitches so that the function and spirit of their business was reflected in the four minutes they are allotted. After hearing their one minute elevator pitches (every entrepreneur knows those are especially challenging) I was not sure I had a grasp of exactly what each company did. However, after doing a deep dive with the students, I was blown away by the brilliance of their visions and was able to help them structure their pitches to reflect their companies. Sometimes this involved reminding them to have a clear beginning, middle, and end, other times making sure they focused on the problem their product is solving, and for one team it was simply adding Ariana Grande’s song “thank u, next” to their pitch. (Maybe you had to be there for that one.)
Hustle and Heart
Those who choose to follow an entrepreneurship path have so much hustle and heart and this group was certainly no exception. When I was 17 my biggest concern was who I was going to walk around with at the football games (it’s the coal region and football is everything) so starting my own company at that age wasn’t exactly on my radar. Some of these entrepreneurs are even on their second or third businesses (what?!) and they are all there with the common goal of coming together for something that is bigger than themselves. They are trying to change the world through their companies and at the risk of sounding cheesy (okay that’s never stopped me before) they give me hope for the future. If you want to learn more about Quarter Zero check out their website here. Or, if you want to do a really interactive deep dive, you can order yourself a Quarter Zero Bundle. (Just couldn’t help myself there!)
