2018 Best Schools

CREATING AN ENTREPRENEURIAL MINDSET THE MIAMI VALLEY SCHOOL’S ‘SHARK TANK’ OFFERS STUDENTS A LOOK INTO THE BUSINESS WORLD

BY K ARINA BAFFA

T

he Miami Valley School recently conducted its second annual “Shark Tank,” a component of an entrepreneurship class that gives students a jumpstart into the real world.

“Shark Tank” is the final portion of the entrepreneurship class taught by Jay Scheurle, Miami Valley School head of school, and Steven Hinshaw, Miami Valley School assistant head of facilities and operations. The class gives students a hands-on entrepreneurial experience by allowing them to develop their own business startup model and later pitch it to a panel of successful entrepreneurs from the Dayton area.

The course runs through a specific process that leads up to the Shark Tank. First, students are asked to identify a need that they’re passionate about solving. Then, they’re required to brainstorm legitimate solutions and present them to their peers in the form of a profitable business model.

Once the ideas are pitched the class votes to select their two favorites.

The students who came up with the winning pitches become the two company founders. “Through a process called founderdating,” Scheurle writes in a blog post, “the students self-selected the teams that would form the startup companies.

Each team got out of the building to interview customers to verify the customer need and product-market fit. Low resolution prototypes were created during class so that they could better explain their concept to customers.”

Experienced business mentors visited

The Miami Valley School offers an entrepreneurship class that allows students to develop business startup models and pitch them to successful entrepreneurs from the Dayton area. the class weekly to assist the students in adjusting their products and business models, according to Scheurle.

One of the “companies” at the Shark Tank in 2017 was Ping Pong Buddy. Because one of the students was a ping pong player the problem they wanted to resolve was having to chase the ping pong ball all around the room. “After speaking with ping pong enthusiasts and college-level club players the team developed a product that could capture stray balls and return them to the player,” wrote Scheurle.

In regards to 2017’s Shark Tank, Scheurle wrote, “Our panel of entrepreneurs was genuinely impressed. They listened intently to the presentations and wrote detailed notes. Following each presentation they shared honest feedback with the students, raising questions, pointing out ways to improve the product or business model.”

2018’s panel of judges included Vishal

Soin, CEO of Corbus and Mira Rae clothing; Bob Chelle, founding director of the Crotty Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership at the University of Dayton; Scott Murphy, vice president for economic development at Downtown Dayton Partnership and Dr. Dan Braunlin, rehabilitation physician, former director at Sycamore Medical Center/ Kettering Health, teacher of basic finance at Miami Valley School and former Miami Valley School board president.

The class is not limited to those planning to pursue business—Scheurle wrote the following in a blog post: “My bigger purpose is to create a learning experience for students that is relevant to mastering the skills that are most important in the world today. Possessing an entrepreneurial mindset provides a competitive advantage for all students, whether they start their own business or pursue work in any number of possible occupations.” n DAYTON MAGAZINE . August/September 2018

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