Is this an app you would use?

Presentation:
http://prezi.com/gzds9q4jojsi/untitled-prezi/Thumbtrotter – Do You Have a Green Thumb for Travel?

For three years teams have traveled from the West Coast to San Antonio to compete in a startup competition. The goal is simple; create a viable business in three day and pitch to judges for the champion title and maybe even funding. Last year Cerealize won. They created a product for the novelty mass food industry. The business was well thought out, marketed, and pitched. They even had prototype boxes of their cereal. There was some backlash from the public who criticized the judges for not choosing a meaningful product.

This year there are a few top contenders. A skateboard that has a compartment to store your laptop, a mobile app that lets you draw what your imagination sees in a cloud (the pitch was amazing).

However, it seems like the judges are, again, favoring useless ‘toys’ over less profitable, but maybe more meaningful ventures. There are teams pitching platforms for political change, one helps Army vets translate their war experience into a resume, another tries to connect aspiring coders to experts in real life. These teams are pitching their ideas and showing that there is no product on the market that’s similar.

Historically, no company that has won has become successful. Maybe there were teams that could have succeeded, but we’ll never know. Truly, startupbus is a fun competition, but it should also be used to change the negative perception of our startup community.

People work their whole lives to get a shot at pitching. I’m lucky enough to have had that shot. However, the big boys on the block need to stop focusing on who has the next newest and biggest ‘toy.’

Lets fight for a idea that solves real human beings problems. We can do better with our creative talents.