The life of an entrepreneur isn’t always easy, but it never lacks for excitement.
Lyndsay Toll was reminded of that recently as she waited to hear whether her startup, BuyBott, would be one of the first picked to join the Oregon State University Venture Accelerator.
Toll graduated from the College of Business in June. She and co-founder Darren Marshall started BuyBott, a website that simplifies online shopping and enhances social interaction, while the pair were students at Oregon State.
They applied to the Venture Accelerator hoping to take the business to the next level.
“Thoughts were running through my head,” Toll remembered about the wait. “If we don’t get in, how are we going to carry this forward? Will we still have the same momentum? What are our next steps without the Venture Accelerator?”
The Venture Accelerator announced the first business to join August 6. BuyBott was one of three ideas developed by College of Business students to be accepted.
“I remember being able to finally breath deep again,” Toll said. “It was a moment of giddy excitement and relief. I remember spamming friends, family and fans. It was a great moment and definitely a high point in our history.”
Joining BuyBott from the College of Business are Multicopter Northwest and PlayPulse.
Multicopter Northwest, started by incoming Oregon State junior Michael Williams, builds small helicopters capable of producing aerial photography up to 400 feet in the air.
OSU students Ryan Connolly, Andy Miller, Zack Anderson and Hannah Vincent developed PlayPulse. The startup measures engagement of video game players by using biometric sensors. Both Connolly and Vincent are from the College of Business, with Connolly also an intern with the Venture Accelerator before graduating from OSU this June.
It’s the type of student buy-in John Turner, an instructor at the College of Business and co-director of the Venture Accelerator, loves to see.
Launched earlier this year, the Venture Accelerator — part of the Oregon State Advantage initiative — is designed to provide support and guidance to businesses and technologies at Oregon State. The program brings together the resources and talents gathered across campus, with partners in the business community and Oregon State’s alumni network.
Ideas were solicited from four student-based entrepreneurship programs at Oregon State — the Austin Entrepreneurship Program’s Weatherford Garage, Startup Weekend, UPTIC and the Entrepreneurship Academy at the College of Pharmacy.
Turner said he was excited about the potential all the three projects, and is already encouraged by their development.
“They span a broad range of ideas and reflect the creativity, initiative and commitment of COB students,” Turner said. “Less than two months into the program we have seen good progress already in the development of their businesses.”
