It is the week before "demo day" at StartX – a non-profit organisation in the heart of Silicon Valley that assists Stanford University students with their own startup businesses. Budding entrepreneurs are putting the finishing touches to their pitches. "Do you want the 10-second, one-minute or 10-minute version?" asks Pratik Verma, founder of AgeTak Inc, a company that solves healthcare database problems and which is among the 13 student businesses finishing the current programme.
StartX – whose offices include a dedicated nap room and walls that can be used as whiteboards – is a business accelerator program run by Stanford Student Enterprises, the business arm of the student body, since 2010. Thanks to web giant AOL, which hosts StartX inside its US west-coast headquarters for a token rent, StartX provides a time-limited "incubation space". Those on its three-month boot camp also get advice and support – including mentoring by experienced business people – to help create fast-growing companies that can attract investors like those that got Google and Facebook started. It culminates in "demo day", where the startups pitch in front of more than 200 investors.
To read the full, original article click on this link: Student entrepreneurs frustrated by lack of funding | Education | The Guardian
