{ "author": "Riyan Imam", "title": "The Atlanta Startup Battle: The Battle That Our Own Fought!", "thumbnail": "startup_battle.jpg", "date": "2016-11-02T03:11:05Z", "tags": ["all"], "published": true }
Hello Hackers, Hustlers, and Hipsters!
On Thursday, October 27, 2016, Ahmed Zahran, Luis Ferrer, Sara Yeh, and Alex Blanco fought in the Atlanta Startup Battle. The battle pits startups against each other for investors to see who has the most well thought out, viable business ideas. Judges included prominent business personnel such as Paul Judge. We spoke to Ahmed, getting a little insight into what it was like being one of the Top 5 teams!
What was your idea for the Atlanta Startup Battle? "Our idea was uPet which is a pet rental service that allows customers to interact with a pet for a short amount of time without long term commitments. Our goal is to encourage the adoption of rescue animals and generate additional revenue for shelters and rescue homes. All this, while finding pets the owners they deserve."
What was your experience? "I have to say, the wealth of knowledge that I garnered from participating in ASB was far beyond anything I would have or could have learned about in school. In retrospect, I would have to say that the mentoring session was my favorite. It was hard to listen to smart people ask daunting questions and break down our idea, but that was also the most learning part of the experience. After we had known our breaking points, it was much easier to recover and make our service stronger."
What advice do you have for others? "The thing I learned the most about that I would like to leave with others is this: chase criticisms, learn from them, and pivot! Pivot! Pivot! You’re not supposed to get it right the first time, and even though being told that you are wrong is hard, it’s also what makes you learn, change and become stronger."
Make sure you congratulate the team when you see them! They went above and beyond and are leading examples of what we try to accomplish here at PantherHackers!
As always, stay hungry! -Riyan Imam