Wendi Kan and Mark Endo take home 3rd at Startup Weekend
It was a grueling weekend that started at 6 p.m. Friday, March 18 and ended well after 9 p.m. on Sunday at Startup Weekend San Diego. The competition had 25 individuals pitch their business ideas to the group, however less than half of the pitches proceeded to the next round. One among the nine pitches selected belonged to Country Day student, Wendi Kan ’18.
Wendi had five contestants vying for a spot to join her team by the first night and then had fellow Torrey, Mark Endo ’18, join the group on Saturday. By the end of the second night, Wendi, Mark and the remaining team members had completed a heavy amount of ethnographic research validating and steering their idea through several strategic pivots. After the conclusion of Saturday’s events, Wendi and Mark who could not stop thinking about their project, continued their discussion over the phone for another hour realizing that they had to pivot one last time.
By Sunday morning, Wendi and Mark were the only remaining team members from their group (due to shifts in interests and illnesses). They worked feverishly to build their MVP (minimal viable product—a functional prototype) for final validation followed by a race to the deadline. They completed their presentation with no time to spare.
At 5:30 p.m., they were the first team of eight to present. After all of the other presentations and an hour and a half of judge deliberation, Wendy and Mark took home third place!
George Schwartz, chairman and co-founder of Learn2Earn and Visual Classrooms, Inc. had this to say about Wendi and Mark’s pitch, LinkUS.
George Schwartz, chairman and co-founder of Learn2Earn and Visual Classrooms, Inc. had this to say about Wendi and Mark’s pitch, LinkUS.
Congratulations, Wendi and Mark!
