On April 13 and 14, two Taylor University students will be competing in the 2023 Createur Conference and Pitch Competition. Four other students will be in attendance.
This trip is being led by the Director of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Mick Bates. Bates returned to Taylor University following a brief retirement to head the center of entrepreneurship.
“I want to engage students and their entrepreneurial passions,” Bates said.
One of the students competing on this trip is freshman Lextin Willis. Willis will be pitching a product he and some partners came up with in highschool for a project. The endeavor led to the creation of CordPuck, charging cord organizers.
Willis won Shark Tank at Taylor this year and has been in four total pitch competitions — finding them both fun and beneficial. While he is hoping to win the competition, he is also looking forward to learning from people at the conference.
“I would say I’m most excited to meet people and learn about their businesses and get feedback from them,” Willis said.
Whether they will be competing or attending, the Createur Conference and Pitch Competition will provide every Taylor student with opportunities. There will be many different speakers at the conference, including keynote speaker, Steve Green. Green is the current president of Hobby Lobby.
Senior Ariana Layton will be one of the students in attendance and is looking forward to hearing Green speak.
“I think we’ll learn a lot about entrepreneurship through a redemptive lens and a Christian view of business,” Layton said.
Bates values the opportunities students will get from this experience a great deal. He is happy that they get another opportunity to pitch.
“It’s good to get them engaged so that they actually do these presentations so they understand better how to position the value that their companies are bringing into that,” Bates said.
Willis is one of the two students competing and has his own business. His company has started to see some rapid growth early on.
While his business is still young, as it has only been two years since the start, he has seen a 300% jump in revenue.
Willis is especially excited about networking at the conference, as he feels it could be of great value with his particular product.
“Meeting a lot of people like that with my type of product is a big deal because there are so many areas I can dive into with this product,” Willis said, “Which makes it really interesting to meet people who have those experiences and opportunities.”
If Willis wins a prize, he is looking to put the funds into his marketing plan for CordPuck. His plan is focusing mostly on paid ads on Instagram and Facebook.
This conference and competition is just one of the many things that Bates has planned for entrepreneurship at Taylor. There are many different classes and opportunities for students looking into entrepreneurship, and there are more on the horizon.
“I really see my role in the new Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship is that we train, equip and mentor kingdom class innovators for a lifetime of creative restoration,” Bates said.
Bates has developed many resources for students who are looking to business and entrepreneurship.
This is just one of the many possible ways to gain contacts and resources for those who are interested in growing their entrepreneurial expertise.
“I think Dr. Bates is doing an amazing job at finding opportunities to engage students whether they’re business students or not with entrepreneurship,” Layton said. “I think there’s a lot of opportunities that any major could benefit from attending these types of events.”
For students who are interested in opportunities in entrepreneurship, there are still a few spots available on the trip. Interested students can contact mcbates@taylor.edu.
