Four Morningside College students recently attended a conference sponsored by Google for Entrepreneurs and worked on teams that won corporate funding or sponsorship for new product ideas they developed.

Four Morningside College students recently attended a conference sponsored by Google for Entrepreneurs and worked on teams that won corporate funding or sponsorship for new product ideas they developed.

“Startup Weekend Tahoe,” held in Truckee, Calif., allowed developers, designers, marketers, product managers and startup enthusiasts to come together to share ideas, form teams, build products and launch startups. On the last day of the conference, each team was judged on its presentation by a panel of experts.

Paige McKern, a sophomore from Glenwood, Iowa, was a member of the LendSnap team, which took first place out of the 14 conference teams. LendSnap is a product that lending organizations would use for mortgage loan applications. The team received major funding from Google and services from companies that could help the team with additional product development.

Ryan Martinez, a junior from Hawarden, Iowa, was a member of the ClockWork team, which won second place and received the People’s Choice Award. ClockWork also gained a corporate sponsor. The ClockWork mobile app is designed for the construction industry and would automatically clock employees in/out as soon as they enter/leave the work site through geofencing technology.

Blake Anderson, a junior from Chino, Calif., and Drew Nolan, a junior from Hawarden, Iowa, were members of the Moments team, which also received funding from an anonymous organization. Moments is a mobile app that captures a picture or video in a specific location and creates a “time capsule.” The time capsule exists in a real world location, so the user can relive the moment in the original location in which the picture or video was created. 

Each team is continuing to work on building its product or developing its idea.

Pam Mickelson, Morningside professor of business and Entrepreneurship Group (E-Group) adviser, accompanied the students. E-Group is a student organization that fosters entrepreneurship on the Morningside campus by offering a soundboard for each member’s new business ideas and concepts.