The Most Disruptive Undergraduate Business School Startups Of 2024

Pariyat Aggarwal, Omnipher, University of Illinois (Gies)

INSPIRING ROLE MODELS

As valuable as the coursework was, founders point to faculty members as the true difference-makers. At the University of Illinois’ Gies College, Pariyat Aggarwal co-founded Omnipher, which she describes as a “credit card sized lip balm container.” She compliments Elias Kourpas for teaching her one of the pillars of starting a business: sell the problem, not just the product. At Wharton, Ace Kim remembers how Jeffrey Babin framed entrepreneurship as a “never-ending series of existential problems.” To make it through, Babin asserts, a founder needs grit and a positive attitude. In the Spine Sweat Experience taught by Regan Stevenson, Jack Saltel gained a mindset that has sustained his efforts.

“[He taught me] to lean into uncertainty, tackle challenges head-on and to constantly switch between different facets of the business. I felt confident being open to failure, learning from my mistakes, iterating, and trying it again in a different way. He taught how you can fail fast and fail cheaply, meaning you must find ways in which you can test your idea that requires little capital and lots of time. I learned how to be open to change and allow my vision to grow with each lesson. You have to trust that uncertainty is part of the process, and it’s where the best opportunities are found.”

Alongside faculty, student entrepreneurs also found encouragement in past founders. Aakriti Kamal admires Nike’s Phil Knight for driving health and happiness as much as hawking shoes. Jack Saltel praises his entrepreneur father, Doug Saltel, for tutoring him on the best practices: “Take risks, dream big, and rapidly test and iterate ideas.” In the case of Claire Lee, inspiration came less from a person and more from the entrepreneurial spirit that tugged at her.

“I was just motivated by the relentless need for independence—the freedom to build on my terms, report to no one, chase an idea as far as it would go, and create something that did not yet exist. The real motivators are the nagging questions, the what-ifs, the little moments when you realize you cannot not do this.”

If you’re hounded by this entrepreneurial impulse, adds Claire Lee, there’s no better way to boost your odds of success than jumping into it at business school.

“If you’ve got an internet connection, there’s no excuse not to dive in head first. As long as you’re willing to ask questions and stay curious about getting to the bottom, there’s help and inspiration everywhere. You just have to spend a lot of time alone burrowing down the rabbit hole. My college campus provided fertile ground for me to test out my ideas through several entrepreneurship initiatives and I am forever grateful for that.”

MOST DISRUPTIVE BUSINESS SCHOOL STARTUPS OF 2024

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