1. Lightning in a Bottle:
Increasing Success Outcomes for
Student-Generated Startups

2. The CCEW Mission
We believe in the excellence of Oklahoma and our ability to
transform the world by inspiring people to realize their ideas and
ambitions.
We create wealth by building an environment that
advances ideas, people, and businesses.
We act as a nexus of entrepreneurial activity by
providing immersive learning experiences, collaborative spaces, and
high-impact programming.

3. CCEW has developed significant expertise in managing
student entrepreneurial projects.
THE CCEW IMPACT
$7M in startup capital
10 businesses launched
10 new tech disclosures
7 licensing agreements
350+ alumni
100+ projects
High-achieving students and
established leaders on campus
Students with raised aspirations
and passion for entrepreneurship
Management consulting
training
+
Lean startup principles
+
Personal & professional
development
Semester-long
Entrepreneurship/Innovation
projects

4. Years of iteration have led to 3 key methods that
contribute to successful student projects.
1. BUILD HIGHLY SELECTIVE INTERDISCIPLINARY TEAMS
so startups are equipped to simultaneously build products
and analyze the broader market opportunity.
2. UTILIZE “DIRECTED CLEAN-SHEET” CONCEPT
to guide brainstorming and help student teams ideate the
best possible business and product ideas.
3. USE HUMAN-CENTERED DESIGN APPROACHES
to iterate on business ideas and better position teams for
real-world success.

5. 1. BUILD HIGHLY SELECTIVE INTERDISCIPLINARY TEAMS
Example – XiP Technologies
FUNDING OBTAINED
$10,000 through venture accelerator
CURRENT STATUS
Continuing development of hardware component for
roll-out of Beta at OU

6. What did it look like? What are the benefits?
Industrial Engineering (TL)
Public Relations
Energy Management, Finance
Public Affairs & Administration
Mathematics, Letters
Visual Communication
Team gains a broader perspective
on the project
Students more easily take
ownership of project components
Output is physical product AND
commercialization plan
“Business”teamDevteam
4 Computer Science
2 Computer Engineering
1 Math, CS
Team Structure by Major
5 colleges represented
10 different majors
Average GPA = 3.78
1. BUILD HIGHLY SELECTIVE INTERDISCIPLINARY TEAMS
Example – XiP Technologies

7. Problem ResultProject
No designated product
designers or engineers
Ineffective prototype,
lack of team buy-in and
motivation to move forward
Low-cost cooling device
made of Vetiver root
Team Structure by Major
3 Telecomm. Engineering
1 Multidisciplinary Studies
1. BUILD HIGHLY SELECTIVE INTERDISCIPLINARY TEAMS
Example – Veticool

8. 2. UTILIZE “DIRECTED CLEAN-SHEET” CONCEPT
Example - SIREN
FUNDING OBTAINED
$35,000 through business plan competitions
and grants
CURRENT STATUS
Finalizing Beta version of software to roll out in 2
trucking companies (650 trucks) in OK

9. 2. UTILIZE “DIRECTED CLEAN-SHEET” CONCEPT
Example - SIREN
What did it look like? What are the benefits?
Team can be directed toward
more successful ideas
Team brainstorming and research
becomes more structured
Ideation and early validation
moves much more quickly
“SoBA data-mining” project
Ideate and build a software-as-a-
service web application that mines
publicly available data and
repackages it in a way that solves
an industry need.

10. 2. UTILIZE “DIRECTED CLEAN-SHEET” CONCEPT
Example - CrowdStory
Problem ResultProject
Mobile application for
location-based
storytelling
Not enough guidance
and direction through
ideation
No validated customer
need, difficult to gain
traction
Project fizzled out after
semester, no student
motivation to move forward

11. 3. USE HUMAN-CENTERED DESIGN APPROACHES
Example – Levaté
FUNDING OBTAINED
$10,000 through business accelerator
CURRENT STATUS
Seeking final $40K of $200K seed round to produce
first manufactured prototype

12. 3. USE HUMAN-CENTERED DESIGN APPROACHES
Example – Levaté
What did it look like? What are the benefits?
High chance of achieving
Product-Market Fit
Teams understand features
necessary for MVP
Teams make valuable connections
to further the business
7 user-experience tests
6 prototypes
100+ interviews

13. 3. USE HUMAN-CENTERED DESIGN APPROACHES
Example – Studyo
Mobile application for
socially interactive
studying
Didn’t build product in a
way that accommodated
iteration based on user
feedback
End product didn’t meet
user needs
No product-market fit =
lack of motivation to move
forward
Problem ResultProject

14. 1. BUILD HIGHLY SELECTIVE INTERDISCIPLINARY TEAMS
so startups are equipped to simultaneously build products
and analyze the broader market opportunity.
2. UTILIZE “DIRECTED CLEAN-SHEET” CONCEPT
to guide brainstorming and help student teams ideate the
best possible business and product ideas.
3. USE HUMAN-CENTERED DESIGN APPROACHES
to iterate on business ideas and better position teams for
real-world success.
Lightning in a Bottle:
Increasing Success Outcomes for Student-Generated Startups