- University News Archive - 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock /news-archive/tag/vascugenix/ 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Tue, 12 Nov 2019 14:29:24 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock celebrates Global Entrepreneurship Week with talks on financial independence, technology startups /news-archive/2019/11/12/global-entrepreneurship-week-2/ Tue, 12 Nov 2019 14:29:24 +0000 /news/?p=75587 ... 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock celebrates Global Entrepreneurship Week with talks on financial independence, technology startups]]> In celebration of Global Entrepreneurship Week, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock will host two talks to teach the community about achieving financial independence at any stage in life and how to start a successful technology business.听 Global Entrepreneurship Week began in 2008 with an emphasis on inspiring young people to make their mark in business. The project has quickly grown to become a comprehensive effort that engages entrepreneurs, investors, policymakers, researchers, support organizations and others collaborating to advance economic growth and innovation in more than 170 countries around the world.听听 The talks on Tuesday, Nov. 19, and Thursday, Nov. 21, are hosted by the 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock College of Business and the Arkansas Small Business Technology and Development Center.听 鈥淢oney Milestones鈥 will begin at 6 p.m. Nov. 19 in Reynolds Business Center Room 103 on the 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock campus. The talk, featuring GenWealth financial advisors John Shrewsbury and Janet Walker, is for those who are interested in becoming financially independent and want to learn about the financial opportunities available at each stage of life, regardless of financial status.听 Noah Asher, a May 2019 Summa Cum Laude graduate of 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock with bachelor鈥檚 degrees in finance and administration, will host a talk on how to start and manage a technology-related startup business from 6-8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 21, at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Downtown, 333 President Clinton Ave.听 Asher is a serial entrepreneur and CEO of Vascugenix, a medical technology startup business formed during his senior year of college, when Asher competed on a team of 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock students who won the Arkansas Governor鈥檚 Cup.听 In this dynamic discussion of his journey to success, Asher will share his personal story, the story of Vascugenix, how to find success in failure, and the importance of a pivot.听 Both events are free and open to the public, but registration is required by visiting the.听 For more information, contact Pamela Reed at pmreed@ualr.edu or 501-683-7700.]]> Successful student entrepreneur to study global markets, economic development in Europe /news-archive/2019/05/09/successful-student-entrepreneur-to-study-global-markets-economic-development-in-europe/ Thu, 09 May 2019 21:16:15 +0000 /news/?p=74269 ... Successful student entrepreneur to study global markets, economic development in Europe]]> Four years ago, Abigail Resendiz was anxiously waiting for her best friend, Ingrid Helgestad, to return a phone call so she could share the good news she was struggling to keep secret.听 The then-Bryant High School seniors had both applied for the Donaghey Scholars program at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Resendiz had just received word she had been accepted into the program. Noticing that Helgestad had missed a call from the same number, Resendiz was convinced Helgestad had been accepted as well. 鈥淚 kept telling Ingrid to call the number back, but she kept saying she鈥檇 do it later,鈥 Resendiz said. 鈥淚 was going crazy because I couldn鈥檛 share the news until Ingrid found out too.鈥 Getting accepted into the Donaghey Scholars program was the start of a four-year journey filled with exceptional opportunities and fond memories for Resendiz, who will graduate May 11 with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in international business as well as a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in management. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 want to burden my parents with having to pay for my education,鈥 she said. 鈥淒onaghey Scholars offered me a great opportunity with paying for my tuition, computer, 听living stipend, and a study abroad trip. It was too good an opportunity to pass up.鈥 Resendiz鈥檚 parents, Paulino and Maria, are originally from Queretaro, Mexico, and moved to Arkansas in 1995. She鈥檚 always had the travel bug and was thrilled to study abroad three times while attending 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock. She spent one semester studying business in Barcelona, Spain. Last summer, Resendiz traveled to Germany, France, and England to study the refugee crisis in Europe. Over one spring break, she traveled to Costa Rica to study business sustainability with local businesses. 鈥淭hese businesses were in the middle of nowhere, but they were thriving because of Amazon,鈥 she said. 鈥淭hey were making organic soaps and shampoos in the back of their house, but they were utilizing e-commerce to export their goods to other countries.鈥 Altogether, Resendiz has traveled to more than 20 countries on four continents. She and a friend, Ana Galfi, have a lifelong goal of visiting all seven continents and seeing as many countries as possible. Their most recent excursion was to visit Israel and Jordan in January. Much of Resendiz鈥檚 senior year has been devoted to Vascugenix, a medical startup company comprised of 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock student entrepreneurs who won $75,000 in prize money in recent months. Vascugenix won $30,000 at the Arkansas Governor鈥檚 Cup and $40,000 at e-Fest 2019. As chief marketing officer, Resendiz helped created a business plan and sales strategy to bring the Speed-Torque, a medical torque device used by surgeons in minimally invasive heart surgery created by cardiologist Dwight Chrisman of Baptist Health, to market. 鈥淰ascugenix dominated my life for nine months, but I鈥檓 really glad I did it,鈥 she said. 鈥淭he learning curve was so high at the beginning. I can say now that I have pitched in front of investors and venture capitalists. At first, we were just going to do the Governor鈥檚 Cup, but we kept getting into all these competitions. Last year, I never would have imagined that we would go so far.鈥 Outside of traveling, Resendiz interns at the Arkansas District Export Council, a nonprofit organization working to increase economic development in Arkansas through increasing exports. This summer, Resendiz will intern with a Little Rock company that is partnering with Facebook. The internship is part of Career Connections, a new career development program for college students launched by Facebook. Over the past semester, Resendiz had received training in digital marketing, social media analytics, community management, and business tools. She will put those skills to use in an internship with one of 27 local businesses partnering with Facebook. Though she was considering several post-graduation options, the clear winner for Resendiz is a full scholarship from the Global Markets, Local Creatives program from the European Union, which will allow her to earn two master鈥檚 degrees while studying at three different universities in Europe. Resendiz was one of only 22 scholarship recipients from more than 975 applications. The scholarship covers tuition, fees, and healthcare and comes with a living and travel stipend. In the fall, Resendiz will move to Scotland to spend her first semester at the University of Glasgow. She will study at the University of Barcelona during the second semester and finish out her second year at the University of G枚ttingen in Germany. At the end of her program, Resendiz will have master鈥檚 degrees in global markets and economic development. 鈥淭his was the most interesting way for me to do a master鈥檚 degree program and live abroad,鈥 Resendiz said. 鈥淚 want to live and work abroad for a few years before coming back to the U.S. Eventually, I want to work for the United Nations in economic development and international relations or an organization that has a social cause behind it like Winrock International or Heifer International.鈥 In the upper right photo, Abigail Resendiz is surrounded by the flags of听Scotland, Spain, and Germany, where she will听pursue dual master鈥檚 degrees over the next two years. Photo by Ben Krain.]]> 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock student entrepreneurs come out on top at Arkansas Governor鈥檚 Cup /news-archive/2019/04/11/arkansas-governors-cup-winners/ Thu, 11 Apr 2019 20:44:12 +0000 /news/?p=73998 ... 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock student entrepreneurs come out on top at Arkansas Governor鈥檚 Cup]]> A dream team of student entrepreneurs from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock has won two of the top honors at the Arkansas Governor鈥檚 Cup Collegiate Business Plan Competition, a statewide business plan competition for college and graduate students sponsored by Arkansas Capital Corporation. 听 The Vascugenix team won first place in the Winrock Automotive Undergraduate Division and a $25,000 prize.听The team also captured first place and a prize of $5,000 in the undergraduate Innovate Arkansas Innovation Division for a total of $30,000 in prize money. Team members include 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock students Noah Asher, senior finance and economics major and Donaghey Scholar; Abigail Resendiz, senior international business and management major and Donaghey Scholar; and Zach Cochran, senior economics major. Martial Trigeaud, a 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock adjunct professor and business consultant at the Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center, serves as the team鈥檚 mentor. 鈥淚 am very proud of the team,鈥 Trigeaud said. 鈥淭he Arkansas Governor鈥檚 Cup is an amazing event with amazing judges, and we are very proud to be the winners of the 2019 undergraduate division and innovation division competitions.鈥 The group collaborated with and Baptist Health Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit Nurse Anna Helm to commercialize a medical device invented by Chrisman. The device, the Speed-Torque鈩, is a medical torque device used by surgeons in minimally invasive heart surgery. In addition to the Arkansas Governor鈥檚 Cup awards, the team was named a semifinalist in the Rice Business Plan Competition Aug. 4-6 and plans to launch its medical startup company after raising a significant amount in funding from investors. MBA student Gabriella De Lima also joined Vascugenix for the Rice competition. When Trigeaud first suggested the students enter the prestigious Rice Business Plan Competition, Asher thought it was a waste of time.
糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock's Team Vascugenix won first place in the Winrock Automotive Undergraduate Division and first place in the undergraduate Innovate Arkansas Innovation Division at the Arkansas Governor's Cup.

糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock’s Team Vascugenix won first place in the Winrock Automotive Undergraduate Division and first place in the undergraduate Innovate Arkansas Innovation Division at the Arkansas Governor’s Cup.

鈥淭his is the largest and richest student startup venture competition in the world,鈥 Asher said. 鈥淥nly 42 teams from 400 applications from the top universities are chosen. It would take an act of God for an undergraduate team to get selected.鈥 鈥淭he hard work in Martial Trigeaud鈥檚 business boot camps paid off, and we made it,鈥 Resendiz added. As one of 15 teams to make it to the semifinalist round, the students took home a $2,000 prize. One of the allures of competing in the Rice Business Plan Competition is the ability to pitch and network with hundreds of judges consisting of investors, venture capitalists, CEOs, entrepreneurs, and corporations who are looking to invest in the next big idea. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e sitting in a room with a sea of millionaires who are looking to invest in your company,鈥 Cochran said. 鈥淭hat is just from people who came up to us at the competition and saw our pitch. We have a significant amount of people who are interested in investing in our company.鈥 Asher believes their company is appealing to investors because they already have a mature business plan with a viable product that can be launched relatively quickly. 鈥淥ne of the reasons I think we did so well raising money is that we are a mature startup company,鈥 he said. 鈥淲e have a very simple but needed product that fits in a niche market that we can dominate. It can give investors a quick return on their investment.鈥 The students say the experience they have gained pitching in front of investors is invaluable. 鈥淚 can now say that I鈥檝e successfully pitched in front of ventures capitalists, and that is a cool thing to say in front of potential employers,鈥 Resendiz said. 鈥淐ompeting at the same level of master鈥檚 and Ph.D. students and people who have 15 plus years of experience in their fields and still being able to surpass them is an excellent feeling.鈥 After an eventful week of competitions, Team Vascugenix isn鈥檛 resting on its laurels. The students left the Arkansas Governor鈥檚 Cup and immediately headed to the airport to compete in the Schulze School of Entrepreneurship at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota April 11-13. Funded by the , the challenge is the largest undergraduate-only venture pitch competition in North America in terms of cash prizes with a top prize of $75,000 and $250,000 in total prizes awarded.
Team Vascugenix competes at the Rice Business Plan Competition at Rice University on April 4. Team members include, from left to right, Abigail Resendiz, Zach Cochran, Martial Trigeaud, Noah Asher, and Gabriella De Lima.

Team Vascugenix competes at the Rice Business Plan Competition at Rice University on April 4. Team members include, from left to right, Abigail Resendiz, Zach Cochran, Martial Trigeaud, Noah Asher, and Gabriella De Lima.

鈥淲e wouldn鈥檛 have made it into this competition without the help of the university鈥檚 photographer, Ben Krain, who shot a seven-minute video we needed to enter this competition,鈥 Resendiz said. 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock鈥檚 team is one of 25 finalists selected from more than 100 entries representing 61 colleges and universities across America. Students will participate in a “pitch slam” elevator pitch event and an innovation challenge. Teams also will be awarded for outstanding potential to have social and global impact. Student teams also will be networking with top entrepreneurs from around the country, including Richard M. Schulze, founder of Best Buy. The students would like to thank Trigeaud; Dr. Jane Wayland, Stephen Harrow Smith Dean of Business; Laura Fine, director of the Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center; and Dr. Mark Funk, chair of the Department of Economics and Finance, for their assistance in developing their startup company and participating in competitions. Once the competition season is over, Vascugenix will move forward with plans to develop the Speed-Torque鈩 for a commercial release. 鈥淲e鈥檒l look for the investors who fit the best with our company culture and vision for the future,鈥 said Asher. 鈥淲e want investors with the right networks of contacts who can help us succeed.鈥 They are also in talks with health technology accelerators to conduct pre-market clinical trials through Baptist Health and possibly the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. 鈥淎fter our clinical trial, we will be ready to begin selling in the market. We will target the South and Midwest based out of Little Rock,鈥 Asher said. In the upper right photo,听a team of business students (Zach Cochran, bottom left,听Noah听Asher, center, and Abigail Resendiz, bottom right) from 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock have won first place in the Winrock Automotive Undergraduate Division and first place in the undergraduate Innovate Arkansas Innovation Division at the Arkansas Governor’s Cup. The students collaborated with Arkansas Cardiology Interventional Cardiologist Dr. Dwight Christman, back left, Baptist Health Cardiovascular Nurse Anna Helm, center left, and Martial Trigeaud, back right, to commercialize a medical device invented by Chrisman to help cardiologists perform heart surgery with greater safety and efficiency. Photo by Ben Krain.]]>