Senior entrepreneurship major Matt Bare's business plan idea to sell feces took to the track Friday in the Nascent 500.
Bare won a businessman competition held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for his idea to mail people "poo," which is no more than worm excrements that can be used as a fertilizer.
"Drinking the milk and taking the trophy and racing around the track, it was a once in a lifetime experience," he said. "One I'll never forget."
He said the judges enjoyed the idea and they asked questions about the business marketing plan and cost structure.
Bare said his experience in past businessman competitions prepared him for his final presentation because he anticipated questions and answered them in his presentation.
The novelty of the idea didn't help him as much as knowing his business plan well, including statistics and financial numbers, he said.
After he won out of a field of 11 other competing schools, he took a victory lap in a pace car at about 100 mph, he said.
"I can't imagine what it would feel like at 220 mph," he said.
He said growing up in Indiana made the competition more special and was thankful to compete at a place with a history such as the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
"I never thought I would have the opportunity to take a victory lap at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and kiss the bricks," he said.
Bare said he planned to put his $10,000 winnings back into his Pooyou.com company for its launch on May 29. The current Web site was still operational, he said.
Bare said about four or five people on his company's board of directors were pushing to create national media attention.
Larry Cox, director of Midwest entrepreneurial education center and associate professor of management, said it was a thrill to see Bare win the competition.
Cox said the idea was different because it sounded gross, but it was not meanspirited. It's something people can use to fertilize their gardens with, he said.
"It's not like anything you would ever think about in a businessman competition," he said. "But it is very clever."
Cox said Bare's thoroughness was what separated him from his competition and he knew "to the penny" what the costs for his business plan would be.
Bare was the first Ball State University student to win a businessman competition, and it is a milestone for the university, Cox said.
"It's a whole new era for us at our center and how we approach helping our students," he said.
In the past, students came up with their own ideas and ran with them for the competition, he said.
This year's idea was developed by entrepreneurs who were honorees at an award ceremony that the Entrepreneurship Center was putting on, he said.
He said other schools use an idea from other entrepreneurs for businessman competitions because teams usually created a business plan for a piece of modern technology.
Cox said it was harder for students to compete when they didn't collaborate with professionals, so the Entrepreneurship Center would work more in the future to create a collaboration between professionals and students.
To learn more about Matt Bare's product visit Pooyou.com
Other school finalists include:
University of HoustonIllinois Institute of TechnologyUniversity of Manitoba
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