Students win competition at local business camp

Sophomores Gabe Guido, Alex Sturge and Matt Cresci created a marketing plan for a kids’ juice drink to win a competition at a local business camp they attended this past summer. As a reward, they will be going to New York in January to present their ideas to company leaders.

The boys, who have been family friends for years, heard about the camp from their moms, who said the camp could be a good experience for them. Sturge, Cresci and Guido were a bit skeptical but agreed to attend the camp.

“When my mom first told me about it I really didn’t want to waste my summer doing that. Now that its over I realize it was an awesome experience,” Sturge said.

The camp, camp Bizsmart, was 10 days long in June and took place at the Foothill College campus in Los Altos. It included lessons about being successful in business and time to work on a business plan for a product of their choice. The three learned about how leadership and teamwork and many other things are essential in the business world from some successful business leaders, including C.K. Prahalad, a distinguished businessman and author.

They spent mornings learning the major ideas of business and receiving advice. They were then asked to form groups and show what they had learned through a project.

“I learned the basics of business and was then asked to apply what I had learned, which was a very effective method,” said Sturge.

The students’ task was to make a business plan for a real kids drink company, Water Roos, which is a low calorie juice drink that has no sugar. The plan consisted of a slideshow presentation that accounted for the cost to make and market the product and calculated the expected income for Water Roos.

The boys went into the camp as close friends so they had the advantage of working together on the same team.

“It was cool being on a team with [Sturge] and [Guido] because we understand each others ideas and aren’t afraid to tell someone if they are wrong,” Cresci said.

They presented their ideas to a panel of judges who compared their plan to those of hundreds of other high school students participating. Sturge, Cresci, Guido and the rest of their group won the competition and will fly to New York to present their plan to a board of world-renowned businessmen this January.

“I was really excited when we won because it was a great payoff for the work we had put in during the two weeks,” said Cresci.

Sturge has never been to New York and is looking forward to the adventure and the chance to learn from some very successful people.

“I’m really excited for the trip,” said Sturge. “I get to hang out with my friends in New York and have the chance to meet many successful businessmen.”

For additional information about camp Bizsmart, visit the camp’s website at www.campbizsmart.org