During the week, CDM student-developers and designers helped to build mobile apps for three student-entrepreneurs’ startups, including:

- CrowdNoize - crowdsourced content app for live concerts
- TABULATOR - drink-ordering app for venues in major metro areas
- O.Snap! - location-based app for discovering new friends

Justin Cerone, co-founder of TABULATOR and student in the M.S. Entrepreneurship program, says “FireStarter is important because it allows non-technical entrepreneurs with technology ideas to see those ideas come to fruition quickly. The networking component is also extremely important. Commerce and CDM students don't often get to interact with each other, so growing our network and meeting potential future team members is tremendously beneficial for entrepreneurs.”

Domingo Meneses, co-founder of CrowdNoize and senior in Commerce, points out the value of the program for students. “FireStarter is exactly what DePaul needed. With a renowned entrepreneurship program and a top school of computing, it’s very exciting to see the university creating a shared space for business and technology-minded people to come together to hack, thrash, create and ship.”

FireStarter kicked off with a welcome from CDM Dean David Miller, followed by the entrepreneurs pitching their ideas to developers and designers, who then selected which startup they wanted to join. After a couple speakers and lunch, the teams began a week of intense mobile app development.

To assist the teams, a number of entrepreneurs and subject-matter experts spoke during the week to help keep the teams invigorated, focused and inspired. Special thanks to the following speakers for their time and energy:

- Neal Ehardt - Co-founder & CTO, Groovebug
- Joshua Hernandez – Co-founder & Chairman, Tap.Me Games
- Sue Khim - Co-founder & CEO, Alltuition
- Justin Massa – Founder & CEO, Food Genius
- Jared Steffes - Co-founder & Director of Biz Dev, Tap.Me Games
- Collin Wallace - Founder & VP of Biz Dev, FanGo
- Colin Young - Co-founder, CloudBot

At the end of the week, a demo of the apps took place to an audience of entrepreneurs, investors, faculty, and guests. But the excitement didn’t end then.

Last week, each team had the opportunity to get assistance from an Entrepreneurship Strategy class. Under the guidance of Professor April Lane, each student-entrepreneur had three teams of five students responsible for creating go-to-market plans for their mobile apps. Serving as clients, each student-entrepreneur presented their mobile app to the students who were then charged with the responsibility of consulting the student-entrepreneur. The teams worked diligently with their clients who stood by to answer any pressing business questions. To close the week, the teams presented their go-to-market plans, providing insightful recommendations to their clients.

“Overall, the week was a tremendous success. For one, our student-entrepreneurs were able to gain a real perspective on their businesses, taking away great marketable ideas. At the same time, it was empowering to watch the student teams acquire real-life experience by playing an active and integral role in shaping the direction of real businesses,” says Professor Lane.