A sister school’s request to buy the technology behind the Ethos app has lead to the creation of a student team working on leasing opportunities for the software.
Eagle Works, the new entrepreneurial startup group on campus, is developing a business plan detailing the financial possibilities for leasing the app. The Ethos app was created for tracking the amount Kudos students receive for the Ethos program, after the chapel system was restructured at Oklahoma Christian University.
“The really exciting thing is the opportunity to really do something that most young people in their careers don’t get to do, which is be part of a strategic decision,” Entrepreneur in Residence Russell McGuire said. “At the end of this semester, we’ll stand at decision-makers and see if the university is going to do this, which is something we’ve never done before, or not.”
The Eagle Works team will present a business plan to decision-makers on Dec. 18.
“That whole process, as I’ve looked back on my career, is huge,” McGuire said. “It’s exciting, it’s fun and it helps you in everything else you do.”
The student team consists of four seniors: Anastasia Bubenshchikova, studying accounting and international business; Austin McRay, studying marketing and management; Innocent Nkubito, studying computer science; and Kyle Wood, studying computer science and electrical engineering.
“I’m really excited about this opportunity,” Nkubito said. “I think that it has a lot of potential to transform the spiritual lives of students.”
According to McGuire, Oklahoma Christian’s first decision will be whether or not to move forward in selling the intellectual property of the Ethos app software.
“The neat thing about the software is we use it for spiritual development, but what it really does is it keeps score,” McGuire said. “If you’re at a certain place at a certain time, you get a point.”
McRay said the software has the potential for various different markets, including tracking for sporting events or fitness programs.
Throughout meetings during the past week, the team has determined an initial target market and a service platform for the technology.
“I’m really pleased at how the team has come together and how they’re working together,” McGuire said. “We’ve really listened and learned and that’s allowed us to make decisions quickly.”
Spiritual Life Coordinator Summer Lashley had the idea for the Ethos app to track the spiritual involvement of students on campus. Luke Hartman, an application integration specialist, was the lead developer on the creation of the app software.
After hearing from Hartman and Lashley, the team decided to market the cloud-based app to the spiritual life departments at similar colleges and universities that have chapel requirements.
The team also has advisers, in addition to McGuire and Hartman, to help facilitate and guide the decision-making process, including Professor of International Management Don Drew and Associate Professor of Computer Science David North.
McRay and Bubenshchikova are developing the business and marketing plans that will detail the financial information for developing this software to lease to other markets.
Nkubito and Wood are responsible for reconfiguring the networking infrastructure of the software to make it portable, according to Wood.
“Most of the changes that need to happen will be on the back end. Right now, it’s set up really heavily for OC, and it’s not portable at all,” Wood said. “That is the biggest hurdle and that will take most of the time.”
Nkubito said the integration of this software is an important step for colleges now with chapel requirements.
“Given that we live in the Information Age, I think there is definitely a need to tweak the traditional process,” Nkubito said. “Students are more demanding these days and expect things to be on their cellphone. They expect a more integrated program, not just a traditional – not that the traditional chapel thing is bad – but a more holistic approach to things.”
Oklahoma Christian will not decide whether or not to lease the app until after the business proposal in December.
“There’s still the question of if we want to do it,” McGuire said. “The university may say that the differentiation we have because of Ethos is so great that we don’t want to do it. That still might be the right answer.”
Meanwhile, the team is working on coming up with two names: one for the business itself and the other for the software. McGuire said the team is open to suggestions, but wish to maintain their Oklahoma Christian origins.
0
0
Be First to Comment