It was a steamy summer afternoon, and Victoria Bujny’s block was lined with lemonade stands. Parents were out in full force enjoying the weather, and every kid in town was looking to strike it rich off the influx of paying customers.
As she watched her neighbors compete over the crop of consumers, a young Bujny formulated her own business model. She picked flowers, wrapped fragrant bouquets and watched her first startup business blossom.
“I found a hole in the market, and in 45 minutes I was sold out,” said Bujny, a senior majoring in advertising and president of the MSU Entrepreneurship Association. “I was immediately hooked. I was an entrepreneur before I even knew what the word meant, and now I’m surrounded by people who get the same satisfaction out of it.”
Bujny discovered other young entrepreneurs at The Hatch at MSU, a creative working environment for college students starting businesses, where she works as a market analyst. Students come to her with ideas for products, and she researches markets to determine how much competition those products would face.
She said The Hatch generates successful businesses because it unites students from diverse academic backgrounds.
“We have computer science students working with communication students working with business students,” Bujny said. “Most of the time these people are separated by college, but that’s not how good businesses are made. Here, we tear the walls down and have Spartans learning from Spartans.”
On top of helping other entrepreneurs grow their businesses, Bujny also is part of her own startup team. Their product, Folyo, is a website that connects student artists searching for paying customers and business owners looking to purchase less expensive artwork.
Folyo was recognized as one of the top 32 startups in the country at Student Startup Madness, a national competition in which student entrepreneurs pitch their startup ideas to a panel of business leaders.
“Student artists want to find buyers with expendable income, and small businesses want original art without paying gallery prices,” Bujny said. “Folyo is a mutually beneficial product, and the judges recognized how well we filled a niche market.”
After graduating in May, Bujny will begin her career in Google’s Ann Arbor office, continuing to help small businesses develop. She aims to incorporate Google’s technology into Michigan businesses and make the state a hub for entrepreneurship.
“We’ve got a lot of great ideas and great minds in Michigan,” Bujny said. “I’ve seen a lot of them come through The Hatch in my time at MSU.”