2019 YIBI Youth Business Leadership Training Summer Semifinal

This past week, YIBI hosted the 2019 Youth Business Leadership Training (YBLT) Summer Session in San Jose, California. There were 21 participants ranging from seventh grade to eleventh grade, all guided by four mentors: Ryan Chan (Mission San Jose High School), Serena Cai (Mission San Jose High School), Austin Li (Mission San Jose High School), and Pauline Rogers (Valley Christian High School, each mentor taking on their own teams.
Every day from 9am to 9 pm, both in and out of class, the hardworking students created and fine-tuned their startup presentations to prepare for the semifinals on Saturday. In addition, guest professors from business schools were invited every morning to discuss various parts of the entrepreneurship process, such as finance, marketing, business etiquette, and social advertising. The mentors then further guided the teams by helping critique their presentations.

There were four teams: Mediquick, SunTrack, Team HomeHelper, and Team Maid-Bor. Team SunTrack created a tracker that attaches to a normal solar panel, allowing it to face the optimal direction in order to garner the maximum amount of sunlight. Team Maid-Bor created an app that simplifies cleaning for Homeowners and the maids. MediQuick was an app that reduces the amount of time and money wasted from unnecessary doctor visits by connecting patients and doctors through a video call. In addition to this feature, they also delivered medicine and created a personalized fitness and diet plan for users. HomeHelper is a platform that exposes teens to the workforce by allowing them to complete tasks like babysitting and dog walking in exchange for extra cash. This also benefits the local community since they can focus more on their jobs and not their living conditions.

The judges enjoyed Suntrack’s incredible financial roadmap and feasibility, ultimately leading them first place. Because there was a tie between two teams, Team MediQuick and Maid-Bor had to present an elevator pitch about their startup to the audience to further sell their service. With just five minutes to prep for a thirty second speech, it was very intense for both parties. In the end, Maid-Bor won second place because their elevator pitch was more focused on their product and goals. Both team Suntrack and team Maid-Bor will advance to the International Grand Conference, where teams from all around the globe will get a chance to be featured.
Throughout this week, the students learned more about the vast world of business. From Business Etiquette to Finance, the students truly went through a lot.

---------------------------------------
YIBI is an international organization dedicated to giving youth a top experience in business. President of YIBI, Erika Yang, founded this organization in 2014, and ever since then, YIBI has grown to over 15 branches in the US as well as five other international branches in countries like Zimbabwe, China, Japan, and Singapore. This international opportunity fosters an interest and familiarity with business that students all around the world can experience. For more information or interest in joining, find us at yibius.org.

By Ryan Chan