As 2021 approaches an end, the world eagerly awaits the fate of the most popular cryptocurrency: Bitcoin. Bitcoin has been leading the surge in cryptocurrency investments for years, with a current price of ~63K per coin. The difference between Bitcoin and the second-highest coin, Ethereum is ginormous with a near 60k difference as Ethereum is trading for ~4k. For months investors have claimed the bitcoin bubble will pop soon but what exactly is this bubble and what could it mean for the coin?

Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency created in 2009 by an unknown person under the alias Satoshi Nakamoto. The popularity of bitcoin and cryptocurrency, in general, is largely due to the nature of the online currency, having no middlemen between transactions, and being able to buy purchases anonymously. Imagine if we could all store and exchange money without any banks, receipts, or credit card fees, well that’s exactly what bitcoin and cryptos are made for! Bitcoins can be bought on any Bitcoin exchange marketplace from sellers and stored in online “wallets.” These wallets are digital and use specific wallet IDs and identifications to store bitcoin anonymously.

What is a bubble?

A bubble occurs when any asset that is being traded, including stocks, cryptos, and real estate gains an accelerated surge in prices without it being due to any logical or fundamental reason. In simple terms, the price of the asset is severely overvalued, meaning it is far too expensive for the perceived value of the asset. Bubbles can have a wide variety of origins, but the most common is irrational groupthink. For example, GME, a “meme stock” was considered a bubble in 2020 when it shot up to a price of $320 USD. This surge in price was purely illogical from a financial perspective. GameStop was losing revenue in all quarters and performing severely poorly amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite this, the price of their stock went to the moon from investors. Remember, the price of the asset must accelerate at a pace not reflective of their fundamental value and for no intrinsic reason.

Although there is no definitive fact whether bitcoin is a bubble or not, as in there is not a definitive way to suggest that bitcoin isn’t worth the staggering 63k per coin, a survey conducted by the Bank of America found that 74% of investors believe Bitcoin is a bubble. Bitcoin’s price has risen nine-fold this past year alone and is still at an all-time peak.

What happens if the bubble bursts?

There is no way to know for sure, but many investors have theorized the effects. Ari Paul, chief investment officer at BlockTower Capital expects that there would be “no meaningful impact.” Currently, the majority of bitcoin is held by a small number of very wealthy firms and individuals, it might be the case that those are impacted most, with personal investors having little effect. The bubble bursting will likely also reduce the value of bitcoin- if only temporarily at least. Investors who scramble to sell their coins as the price decreases can cause other investors to do the same until it eventually reduces to a slump in bitcoin price. The bubble popping could also decrease the prices of all other currencies as blockchain miners panic sell other cryptos.

Beyond the Bubble

Although many theorize on the bubble bursting, remember, everything about this is speculative. No one knows if or when the bubble will burst if it even will, nor does anyone know of the long-term effects should it happen. Maybe nothing will happen, or maybe the bubble will start a nuclear WW3. That’s not to say it can, but I’m simply highlighting the uncertainty of bitcoin. The only thing we can do is wait and see.

Written by: Jason Jin| IQ Associate

Students all around Emory’s campus are starting to switch out their shorts in favor of jeans and no longer have sweat running down their backs as they walk to class as the summer sunshine sets into a cooler, crisp fall. This means my fellow team members here at Emory Entrepreneurship & Venture Management (EEVM) are sprinting the last couple miles of the marathon that is preparing for our annual business hackathon, HackATL, in October. As we approach one of the most distinguished business hackathons in the region with sponsors from all over the country, let’s talk about the concept of a business hackathon and why they are so beneficial in the first place.

A traditional hackathon is targeted towards those in the tech industry: teams of coders come together to answer a question pitched by an organization in the form of a program over a short period of time. A business hackathon is essentially the same idea- but the solution to the problem takes the form of a new start-up. But the question is, why participate in one? Interestingly, these short weekend events can have a major impact- on technology, local entrepreneurship, or even some of the world’s most pressing issues. Hackathons actually benefit all parties involved, especially the competitors. They are normally large, well-organized events that involve various parties ranging from large corporations to recruiters looking to hire talent. For example, past and present HackATL sponsors included Google Cloud, EchoAr, Key Investment Partners, and Coker Group. Just the sheer size of the event provides endless networking opportunities and a convenient way to showcase one’s skills and ingenuity. The high levels of cooperation and interaction also offer priceless learning opportunities throughout the multi-step process of creating a business idea. The time crunch brings out not only the best, but the most unique in individuals, which makes what one learns in the process so valuable. And the thoroughness required of the presentations almost always guarantees that the participants are blindsided by an obstacle that they never would have predicted, creating discoveries that they never knew they needed.

In other words, whether or not a team objectively wins the cash prize, they still win. Each presentation is valuable in their own way as they each tackle the problem from their own unique angle. This fact is the root of what a hackathon is: using human innovation and creativity to pump out solution after solution to the same problem. Large companies like Facebook actually implement hackathons within their own teams in order to use these original ideas to build upon their platforms. In fact, various normalized features such as instant messages were developed from ideas made during hackathons. So by participating in a stand-alone hackathon like HackATL, an individual is experiencing the practical applications of innovation used in the real world. The skills used and developed from participating in what seems like a one-time thing are just the opposite — not a one-time thing but a career-long endeavor that will hone itself as one’s experience multiplies.

HackATL is the most prominent business hackathon in the Southeast, attracting 1,000+ students from top undergraduate programs across the United States since its establishment in 2013

While HackATL 2021 has passed, if you are interested in learning more, visit the official HackATL site or Emory Entrepreneurship and Venture Management. We look forward to seeing you next year!

Written by: Lynn Deng | IQ Associate

HackATL reflects, on a smaller scale, the debilitating process of having to create a business-driven solution or product that is scalable in the marketplace. As individuals take upon this challenge to build a business within 48 hours, this event brings the significance of product-led growth to light in order to sustain a company’s trajectory.

What are Product-Led Growth Companies?

Companies with high product-led growth, such as Slack, SurveyMonkey, Calendly, entail exceptional product experiences that enable consumers to share them with their respective networks. If customers acquire a unique value for a product, then they can also benefit from the use of these products by attracting new users towards them. These companies have spearheaded growth in products and services which have intertwined the following fields: project management, marketing and sales, and customer success. Despite the convergence of these disciplines, these new approaches in product-growth strategy introduce potential implications that may impede a company’s optimality.

If anything, creating silo teams (groups composed of individuals with similar expertise and goals) inhibits a company from optimizing its functions and operations to customers. Project teams should be cross-functional in order to leverage each capacity and maintain consistency to scale and market products/services. In order to quantify success and growth, most companies do utilize additional platforms and tools which incorporate data that track these metrics. These tools such as Jira and Google Docs can measure productivity to better understand and improve a business unit’s capacity — however, many companies still lack the ability to fully compile and analyze these data across various teams.

Now, more product-led growth companies are leaning towards strategizing how to disperse shared-product discovery activities among various business units such as product management, marketing, and customer success. But, how do they get there? Companies need to start approaching their operations with a cross-functional responsibility in order to optimize their services to customers.

More importantly, the importance of driving product growth may not necessarily be the only means to evaluate a business’s success. Because the business landscape is constantly changing, there is a high demand for not only a quality product but also an exceptional customer experience. It would not be possible for companies to assess how to produce, market, and sell a product without acquiring collaborative input from all of these business units. For this reason, the premise of “product road mapping” is rapidly changing as successful product teams are moving towards outcome-driven approaches to drive customer value. By defining metrics such as average revenue per user, customer lifetime value, or attributable daily active users, cross-functional teams are able to better understand customers’ needs. Furthermore, this new shift enables large companies to build better solutions and outcompete other product-driven companies.

Written by: Manavi Anantula| IQ Associate

HackATL is the most prominent business hackathon in the Southeast, attracting 1,000+ students from top undergraduate programs across the United States since its establishment in 2013. The participants are given 48 hours to develop a prototype and pitch it to judges, angel investors, and venture capitalists. At HackATL, we aim to create innovative solutions that cater to the world’s most pressing issues.

This year’s HackATL participants were faced with a relatively broad challenge- to innovate solutions to today’s largest dilemmas- against all odds. The theme “The Great Hacksby” reflects this very idea- only a century ago, the world experienced a period of tremendous challenge and difficulty. With everything from a global pandemic, high levels of consumer debt, and even rising income inequality weighing society down, it seemed that these obstacles would be insurmountable. However, the 1920s aren’t remembered for those challenges — they’re remembered for the incredible innovation that resulted from the challenges.

How did our participants respond?

The participants of this year’s HackATL accepted the challenge, and in 48 hours, conjured up high-impact, unique solutions to some of our most pressing issues. Three teams, in particular, rose up to the challenge in ways that amazed our judges. After their grand win, each team spoke with IQ Magazine and shared their insights- we are excited to introduce their insights and ideas today.

HackATL’s First Place Team: Clip

Clip is a faster and more seamless way to reorder products they currently use- through QR code technology. Before users throw out items, they can tap the QR code on their item, press order, and within ten seconds, the new item is already on its way. Their goal is to provide companies with opportunities to increase the lifetime value of their consumers, particularly small businesses.

Did you face any obstacles in your process that made you step back or really pushed forward your progress?

Devan: In order for our idea to work, brands would have to attach Clip’s QR codes to their product- or the codes would have to be included during manufacturing. This is a difficult thing for brands to do, so we had to think of alternatives. We thought- what if we used AR so there are no codes or just how can we make the QR scanning a seamless process?

Amaan: It was definitely a challenge. We actually found a lot of interesting ideas during this process, and we’d love to explore them. We’re thinking about how to build a feasible app and processes such as even entering the app store. With the number of ideas we thought of- I’m excited to go through them together and see what could be the most feasible.

HackATL’s Second Place Team: Trident

Trident is a whole new look into the market of used furniture. Trident utilizes augmented reality to transform their consumer experience- users can actually place listed used furniture “virtually” in their homes. Using the expansive tools of AR, users can examine furniture being sold hundreds of miles away, just like they could at a furniture store.

Do you have any tips for future contestants?

Sungho: Don’t be afraid of meeting new people. We only met yesterday- and are all introverts- but we were just really dedicated to our idea.

Silvia: We really trusted each other, everyone took their own part. If you can contribute- don’t be shy to offer help.

Artem: You should contribute in any way that you can and feel confident in your actions. In a time-pressured environment, it’s hard to double-check everything, so keep your trust in your teammates strong.

Third Place: Eco Friends

Eco Friends is an app that allows users to make small, conscious decisions that help our planet and our future. Users are presented with a range of options in terms of how to make an impact. For example, if a user wished to focus on their habit of using plastic water bottles, they’d be presented with options such as using single-use boxed water, purchasing a reusable water bottle, or even donating to an organization such as Klean Kanteen. With their thorough background in UI/UX development, they sought to make an environmental impact as accessible and user-friendly as possible.

What would you take to your next hackathon or venture in entrepreneurship?

Katrina: This is an idea that I love. I’m passionate about making a change, user experience, and designing things that are simple, effective, and easy to use. I’ll do anything I can to get this app in people’s hands, so I’m extremely excited about feedback about how we can make our idea a viable app.

Alex: Feedback is so crucial, having insight into how we can make a product that is more viable and could balance profit and education would be amazing.

Huge congratulations to Clip, Trident, and Eco Friends, we wish you the best for your future ventures!

Written by: May Zhou| IQ Director

Climate change has understandably been a trending topic for years now due to its countless consequences to many aspects of our lives and the future. Its potential consequences include presenting complex risks to the global economy, and more specifically, to portfolios or financial investments.

What are Financial Portfolios?

A portfolio is a collection of financial investments like stocks, bonds, commodities, cash, and cash equivalents, including closed-end funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

Climate change can affect a portfolio in two ways: directly and indirectly. It directly causes the rate of risk for weather-induced damage to assets to increase, leading to higher risk in the market in equity shares with physical assets located in weather-sensitive regions. It indirectly prompts more severe environmental regulations which cause the cost of emission to increase while the cost of green technology decreases. These cost changes lead to less inclusion of carbon-reliant industries within equity portfolios.

Mingyu Fang, Ken Seng Tan & Tony S. Wirjanto contribute to the existing literature on the topic of climate change and portfolio management by directly evaluating how the three main carbon reliant industries (utility, energy, & material) performed with ongoing climate change, presenting carbon potency as a unit of measure for risk exposure resulting from climate change, and presenting a framework as an example of how to sustainably manage equity management portfolios.

The results of their efforts are applicable to “financial and insurance products backed by managed funds” and provide crucial standpoints in the process of building sustainable equity portfolios and modeling those returns. They found that the performance of the three carbon-intensive industries were not as adequate as other industries, meaning they cannot be considered essential components. This adds to the argument towards decarbonizing equity portfolios by proving the benefits empirically through statistical tests on data taken from the Canadian and U.S. markets. And, it even touches on the issues about the lost returns in stripping shares of carbon-intensive industries in exchange for a lower risk exposure from climate change. Therefore, correctly decreasing access to these emission heavy industries is a strategy that could alleviate the climate change risk exposure. Additionally, the measure of carbon potency is used to sort the stocks by how heavily reliant they are on carbon emissions, in which those with the highest measure would be omitted from the portfolio. Both of these are employed in their framework for developing portfolios that are sustainable.

Insights for the Future

What could this mean for future investments? Many companies including Morgan Stanley predict that 2021 is a keystone year for a significant increase in sustainable investing. With increased attention to sustainability-linked bonds and an increase in social investing, it is likely that we will see a noticeable shift to a new landscape focused on environmental and social issues.

Written by: Lynn Deng | IQ Associate

On March 25th, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signed into law a voter suppression bill that further impedes voting in disenfranchised communities. This bill reduces the number of ballot boxes, minimizes the time frame of early voting, requires additional photo ID requirements, enables state officials to intervene with county election officials, and even bar groups from providing food and water to voters in long queues. As voter turnout and registration has been skyrocketing in many Republican states, these efforts are seen as a blatant attempt in preventing marginalized groups from voting.

In response to this legislation, more than 170 corporate companies had joined the political bandwagon in condemning these discriminatory practices. To stand in solidarity with accessible voting rights, many corporations have released public statements to oppose the measures stated in the GA Bill and have also called for fair and limitless elections in an effort to “protect democracy”. For instance, both CEOs of Coca-Cola and Delta Air Lines, two prominent corporations headquartered in Georgia, have directly delivered abrupt statements to denounce this legislation.

Why is Important for Corporations to Speak on these Issues?

According to a recent Edelman poll of 33,000 consumers, 86% of them stated they expect CEOs to publicly speak on social issues. On the other hand, 68% of the same individuals, suggested that corporations should intervene when the government fails to improve these outcomes. Because of public outcry and employees’ concerns, many corporate leaders and professionals are pressured in speaking upon these issues which have been widely avoided beforehand. Historically, a majority of corporations have either struggled or neglected in taking a strong stance in regards to social and political issues. Because the year 2020 has changed the idea of how companies should get involved in social and political issues, many corporations are now expected to make commitments and drastic changes to eliminate racial and socio-economic obstacles.

Ever since the passage of this bill, there has been a non-stop surge of corporate statements that have threatened either the reduction of cancellation of major projects and initiatives in Georgia. Many corporations have gotten backlash from activists and advocacy groups as these corporations have endlessly given large contributions to fund Republican politicians that had written and supported the passage of this bill. Despite these connections, the passage of the bill has enabled many corporations to support the reverse and threaten boycotts that will jeopardize Georgia’s economic growth. For instance, the Major League Baseball’s announcement in shifting the All-Stars Game from Atlanta to Denver demonstrated larger implications that would harm Georgia’s economic prosperity. These voting restrictions have even caused the film and entertainment industry to reconsider their projects in Georgia. As of early April, Will Smith and Antoine Fuqua’s film “Emancipation” became the first major film to withdraw its production from Georgia due to the bill.

While corporations have made these commitments to exercise greater pressure on the Georgia legislature, inhibiting these projects will greatly derail financial commitments and economic opportunities in Georgia and thus gravely impact Georgians. Instead of calling upon boycotts and threats, it is greatly important for corporations to utilize their strong influence and large funds in lobbying for policies and initiatives that promote racial equity.

Written by: Manavi Anantula| IQ Associate

When Georgia Tech graduates Vedant Pradeep and Ziyi Gao first went through the university’s CREATE-X incubator in 2018, they weren’t planning to create an alcoholic recovery app. But when their original idea to create a product that would detect hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar, in diabetic patients didn’t work out, they did what the best entrepreneurs do: they pivoted.

And so came Reframe, an app designed to help users change their relationship with alcohol by providing a mix of content (interactive activities, stories from recovering alcoholics, affirmations, and educational tools) to help distract them through alcohol cravings. Its functions arose from lessons Pradeep learned from managing his obsessive-compulsive disorder, according to an interview with Atlanta Inno. The app’s features give people a way to “deal with cravings immediately, then [move] to break those bad habits,” said Pradeep.

So how does it work? When you download the Reframe app, you’ll be asked a short series of questions covering topics like your drinking habits, your motivation for changing your habits, and your goals for joining the Reframe program. Creating an account gets you 1 free week, after which you have the option to pay a monthly rate of $7.99 or an annual rate of $49.99. Your subscription grants you access to a 160-day evidence-based program with daily tasks to keep you on track, access to a community forum with other users, and a myriad of other tools to help you reframe (ha ha, get it?) your personal relationship with alcohol.

As someone who was born and raised in the US and attends college here, it strikes me how often alcohol serves as the backdrop, if not the centerpiece, of social interactions. Alcohol is marketed as the perfect accompaniment to every mood and occasion. Sad? Have a drink to numb the pain. Happy? Have a drink to celebrate!

We live in a society that makes the choice to be sober an act of friction, something that can be especially difficult for those who struggle with alcoholism and addiction. Though I personally do not struggle with alcoholism, I’ve personally seen and experienced how it can be all too easy for people to develop an unhealthy relationship with alcohol, if not become dependent on it altogether. This is especially the case for college students, surrounded by peers and social environments that often tell us that unhealthy habits like binge drinking are totally normal.

That’s why I think an app like Reframe can be especially useful for people who may feel like their relationship with alcohol needs a refresh (#notsponsored although ARE YOU KIDDING I WISH). If it sounds like something that might be up your alley, check it out and start your free trial today.

Written by: Rurie Yi| IQ Associate

Incubators have an undeniable influence on the success of startups. Incubators such as Techstars and 500 Startups have accelerated the work of thousands of entrepreneurs, but the global network they have created always has room for expansion. In particular, when conducting research about startup incubators, I was left with the question of “Where do female-led companies stand in this accelerator environment? There is existing literature suggesting the use of female entrepreneurship as a tool to increase gender equality. Business incubators that are solely dedicated to women have been established all around the globe in order to aid in reducing gender inequality through empowering women through entrepreneurship and skill development. They provide new projects and start-ups with various resources needed to launch a new business to success.

Successful female startups like KitSplit and Dezignable rose from such incubators, like in this case, from Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator. And as you can see, so far these incubators have been reaping positive results, increasing female entrepreneurship annually. But researchers Inés Gabarret and Aude D’Andria recognized that more literature was needed on how to distinguish the specific role of women dedicated incubators in the development of women in entrepreneurship.

A study done by Gabarret and D’Andria analyzed a business incubator dedicated to women in France through a qualitative method. Their sample of women entrepreneurs consisted of those in varying stages that fall under the beginning of their start-ups’ creations and are from an environment that is a blend between urban and rural. These twenty-eight women were interviewed either by phone call or in-person to cover several crucial topics. They enlisted the life-story technique, a method that requests the interviewees to answer the questions in a narrative-like way, accentuating their own life stories in the order that comes naturally to them rather than asking overly structured questions. They were then recorded and transcribed in order to analyze them in a standardized with speech analysis and thematic coding.

The results from this study point out various characteristics of what role women-focused business incubators play in the expansion of women in entrepreneurship. Incubators serve as facilitators in that they boost creation and self-confidence. They connect inexperienced women new to the startup world with the successful women who already navigated it, encouraging action And overall, incubators made women feel supported in a way that overcomes the underlying self-doubt felt by many women who needed that initial support from an entity that they had not identified. However, the results also indicated that the incubators had some weaknesses, especially with their lack of emphasis on growth. Only 27% of the interviewees indicated that they thought about growth, and the remaining 72% of the women wanted to keep their operations small. The analysis of the interviews reveals that the lack of preference towards growth stems from the personal attachment developed between the entrepreneurs and their incubator managers that mentor them with their start-up projects. This personal attachment to their managers is equivalent to an attachment to the actual incubator, making it hard to move on to the next step in their project, outside of the incubator. In other words, the women feel it necessary that they continue with the incubator process rather than leave it.

Some recommendations to improve the incubator process made by Gabarret and D’Andria in consideration of their results, are to implement a contractual element and mix with other types of incubators besides business. The contractual element addresses the issue of being unable to leave the incubator process as it would instill the idea that the process is temporary from the beginning, making it less difficult to exit. And mixing the industries in women-dedicated incubators could aid women in smooth transitions between sectors and help increase the number of women in these sectors through creating a more amicable and comprehensive atmosphere and by using those new connections to integrate more women on higher executive boards. Although this study was done in France, its results and proposals made from the results can be implemented in other countries that have established such incubators.

These proposals that will strengthen women-dedicated business incubators will help women take another step towards gender equality through strengthening female entrepreneurship. Female entrepreneurship is the future, the future is female.

Written by: Lynn Deng| IQ Associate

According to the State of Women-Owned Businesses Report commissioned by American Express, the number of women-owned businesses grew by 58% between 2007 and 2018. However, the number of businesses owned by women of color grew by 163%.

The role women of color (WOC) play in entrepreneurship is undeniable, as of 2018, women of color own nearly 47% of all women-owned businesses. However, in spite of the success of WOC business owners, they do not generate as much revenue as non-minority business owners. As stated in the State of Women-Owned Businesses Report, “if revenues generated by minority women-owned firms matched those currently generated by all women-led businesses, they would add four million new jobs and $1.2 trillion in revenues to the US economy.”

The Factors Behind this Gap

One major challenge that continues to hinder women's entrepreneurship is the lack of funding given to women-led ventures. In 2018, only 2.2% of venture capital was attributed to startups founded by women.

A study conducted by the Harvard Business Review found that venture capitalists were likely to ask women entrepreneurs about potential losses whereas they were more likely to discuss potential gains with male entrepreneurs. The study also revealed that women entrepreneurs were mostly questioned about prevention-oriented measures such as safety, responsibility, security, and vigilance. This line of questioning further creates a continuous cycle of bias that perpetuates funding disparities. In response to these questions, female entrepreneurs unintentionally remain in the domain of losses that harm their chances of entrepreneurial success.

Because most VC firms are composed of predominantly white men which circulate these unconscious biases, it is particularly difficult for women of color to access capital to invest in their entrepreneurial ambitions. For instance, The Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy reported that women and minority entrepreneurs are more likely to pay higher interest rates and denied loans than their white male counterparts. Women of color often face the most obstacles in accessing capital to finance their initiatives. While insufficient capital limits a firm’s potential, an inadequate support system and lack of professional networks can plague one’s chances to grow their business.

In order to break these social and cultural barriers to achieve the similar success of their male counterparts, women must work even harder to elevate their chances of succeeding. Because the realm of Venture Capital is focused upon a patriarchal foundation, it is imperative for venture capitalists to reevaluate their decision-making processes and interactions with fellow entrepreneurs to ensure that small firms have an equal opportunity to showcase their potential and to access sufficient capital.

Written by: Manavi Anantula| IQ Associate

What do companies Moderna, SpaceX, and Stripe have in common?

At first glance, it may be hard to piece together the shared link, so I’ll give you one hint: Where are the founders from?

Noubar Alfeyan, the founder of Moderna, is from Armenia. Space X’s Elon Musk is South African, and Stripe’s co-founders John and Patrick Collison are from Limerick, Ireland.

At one point, all of these now extremely successful entrepreneurs were international students at American universities. Noubar Alfeyan attended MIT, Elon Musk attended Wharton Business School, and John and Patrick Collison attended Harvard and MIT respectively. These are three pretty major examples on the extreme end of eminence, but the overall presence of international students has a major role in American startups. In 2018, the National Foundation for American Policy found that nearly one-quarter of the U.S. billion-dollar startup companies were founded by international students, and the collective value of their companies is around 96 billion dollars.

It’s undeniable that maintaining a global mindset is a necessity in the realms of entrepreneurship and innovation, but before doing this research, I was unaware of how crucial international students were in cultivating a global mindset and introducing products that have completely changed our routine lives. They exemplify the understanding of international entrepreneurship and have all practiced a unique combination of innovation, proactive technology, and risk-seeking behavior that can effectively cross any global borders. The founder of Zoom, Eric Yuan, and Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi were also international students, and it’s hard to imagine current life without their services. Our missions to explore Mars or take a personal approach to investments have been made possible by international-student-founded companies like Uber and Robinhood, and once again, these are just a select few out of thousands of notable “international” enterprises.

While the existing works have clearly been remarkable, the processes international students must go through in order to start businesses or gain work authorization is complex and difficult to navigate. Some companies may opt-out of hiring international students and foreign talent and certain political climates exacerbate existing issues international students have to face.

Here’s where an Emory alumni-founded startup comes into action. OnBoard Student Services, founded by international students, is making it easy for international students to obtain their OPT work authorization. They are building a platform that helps level the playing field for international students and reduces the barriers that block the innovation and diversity of thought so crucial to our entrepreneurship ecosystem. By providing international students with a centralized, comprehensive platform, students can focus on their core missions and motivations, and spend their time building new pathways in our current technologies and services.

If you are curious about OnBoard Student Services’ mission and journey, I recommend you watch the newest edition of our IQ’s Take Podcast with Co-Founders Jason Kuo and Aaina Pahwa where we delve deeper into OnBoard’s work and history.

Additionally, if you are interested in Onboard’s services, OPT season is right around the corner — with the pandemic introducing unprecedented delays, it’s more important than ever to apply early & apply once. Onboard designed their EAD+ service to help international students submit their OPT application quickly & accurately! Take a look at this infographic that outlines how their workflow can save a student up to 13 hours in material preparation.

Written by: May Zhou| IQ Director