What is it like to be a shark?

What is it like to be a “shark”?  We asked our CEO, Janelle Snyder, Esq. who knows first hand. Janelle just finished her round of funding as a panelist (aka shark/investor) at the NABWO YEA! Awards Philadelphia this past April 2017.

Janelle and a panel of 10 judges decided the funding fate of 14 rising stars, ages 12 to 18 in grades 6th to 12th. Each participant applied and was accepted to the Young Entrepreneurs Academy program that runs from November to April, when they present their business ideas to the investors. Each young entrepreneur had 5 minutes to pitch their business plan, goals, marketing strategy, and finance, including a request for the funding they needed.

A total of $6,000 was available to fund the business ventures. The panel of judges decided on who to award funding to based on the entrepreneur’s presentation and feasibility of success for each business. All participants received some level of funding from $250 to the top prize of $1,000.

The grand prize winner of $1,000 was Anna Welsh of littlebags.BIGIMPACT, seen in a photo with Janelle below. Anna uses vintage fabrics and jewelry to make handmade bags – and even sold a few at the event.  Anna donates a portion of the proceeds from each bag sold to Tree House Books, a literacy center and giving library in Philadelphia.

Another favorite was Anya Jayanthi of Made with Hope. Made with Hope is custom jewelry of a soundwave, each soundwave design represents a different inspirational word. Anaya is already helping women in India who are a part of Women on Wings. It is pretty incredible to see these young ladies giving back and helping others at such a young age.

Two Girls and a Garden’s Isabel Flynn and Emily Simkovich shared examples of their adorable and functional mini self contained garden pictured below.

It was an honor to have SnyderLAW participate in the 2017 YEA! Awards. Just in case you were wondering, the other judges aka “sharks” included:

• Andrew Berg, Berg Partners, LLC
• Kevin Conner, Conner & Associates, PC
• Ana Fernandez-Parmet, Parmetech
• Terri Matthews, ORI HomeCare, LLC
• Chris McCauley, HomeNet Automotive
• Eric Raymond, The Raymond Organization
• Andrew Voudouris, Turn 5, Inc.
• Jim Wiley, Wiley Group

That’s a wrap!