"Crafting Winning Pitches”: How Building Startup “TelePark” Taught Teen Entrepreneur Vani Mittal Essential Skills in Business and Giving Back to Society
1. You achieved remarkable success with your startup, TelePark, through the TiE Young Entrepreneurship program. What did you learn from the competition and your venture, and what do you think makes a "winning elevator pitch"?
Through my TelePark journey, I learned how to build a business from scratch, covering ideation, product design & development, marketing, finances, and more. These concepts deepened my understanding of entrepreneurship and helped me to demystify the broad umbrella of the word “business.” Throughout this process, I gained crucial life skills such as collaboration, listening, communication, and compromise.
Using these learned skills, my team and I crafted a winning elevator pitch, which I believe consists of 3 key components: what the product is, why it matters, and why it’s a good investment. This approach sets the stage for investors, highlights the value proposition and differentiators, and details its revenue streams. Finally, it is important to conclude with a call-to-action, where the pitching team invites the investors to join their business and make a difference together.
2. The biotech research program with Biogen-MIT must have been fascinating. As you look to further explore biotechnology in the future, what excites you most about this field and the impact it has on society?
It was absolutely fascinating. Biotechnology is definitely an exciting field with so many possibilities. What interests me most is its potential to revolutionize healthcare and improve lives. The ability to develop targeted therapies and personalized medicine is incredibly inspiring. Not only this, but biotechnology's impact on our community extends beyond healthcare as well, influencing areas like agriculture and environmental sustainability. So, the endless possibilities of this field and its potential to address global challenges are truly exhilarating.
3. Through your work at the Acton Memorial Library’s Teen Advisory Board, how have you contributed to improving teen experiences? What is a common issue you see other teenage girls struggle with, and what is your advice to them?
I’ve seen that teenage girls often struggle to balance their school life with their social life. My advice to them is to prioritize tasks and manage time effectively. Set realistic goals, take breaks, and seek help when needed. Along with this, to help reduce this stress for teens, I help organize teen-friendly events at the library as part of the Teen Advisory Board (TAB). I work to schedule event dates, plan activities, and explore resources we may need to host the event. Specifically, TAB has hosted mini carnivals, pottery classes, and dance events so that teens can take a break from the stress at school and enjoy a fun event at the library, helping to reduce the struggle of balancing school with a social life.
4. As a leader of the AB Students for Equity & Justice Club and a board member of the AB Student Activities Fund, you've worked on solving social justice issues and raising funds for school activities. How have these experiences, along with receiving the Presidential Gold Medal Volunteer Service Award, shaped your perspective on making a positive impact on your community?
By working on social justice issues in the Equity & Justice Club, we’ve implemented gender-neutral bathroom signage and hosted forums for student opinions. In doing so, I have learned that to make a meaningful difference in my community, each individual must feel included and safe, which is exactly what I strive to do as my club’s leader.
Furthermore, when raising funds for the Student Activities Fund Board, my success depended on how I engaged with people, not just on what I was selling. This experience taught me that creating a positive impact comes from not only what you do but also how you do it.
Lastly, while volunteering to receive the Presidential Gold Medal Volunteer Service Award, I learned that making a difference doesn't require changing the world; it means doing the little things because every act, big or small, counts.