Katherine Olives
Last week, startups that competed for the Kaylie Prize visited their sponsor, Harvey Kaylie at his companys headquarters in Brighton Beach. Grand Prize Winner Applied Motions, Second Place Winner UpWalk, and semi-finalists Migo and OnPointe pitched to Mr. Kaylie and toured the Mini-Circuits office for the first time.
For these startups, meeting Mr. Kaylie in person at his own company was inspiring. “Its one thing to meet Harvey Kaylie in person at City College, but its a whole new experience to see what kind of company he built from ground up. Hes an example of a successful entrepreneur and it is inspirational to see his company up-close and witness what he has accomplished, said Bhaskar Paneri, winner of the 2013 Kaylie Prize and advisor to the current Kaylie cohort.
Harvey Kaylie established the Kaylie Prize for Entrepreneurship in 2010 through an endowment. Then, the prize was meant to encourage entrepreneurship amongst students at CCNYs Grove School of Engineering. Now, the prize is one of four Zahn competition categories. While it still attracts engineers looking to commercialize hardware inventions, these inventions have become increasingly diverse. This year, the theme of the Kaylie Prize was connected devices, so that students explored the world of IoT.
For Migo, competing for the Kaylie Prize allowed them to grow not only as a company, but as individuals. Kevin Navarra, Founder of Migo, said, We greatly appreciate Harvey Kaylie seeing the potential in us and providing us with the tools we need. The experience of visiting his company showed us that, from humble beginnings, we too can shape the world around us. We hope to make him proud with our accomplishments and look forward to being part of building the future.
The visit gave each startup the opportunity to thank Mr. Kaylie not only for his generous endowment, but for the opportunity to explore the cross between engineering and business. For Jose Jimenez, Founder of Applied Motions, the biggest takeaway was learning that success depends on both innovation and working within the achievable.
Mr. Kaylie is President and Founder of Mini-Circuits, a Brooklyn-based RF and microwave electronic components design, manufacture and distribution company. Established in 1969, the company is a global leader in RF, IF, and microwave components for commercial, industrial, space, and military applications. Kaylie is a proud alum of City College.