This thesis will bring together students to engage in entrepreneurship by finding, measuring and sharing strategic market opportunities. From a student’s perspective, it will take a deep dive into the world of startup ecosystems, markets and trends utilizing both qualitative and quantitative market research techniques. The information gathered has been curated into a productive, meaningful manner, through a report titled “The State of Startups: A Student Perspective.” <br/> The first key theme of this thesis is that market intelligence can be a powerful tool. The second key theme is the power of knowledge implementation towards competitive strategies. The first section of the thesis will focus on identifying and understanding the current “startup” landscape as a basis on which to build strategic and impactful business decisions. This will be accomplished as the team conducts a landscape analysis focused on the student perspective of the student-based North American “entrepreneurial” ecosystem. The second section of the thesis will focus specifically on the personal experiences of student startup founders. This will be accomplished through the analysis of interviews with founders of the startups researched from the first section of the thesis. This will provide us with a direct insight into the student perspective of the student-based North American “entrepreneurial” ecosystem.

In the current age of global climate crisis, corporations must confront the rising pressure to mitigate their environmental impacts. The goal of this research paper is to provide corporations with a resource to manage waste through the implementation of a circular economy and by increasing Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Navigating this large and complex system required the use of various methodologies including: the investigation of the relationships between waste management systems and sustainable development across major companies; literature reviews of scholarly articles about CSR, circular economies, recycling, and releases of company reports on sustainable development and financials. Lastly, interviews and a survey were conducted to gain deeper insight into the problems that make circular economies so difficult to achieve at scale.

Plastic pollution is undoubtedly one of the most pressing challenges facing humanity today. Significant action is required in order to properly address this rapidly growing threat. The Circular Economy provides a promising model for solution design in terms of responsible consumption and production. Countdown: Circular Economy Solutions is an organization created by Jasmine Amoako-Agyei focused on addressing the threat of plastic pollution in the United States and Ghana, West Africa. The first part of this report will explain the severity of the global plastic pollution crisis and challenges with recycling. It will then present the Circular Economy as a viable model for a course of action. From there it will explain the efforts of Countdown: Circular Economy Solutions over the last two with a pathway forward. This venture leveraged the greater ASU ecosystem of resources such as Walton Sustainability Solutions, Precious Plastic ASU, the Luminosity Lab, Changemaker Central, Venture Devils, Engineering Projects in Community Service (ASU), Gary K. Herberger Young Scholars Academy, KNUST, and Ashesi D: Lab.