The contemporary world is motivated by data-driven decision-making. Small 501(c)3 nonprofit organizations are often limited in their reach due to their size, lack of funding, and a lack of data analysis expertise. In an effort to increase accessibility to data analysis for such organizations, a Founders Lab team designed a product to help them understand and utilize geographic information systems (GIS) software. This product – You Got GIS – strikes the balance between highly technical documentation and general overviews, benefiting 501(c)3 nonprofits in their pursuit of data-driven decision-making. Through the product’s use of case studies and methodologies, You Got GIS serves as a thought experiment platform to start answering questions regarding GIS. The product aims to continuously build partnerships in an effort to improve curriculum and user engagement.

Waste pickers are the victims of harsh economic and social factors that have hurt many<br/>developing countries and billions of people around the world. Due to the rise of industrialization<br/>since the 19th century, waste and disposable resources have been discarded around the world to<br/>provide more resources, products, and services to wealthy countries. This has put developing<br/>countries in a precarious position where people have had very few economic opportunities<br/>besides taking on the role of waste pickers, who not only face physical health consequences due<br/>to the work they do but also face exclusion from society due to the negative views of waste<br/>pickers. Many people view waste pickers as scavengers and people who survive off of doing<br/>dirty work, which creates tensions between waste pickers and others in society. This even leads<br/>to many countries outlawing waste picking and has led to the brutal treatment of waste pickers<br/>throughout the world and has even led to thousands of waste pickers being killed by anti-waste<br/>picker groups and law enforcement organizations in many countries.<br/>Waste pickers are often at the bottom of supply chains as they take resources that have<br/>been used and discarded, and provide them to recyclers, waste management organizations, and<br/>others who are able to turn these resources into usable materials again. Waste pickers do not have<br/>many opportunities to rise above the situation they are in as waste picking has become the only<br/>option for many people who need to provide for themselves and their families. They are not<br/>compensated very well for the work they do, which also contributes to the situation where waste<br/>pickers are forced into a position of severe health risks, backlash from society and governments,<br/>not being able to seek better opportunities due to a lack of earning potential, and not being<br/>connected with end-users. Now is the time to create new business models that solve these large<br/>problems in our global society and create a sustainable way to ensure that waste pickers are<br/>treated properly around the world.

This thesis project has been conducted in accordance with The Founder’s Lab initiative which is sponsored by the W. P. Carey School of Business. This program groups three students together and tasks them with creating a business idea, conducting the necessary research to bring the concept to life, and exploring different aspects of business, with the end goal of gaining traction. The product we were given to work through this process with was Hot Head, an engineering capstone project concept. The Hot Head product is a sustainable and innovative solution to the water waste issue we find is very prominent in the United States. In order to bring the Hot Head idea to life, we were tasked with doing research on topics ranging from the Hot Head life cycle to finding plausible personas who may have an interest in the Hot Head product. This paper outlines the journey to gaining traction via a marketing campaign and exposure of our brand on several platforms, with a specific interest in website traffic. Our research scope comes from mainly primary sources like gathering opinions of potential buyers by sending out surveys and hosting focus groups. The paper concludes with some possible future steps that could be taken if this project were to be continued.

This project dives into the journey of our entrepreneurial startup with the Founders Lab Thesis Program. In the global sports business industry, we knew that there was something missing. While conducting market research, there was little data and information about sustainability initiatives that engaged sports fans, especially in college sports. Not to mention, there was no sustainability information provided on any existing platforms that sporting teams use for ticketing and advertising. So, for our startup, we decided to create a website called SustainSports which gives fans the opportunity to inform themselves about sustainability initiatives at sports events (https://sustainsports.webflow.io/). These fans can also earn points and rewards for practicing sustainability activities at home. In short, SustainSports serves as an educational, interactive, and informative website that connects users to sustainability initiatives, community activities, and exciting rewards, while encouraging users to continue such environmentally-friendly practices in their daily lives. In chronological order, this thesis paper will examine the process we took to create SustainSports and demonstrate our efforts that properly allowed us to defend it one academic year later. From meetings with renowned sports enthusiasts and professors to interviews with ASU students and sports fans, we have listened to and taken in diverse perspectives to understand the perceptions of sustainability in the global sports industry. When we realized that there was a significant gap between sports and sustainability - both important elements of American society and culture - we knew a change needed to be made. Hence, SustainSports came to life, offering users a fresh opportunity to be more aware of their sustainability surroundings, while simultaneously enjoying the sports they know and love.