Semi-finalist Q&A: Owl Towels

Owl Towels is an innovative towel company. Unlike other towel manufacturers, they design towels to be activity specific, allowing them to create towels that are completely purpose driven for particular activities. Information from their grant application is available here. Read below for more, and if you have questions for our semi-finalists don't hesitate to ask them in the comments section.

Also, don't forget to cast your vote! YOUR vote will determine which entrepreneurs most deserve to be amongst the finalists.

How did you come up with the idea for your business?

We came up with this idea while facing the inconveniences of attending a large busy university gym at the University of Arizona. Usually University gyms require you to have your ID card with you to enter, and most kids walking from the dorms have their keys on money on hand too. The problem is, gym clothes don't always have pockets, so a lot of students and gym goers around the world end up carrying their essential belongings with them form station to station, leaving their stuff on the floor, leading to forgotten and lost items. Even if you don't lose your stuff, you are constantly having to worry about it. So we created the Gym Owl. Something to house your essentials comfortable. Just pick up your towel and go. No need to juggle around with multiple items.

What makes your business unique? Why do you think it will be a success?

Our business is unique because we took an particular activity's inconvenience and solved it with a towel. So we decided to expand on this idea and looked at all activities that require towels. Then we found ways to use the towel as a channel make performance better in particular activities. The towel is no longer just a difference size for different activities. It now holds more functionality, and so each towel is designed more creatively and activity specific.

What are some of your top business-related accomplishments, or business lessons learned?

Our biggest accomplishment was at the University of Arizona. We went through a few days of presenting to top investors, and we must have impressed them with our Golf Owl towel because we were picked out of hundreds of people to present in the finals, top 5. Most teams were technology based and were MBA or Graduate students. Lots of engineers and scientists, and here we were, some undergraduate team making towels. We ended up giving our full 20 minute presentation to hundred of people in a giant auditorium with microphones and all. Everything went great, and we actually ended up winning 2nd place which was a huge surprise for us.

Why should the Idea Cafe regulars vote for you?

Idea Cafe regulars should vote for us because of our simple yet innovative idea. We're not trying to complicate the world. We're trying to make it simpler and solve more problems. Our towels have sleek designs that don't overcomplicated things. If you help us make some, them maybe when you see them in the stores, you'll know you helped.