Going home for the Chinese New Year with a year-end bonus of 100 million

The registration deadline for the "Spark" College Student Entrepreneurship Competition was at the end of May.

Ultimately, seventy-three projects passed the initial screening and entered the preliminary round.

Yang Fan's office was piled high with project proposals.

He spent two days reading through all the business plans, and then used the system to scan several teams that seemed to have the most potential.

The result surprised him.

Of the 73 projects, five were rated B or higher, with two of them even reaching A-.

One is a "Campus Smart Logistics" project done by senior students—using drones and smart parcel lockers to solve the last-mile problem of parcel delivery on campus.

Another is the "AI-assisted learning platform" developed by the graduate student team—which intelligently recommends learning materials and review plans by analyzing students' learning data.

Yang Fan marked both projects, intending to focus on them closely.

In early June, the preliminary results were released.

Twenty projects advanced to the semi-finals, including the five that Yang Fan favored.

The semi-finals were scheduled for the second weekend of June and held in the academic lecture hall of the university.

The day before the semi-finals, Yang Fan received a call from Lin Qingyue.

"Are you nervous?" she asked. "You'll be the head judge tomorrow."

"A little," Yang Fan said honestly. "It's my first time being a judge in front of so many people, and I'm afraid of saying the wrong thing."

"Don't be afraid," Lin Qingyue smiled. "You've invested in so many projects; your experience surpasses that of many so-called experts. Trust your own judgment."

"Hmm." Yang Fan paused. "Will you be there tomorrow?"

"Of course," Lin Qingyue said. "As the principal, I definitely have to attend such an important event. However, I will only be present at the opening ceremony and the awards ceremony. I will not participate in the judging process to avoid affecting the independence of the judges."

"Understood."

"Well...see you tomorrow?"

"See you tomorrow."

After hanging up the phone, Yang Fan looked at the darkening sky outside the window, a sense of anticipation welling up inside him.

What kind of projects will we see tomorrow?

Will there be a surprise?

Saturday morning at 9:00 AM, Academic Lecture Hall of the Industrial University.

The lecture hall, which can accommodate 300 people, was packed to capacity.

The auditorium was packed with participating teams, observing students, teachers from various colleges, and media reporters invited from outside the school.

A red banner hung above the stage: "The First 'Spark' College Student Entrepreneurship Competition Semi-Finals".

Yang Fan sat in the center of the judges' panel, flanked by two business leaders invited by the school—one from e-commerce and the other from education and training.

Lin Qingyue sat in the first row of the audience. Today she was wearing a dark blue business suit, which made her look dignified and elegant.

At 9:00 AM sharp, the host took the stage and announced the start of the semi-finals.

As the principal, Lin Qingyue first gave a brief speech.

"Students, we've gathered here today not just for a competition, but to witness the launch of our dreams." Her voice echoed throughout the auditorium through the microphone.

"Starting a business is never an easy path, but it is because of young people like you who dare to dream and dare to try that our society can continue to progress."

"Today, whatever the outcome, I want you to remember—standing on this stage, you are already the victors."

"Because you dare to turn your ideas into plans, and dare to show your dreams in front of others."

"Finally, I would like to express my special thanks to Mr. Yang Fan, the investor of the Spark Incubation Fund."

"His support gave this competition real meaning—not just honor, but also opportunity."

There was thunderous applause.

Yang Fan nodded slightly in greeting to the judges.

After the speeches, the competition officially began.

The first team to take the stage presented their "Campus Secondhand Book Trading Platform".

The presentation was very professional, and the PPT was well done, but the project itself wasn't very innovative.

There are already many similar platforms.

After scanning it, Yang Fan gave it a medium score on the rating sheet.

The second team provides "online psychological counseling" for university students.

The idea is good, but the team clearly lacks expertise in psychology, and the business model is also problematic.

Yang Fan frowned and gave it a low score.

The third one, the fourth one...

After viewing six projects in a row, Yang Fan was somewhat disappointed.

It's either that the idea is too ordinary, the team is unprofessional, or the business model has serious flaws.

No wonder college students have a low success rate in starting businesses; many projects have fundamental problems.

When the seventh project was presented, Yang Fan's eyes lit up.

It's that "Campus Smart Logistics" team.

The person giving the presentation was a bespectacled boy named Li Haoran, a senior majoring in logistics management.

"Good morning/afternoon, judges. We are the 'Flying Bird Logistics' team." Li Haoran's voice was steady. "What we aim to solve is the last-mile problem of campus express delivery."

The PPT opens, and the data is clear.

"Currently, the daily express delivery volume in the university town exceeds 5,000 pieces, and can reach 10,000 pieces during peak periods."

"Courier points are usually concentrated at the school gate or in fixed areas, and students have to queue to pick up their packages, which is time-consuming and laborious."

"Our solution is to establish an on-campus drone delivery network and a smart parcel locker system."

Li Haoran switched to the PowerPoint presentation to showcase the technical architecture:

"Drones are responsible for trunk line transportation from the distribution center at the school gate to various dormitory areas, while smart parcel lockers are responsible for last-mile storage."

Students can schedule a pickup time via a mobile app, and the system will automatically arrange delivery.

"We've done cost calculations." He turned to the financial forecast page.

"The initial investment of 500,000 yuan was mainly used for the purchase of drones and the construction of parcel lockers."

"We expect to break even in one year and turn a profit in the second year."

"Currently, we have reached preliminary cooperation agreements with three courier companies and have also obtained pilot permits from the school."

After the presentation, we moved on to the Q&A session.

Another entrepreneur judge asked, "How can safety be guaranteed when drones fly on campus? How can the noise problem be solved?"

"We use small multi-rotor drones with a payload of less than five kilograms and a flight altitude controlled below thirty meters."

Li Haoran replied, "All drones are equipped with obstacle avoidance and positioning systems, and their flight routes are precisely planned to avoid densely populated areas."

"Regarding noise, we chose a low-noise motor. In actual tests, the noise level was below 60 decibels at a distance of 10 meters, which is equivalent to the sound of normal conversation."

Yang Fan then asked, "What's the business model? How do you charge?"

"We charge the courier company a delivery service fee, ranging from 50 cents to one yuan per item, depending on the distance and weight," Li Haoran said.

"Students are charged 3 to 5 yuan."

"Initially, we focused on speed and spread the word through student word-of-mouth."

"We are also collaborating with student unions and clubs to organize promotional events. We have calculated that we can break even if we capture 30% of the market share."

The answer was well-organized and contained detailed data.

Yang Fan mentally gave the team a high score.

To his even greater surprise, the system scan showed that the project was rated A-, with an investment recommendation of 300,000 to 800,000.

It has potential.

Yang Fan listened attentively to the next few projects as well.

The team behind the "AI-assisted learning platform" also performed exceptionally well, demonstrating a logically sound presentation, solid technical solutions, and insightful market analysis.

During the defense session, the team members answered the judges' various tricky questions fluently, clearly demonstrating that they had made thorough preparations.

Yang Fan also scored high in this project.

All twenty projects were pitched by the end of the day.

The judges left to give their comments.