Next Gen Tech Attracts Successful Students
Next Gen Tech promotes the qualities that are needed to “get somewhere” in today’s competitive world. It isn’t about grant money or college applications – in the end, these are both mediums for achieving the success that NGT promotes reaching now.
You Aren’t Too Young To Take Your Ideas To The Stage
But to get in front of the crowd you need connections and experience. Next Gen Tech is your chance to connect with phenomenal mentors from every tech/business industry in your area and push your adaptability to its limits.
Get The Opportunity
These are opportunities every student in the world should have the chance to jump at, but right now only a select few (that’s you!) do. Don’t pass it up!
The following are the main reasons to consider Next Generation Tech 360
1)Teaches real-world skills to prepare you to be career ready.
This is not textbook learning or theory, it is creating real-world, commercially viable product development skills that people want–at an early age, giving you a massive advantage with marketable experience unavailable anywhere else.
Valuable Skills You Can Learn:
Product Development
Students learn real-world techniques, not just theory. Plus, you’ll learn to develop your ideas and test proven methods taught by industry experts.
Project Management
You’ll understand the discipline of time management by using prioritization and scoping techniques allowing you to tightly manage the milestones of your project deliverables. Plus, you’ll incorporate customer feedback, maneuver product failures, and technology limitations.
Market-Based
You focus on the customer value proposition, the competition, and solving a gap and problem–ensuring the product or service meets the customer needs.
Collaboration
You work with a team and learn to increase your emotional intelligence by adapting to the market and different people’s styles. You’ll learn to set aside differences and drive to a common goal while leveraging each other’s strengths.
Digital literacy
You’ll learn how to use technology to “MacGyver” real problems—not just to play with the tech. This early innovative thinking develops the Bills Gates and Steve Jobs of the world—versus the thousands of “coding drones.”
2)Proven award-winning program.
The program is out of infancy, having won multiple industry awards. Industry has identified and FUNDED the NGT program to teach students like you the essential skills to be effective and successful in the real world.
They are investing in leaders and innovators that are already creating disruptive and impactful solutions that provide employers quality and competitive products with the ability to get to market quicker and be more profitable.
NGT teaches students the following:
Becoming Market-Driven
Participants learn to create “market-driven” development habits, so they create profitable first-release products.
Firsthand Experience
You’ll become more effective starting day-one with the required skills to be effective immediately. You develop real-world applications, not just learn theory!
Thought leaders
You’ll understand there are many ways to solve a problem and are willing to try new things to determine potential.
Adaptable to change
Participants know how to effectively fail (fail fast) and use it to bounce back and improve the quality and value to the customer.
3)Connections with local industries
Industries have a vested interest in developing the next generation employee. Like with professional sports, they scout and develop early—it just makes good business sense. As a result, many will mentor students in the program to develop local talent… so you have the advantage.
Here’s how they can help:
Current skills & relevance
The mentors share their expertise with the students to help them best apply industry techniques to develop profitable, marketable products. While coaching, they are also building the students’ confidence–they go all in and foster a “can do” attitude!
Great work ethic
Mentors guide students to go beyond the minimal (that’s how they succeeded). So, students stay after school, show up early, and outperform the rest of the team by sheer will and effort.
Higher Emotional Intelligence
They zig and zag to adjust to any discoveries, they don’t get discouraged—but adapt to changes in customer requirements, changes in tech…inventing a way to meet the objective.
More competitive
Students learn how to work effectively as a team and how complementary skills and common focus are key. As a result, they are driven to win, producing results faster, with more detail and energy.
More agile
Through the rigor of NGT, students learn what it takes to produce marketable quality products. They gain confidence in their ability to overcome obstacles and have established a network of resources.
4)Introduction to new Career paths.
We have mentors from different business verticals and a multitude of varying positions from marketing to project manager demonstrating how real-world teams work and the skills that are needed for each team player to provide value to developing good products.
5)Mentorships
Students work with mentors from start-ups to multi-billion corporations, and from numerous different businesses verticals. This exposure helps kids experience a wide range of responsibilities (from project and product management, research, marketing, Marcom, pricing, supply chain, finance, testing, and full-scale development) within mobile, desktop, telco, and emerging technologies.
World-Class Mentors. Some of the world’s top talent have stepped up and are willing to mentor and coach students—for FREE! Backgrounds include
Member of the original Shark Tank – innovative investor
Former VP Marketing $130 billion GE
Sr. VP at $48 billion Motorola
VP $4 billion Harcourt (Sea World, Neiman Marcus, General Cinemas, Harcourt Education)
VP $7 billion International Thompson
One wrote the marketing plan for Netscape, formed Red Storm with Tom Clancy, competed with Disney, launched AOL with Steve Case, built a start-up from 13 to 4,000 people in 4 years.
6)Develop Passion
This exposure allows you to discover and develop early passions and preferences, so you know where you want to specialize. As a result, you have much more focus, drive, and clarity than the average “floater,” so you excel and become much more successful.
The result – you are the winner that gets the jobs—and your teacher sits back in awe citing the old shake and bake commercial, “And I helped!”
7)Opens doors to Internships
NGT students get unique opportunities and are in high demand.
“We participate in the program to recruit potential talent. Assuming all goes well, we have them do summer internships. Once they graduate, they come in as an experienced employee and it ends up being less expensive than our current methods of recruiting and onboarding. This is the new way to recruit and develop talent for 21st century!”
Meaningful Internships
Students are selected by companies to participate in internships giving them exposure to careers that best suit their talents and aptitude.
As a student, you get exposed to the local industry and the different types of career paths available to pursue. you develop relationships with local businesses as part of their pipeline of talent.
Because they understand the industry, they can guide you (and the program) in the path that best suits them. No more guessing.
Reduced Educational Costs
You obtain critical thinking, problem-solving, and communication skills you would usually have to pay for (in college or independently)—making your overall education more affordable.
SORRY BUT WE’RE NO LONGER ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR 2020-2021
Testimonials
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What is Next Generation Tech? Next Generation Tech (NGT) is a 7-month experience for high school students in teams of 3-5.
Students develop an idea, attend workshops with outstanding business and technology mentors from their local area, and work to build a business model and working prototype.
Am I eligible to compete in Next Gen Tech this year? To compete, you need to be enrolled in a Pinellas County High School for current school year and
Find a team of 3-5. That’s it! No business classes, no technical knowledge, and no experience needed.
I need an idea to apply! How do I find one?
Start with the problem. Look for a solution incorporating technology – software or hardware – and define your audience. Your first solution will change continuously as your business plan and product grow, so don’t stress about getting it perfect now.
No student should stop themselves from participating in NGT because they are worried about their idea; changing problems and solutions along the way is part of the startup process!
Why should I compete in Next Gen Tech? Good question!
NGT is a fluid program built to support your passions and help you develop your skillsets for taking this process to the real world. It’s an experience to empower your drive to make the next-big-thing and offers opportunity to connect with fantastic mentors and make accomplishments along the way to build your resume.
If you put in the work to make it all the way, $15,000 in grants is divided among the top three teams!
I have no experience in technology OR business. What do I do?
Next Gen Tech is a platform for students of ALL experience levels! All you need to do is be ready to learn and excited to make your idea come to life – we’ll help you understand the process and build the experience needed to succeed. Some of our most successful teams have come from no experience in these fields!
How much time does participate in Next Gen Tech take?
The amount of time you put into your project is up to you! All teams will attend the first 3 workshops in October, November, and December. In December, 10 teams will be selected as finalists based on submitted product pitches, and these teams will participate in 3 more workshops with more individualized mentorship, culminating in a final pitch to a panel of judges.
Successful teams find themselves meeting with their teammates to continue progress on at least a weekly basis, with individual contribution based on how team responsibilities are assigned.
What advice do you have for completing the initial application?
Don’t stress over it! The most important thing is that you have begun identifying problems that the market needs solved, and you enter the program with an intellectual curiosity.
Applications are to help us get to know you and your creative thoughts, not limit the pool of students that can benefit from working with NGT mentors. Make sure you fill it out to the best of your ability before the deadline, and your idea will grow with time and mentorship.
