Stories
The people, the process, the proof
Behind every pitch, every event, and every idea is a story worth telling. These are ours.
Five students. A blank page. ACC's first entrepreneurship program.
In Spring 2025, EDGE Team was handed no blueprint and told to build something that had never existed at ACC. Six months later, over 60 people showed up.
“We didn't know what we were building. We just knew it had to exist.”Read full story →
All Stories
What it actually takes to build NEST FEST
Venue bookings, sponsor decks, judge recruitment, run-of-show, AV setup, and fifteen student pitches — here is how the first one came together.
“Every decision was made without a playbook because there wasn't one yet.”Read full story →
She didn't just pitch a bakery. She made the judges eat it.
A culinary student walked on stage at NEST FEST 2025, pitched Big Bites Bakery, closed with a live food demo, and won. Then she took the same business to SXSW EDU.
“Who wants to take a bite with me?”Read full story →
From a NEST FEST slide deck to Austin's streets
Eduardo and Jose came to pitch a motorsports fan experience. They left and built it. The Paddock Society ran its first real event within months of the competition.
“The pitch wasn't the finish line. It was the starting gun.”Read full story →
EDU Week — March 11, 2025
EDGE Team participated in ACC's EDU Week, bringing entrepreneurship programming to campus with the Business in a Box lab, workshops, and community connection.
“Every week is EDU week when you're building something real.”View Flyer ↗
ACC students just presented at SXSW EDU
EDGE Team brought student founders to one of the most recognized education conferences in the country. Big Bites Bakery was the live case study. Community college students teaching the world.
“We went from our first campus event to SXSW EDU in the same academic year.”Read full story →
EDGE Team mentored at NASA's River Hack
Invited by the ACC Computer Science & IT department, EDGE Team ran a dedicated Mentorship Room at the NASA International Space Apps Challenge — coaching student dev teams on pitching, business models, and entrepreneurial mindset in 7-minute speed rounds.
“The best code in the world still needs a story. We helped them find it.”Read full story →
Here is what six hours before an ACC event looks like
Room reservations, equipment pickups, volunteer briefings, run-of-show rehearsals, and last-minute pivots. The invisible work that makes the event look easy.
“Nobody sees the setup. That's how you know it went well.”Read full story →
He studied economics. He built a drone business.
Ben Harris showed up to NEST FEST 2025 as a licensed commercial drone pilot with a real estate media client base already in progress. Economics major. No business degree. Launch Ready.
“Entrepreneurship belongs to every major, every background, every story.”Read full story →
The AI Power Lunch
EDGE Team brought together students, founders, and community leaders for a hands-on conversation about how AI is changing what it means to build a business from scratch.
“The best tool you have is the one you actually use.”Read full story →
How to build your own NEST FEST
Everything we learned building ACC's first student pitch competition — the decisions, the mistakes, the model that worked. A replicable guide for any community college ready to give student founders a stage.
“If we could do it with five students and no budget history, so can you.”Read full story →