Founder and CEO of AMPY Gives Seminar

By Brandon Wallace '17

College students can be inspired when they see someone around their age finding early success. For this reason, the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) reached out to Tejas Shastry, one of the youngest entrepreneurs in the world, for its first major event.

Only in his mid-twenties, Shastry already is the cofounder and CEO of AMPY, the world’s smallest wearable motion charger. Shastry and AMPY cofounders Alex Smith and Mike Geier were recently named to Forbes’ 2015 “30 Under 30” list. Shastry also is a doctoral candidate in Northwestern University’s Materials Science and Engineering program.

Shastry gave students advice on how to get started in entrepreneurship, with a focus on design, marketing, engineering and business in the process. He described a process on how to take a venture from team-building to brand-building.

“Most people think having a brilliant idea is the most important thing when starting up a business,” Shastry said. “That idea and that passion is important, but what you figure out very quickly is that the idea is only the starting point. What matters even more is the execution.”

Shastry, Smith, and Geier, who were all classmates and friends at Northwestern, came up with the idea for AMPY when they grew tired of their phone’s poor battery life. They formed their group, established roles, and went through the legal and economic processes of developing AMPY. AMPY creates energy to charge one’s phone from their movement. For instance, one can clip AMPY to their waist while walking, their arm or leg with running, or their thigh while bicycling and can charge their phone while getting a good workout.

Students were given a ticket to put into a raffle upon entering the seminar. At the end, Shastry drew a ticket and the winner received the preorder for a free AMPY.

“We’re very happy with the turnout,” said junior Civil Engineering major Marlon Solito-Vargas from SHPE. “What we want is for the students to hear about a realistic experience from a person their age to show that it’s possible to make these type of products.”

“Most people think having a brilliant idea is the most important thing when starting up a business,” Solito-Vargas added. “That idea and that passion is important, but what you figure out very quickly is that the idea is only the starting point. What matters even more is the execution.”

This event was also co-sponsored by the Foster College of Business, the Turner School of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, and the Caterpillar College of Engineering and Technology.