Ballston BID Announces LaunchPad Semi-Finalists

The 8-year-old making rounds at the Ballston LaunchPad event Tuesday night handing out business cards (and occasionally hugs) was Kylee Majkowski, the co-founder and CEO of Tomorrow's Lemonade Stand.

"I like that you get to be the boss," said Majkowski, of McLean. "I try to understand adults."

She seems to have a good handle on it.

Tomorrow's Lemonade Stand is "a crusade to inspire, engage and empower mini-preneurs ages 6-11 to solve the need for innovation in our future generations," according to a business summary. The idea is to infuse creativity and imagination into the lives of students whose school curriculum is so heavily geared toward standardized testing.

"It's her idea," said Kylee's mom, Amanda Antico-Majkowski. "She's bored at school. I'm just her typist."

The two came up with the idea over dinner when Kylee was 7. Now, the startup is wrapping up its first year and nine children are about to graduate. They divided into two teams and created two businesses — one that plants flowers and installs mulch, and the other that makes and sells dresses. The children, in second through fifth grades, had to buy raw materials, design their products, contract out any work they couldn't do and then show a profit.

"This is not the Girl Scouts," Antico-Majkowski said. "They have to create the cookies themselves."

Tomorrow's Lemonade Stand is one of 10 semi-finalists in the Ballston Business Improvement District's LaunchPad challenge.

Other startups that made the cut include Changecause, which matches individual philanthropic donations with corporate sponsors; EcoMow, which is creating a robot lawn mower that processes grass into fuel pellets that can power the mower or heat your home; and History Spoken, an attempt to create a global library of oral history.

[Click here for a complete list of semi-finalists and alternates.]

The semi-finalists — and four alternates that had progressed farther down the road startups travel — will be paired with mentors and participate in a curriculum designed by the BID to improve their products and their pitches.

"A lot of these companies have done a lot of this work already," said Tina Leone, the BID's chief executive. "We want to help them refine it, get in tip-top shape … and then pitch like they've never pitched before."

The BID received about 200 applications for its inaugural challenge.

In November, the 10 semi-finalists will be pared down to three — and those three will be given the chance to pitch Ted Leonsis, the owner of the Washington Capitals and a nationally renowned entrepreneur and investor.

Leonsis, in a video message to the LaunchPad crowd Tuesday night, likened the contest to "American Idol." He described himself as an evangelist for the burgeoning startup scene in the greater Washington area, giving particular emphasis to Ballston, where the Capitals are based.

"I'm looking for originality. I'm looking to be wowed," he said. "If you've got any fear or any trepidation, get over it now. Because this is going to be like walking a tightrope for you."

Leonsis and fellow entrepreneurs Steve Case and Donn Davis have raised $450 million for their Revolution Growth fund. The first $50 million has been invested in AddThis, FedBid, Resonate Networks and Echo360. The rest? Leonsis has not been shy about his desire to invest.

Aside from exposure and a $15,000 cash prize from the BID, Leonsis could choose to invest in the winning company. Keeping with the "American Idol" comparison, he reminded the finalists that sometimes second- and third-place finishers get contracts, too.

Read more:

'Where Minds Meet' — Ballston BID Kicks Off New Marketing Campaign

'Great Entrepreneurs Walk Among Us'

Photos: LaunchPad Takes Off in Ballston