Food Truck Business Wins in 2023 LSU Venture Challenge with Innovative Culinary Concept

Rollin’ Yöggler’s Turkey Durkeys, a quick-service food concept featuring fried turkey fingers and stuffing fries served from food trucks, won first place in the 2023 J Terrell Brown Venture Challenge. The competition, held by the LSU Stephenson Entrepreneurship Institute, is an annual business plan pitch competition open to all on-campus students in the LSU system. This year, the total prize pool was $35,000.

The winning team consists of brothers Sam Shapiro, a finance and entrepreneurship major, and Joe Shapiro, a finance major, who are students at the E. J. Ourso College of Business. They impressed the judges with their innovative food concept and were awarded $20,000 for their first-place finish.

Second place and $10,000 went to Mitchell Mason, an interdisciplinary studies major in the College of Humanities & Social Sciences, for his invention called MediRail. MediRail is a device designed to reduce the time first responders spend preparing patients for transport by combining a backboard and an automated CPR device.

Kamryn Huggins, a digital advertising major in the Manship School of Mass Communication, won third place and $5,000 for her business called PuzzLove. PuzzLove seeks to support the autism community through innovative products, including the Shoe Sleeve, which makes shoes more comfortable for children with autism.

The J Terrell Brown Venture Challenge showcases the creativity and entrepreneurial spirit of student founders, according to Jared J. Llorens, dean of the E. J. Ourso College of Business. LSU is committed to supporting entrepreneurship and business education, as small businesses account for 99.5 percent of Louisiana's businesses and play a crucial role in the state's economic vitality.

The competition was made possible thanks to the generous support of the J Terrell Brown family. Past Venture Challenge winners have gone on to achieve success, including Guise Medical in 2022, Debtle in 2021, Revibe in 2019, International Pumps and Parts in 2018, and Performance Mods in 2017, among others.

The Stephenson Entrepreneurship Institute, an integral part of LSU's E. J. Ourso College of Business, aims to promote and foster entrepreneurial practices through education, outreach, and research. The continued development of the entrepreneurship institute has been made possible through the generous donation of LSU alumni Emmet and the late Toni Stephenson.

For more information about the J Terrell Brown Venture Challenge, visit lsu.edu/business/venture.