Bailey Hack completed an internship with StarkRFID through the Spiro Institute for Entrepreneurship at Clemson University. As an analyst intern, she was paired with StarkRFID, a startup company that specializes in RFID technology for events management. Bailey was given three projects for StarkRFID, including creating a survey for on-campus organizations, market research on potential industries for StarkRFID to expand into, and researching RFID technology use at other colleges. Through these projects, Bailey gained experience in marketing research, data analysis, and contacting other organizations. She was mentored by employees at StarkRFID and her supervisor at the Spiro Institute. Following the internship, Bailey was invited

1. Executive Summary
Bailey Hack
UPIC Analyst in Residence Intern, Fall 2016
Supervisor and Mentor: Dr. John Hannon
Clemson Spiro Institute for Entrepreneurship
The Internship This semester I got the privilege of being an intern for the Spiro Institute for
Entrepreneurship. The Spiro Institute for Entrepreneurship has multiple upon multiple
amazing opportunities for its students and one of them is to be able to intern with them
for a semester. I was given two options with the internship: be an Entrepreneur in
Residence or be an Analyst in Residence. I decided with the option of an Analyst in
Residence because the purpose of being an Entrepreneur in Residence is to start your
own company from scratch and I don’t have an idea for my own company yet. As an
Analyst, you are paired with a start-up company that has had success in their industry
and is willing to help give students knowledge and experience as well as a project to
work on. I was paired along side a start-up company out of Greenville, South Carolina
called Stark RFID. Stark RFID is a company that specializes in RFID technology and
integrating it into different industries such as construction, hardware, consumer products,
pharmaceuticals, and events management. Their most notable industry, events
management, has contracts with the College Football Hall of Fame, Georgia Aquarium,
PGA Tour, and many other big-name events. With their RFID technology they help
companies with event registration, event access, interaction with attendees, data after
the event, and many other useful amenities. Their goal right now is to expand their Events
Managements segment of their RFID tag company into a smaller segment called
ValiDate in order to market to smaller events such as weddings, Super Bowl parties, and
food festivals. This is where I came into the picture because one of the areas in ValiDate
they want to branch into is college campuses. So my journey with Stark RFID started with
me figuring out ways to integrate their technology into events on campus at Clemson
and seeing how well it could be accepted with on-campus organizations. I was given
three separate projects to complete for them throughout the semester: a survey to
organization leaders and participants on campus, market segment research in their
industry, and research about RFID technology on other campuses.
Skills Gained As an Analyst in Residence for StarkRFID I was given three projects to complete by the
end of the semester. My first project was to create a survey for on-campus organizations
for their leaders and also their members. The survey consisted of questions about how
they organized their events and different aspects about planning and organizing as well
as event logistics. Overall, I learned a lot from this project, whether it’s from creating a
survey, to incentivize others to take it, and then learning how to decipher meaningful
information for marketing research purposes. The other two projects I engaged in with
StarkRFID and ValiDate were a lot smaller than the survey but I still learned a lot from

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them as well. The second project I worked on was a Market Sizing Research spreadsheet
with different industries that ValiDate is considering entering such as music festivals,
performing arts shows, rodeos etc. They had me research different numbers and data
and compute it into the spreadsheet and then compare each industry and decide
which ones would be best to invest in. I finished my internship with a small project
concerning RFID on other college campuses. The new technology for football ticketing
used by Clemson is provided by StarkRFID and requires a certain type of student ID card.
I utilized my own connections and also called college campuses in order to find out if
they have the right type of student ID. StarkRFID can then use this information to see
which colleges could use their technology for sporting event ticketing. Both of these
projects forced me outside of my comfort zone in a good way. For Market Sizing
Research I had to use Google, Excel Spreadsheet and other sources in ways I had never
before and it took patience and trusting in the information I found. For the student ID
project I had to call a lot of campuses and explain my purpose and ask for information
that some colleges consider confidential. Overall, I gained extensive analytical skills with
the different types of marketing research I engaged in and also learned about new
technology and innovation in the Events Management industry.
Mentors One of the greatest things about this internship was the people I was able to work with
and learn from. The person responsible for this internship and incredible opportunity is Dr.
Hannon. Not only did Dr. Hannon provided this experience for me, but gave me
incredible advice, offered me business connections, and inspired me to continue on a
route towards an entrepreneurial career. Dr. Hannon went above and beyond to make
sure his interns were successful and gaining valuable experiences. I was also able to work
with two employees at StarkRFID, Shelby Risher and Daniel Heard, who are over the
integration of the new segment of the company, ValiDate. Both Shelby and Daniel play
a huge role in the success I found through this internship. They were the ones who
provided the three projects for me, called me on a weekly basis, provided knowledge
and advice, and even drove down to Clemson to have lunch with me. Being able to
collaborate and communicate with Daniel and Shelby was such an amazing
experience; I learned so much from them and am so grateful for the time they invested
in this experience.
The Next Step One of the greatest things about this internship is that it’s not ending with the end of this
semester. Shelby and Daniel have invited me to StarkRFID headquarters in Greenville in
order to present the research I’ve done and also do some networking with their team.
Also, I’m continuing within the Entrepreneurship program by being a member of the
student advisory board, taking more classes, and last but not least getting to travel to
Japan over spring break to study culture, innovation, and entrepreneurship. As a
Marketing major with a Spanish minor, I am still working to see where entrepreneurship
and marketing research will play a role in my future career. This internship has definitely
sparked my interest in both areas and I know I will continue to utilize the skills I gained.