Damien Guo finds his way in Entrepreneurship

"I knew it was the right place for me. Being in that classroom, surrounded by entrepreneurship ... It's a very encouraging environment."

Damien Guo is a great example of how unique the entrepreneurial experience can be. 

After working with different teams in the Entrepreneurship Program on various business ideas, Guo landed on a group that took a different direction. What they worked on could just speed up the process of treating tick-borne illnesses.

“It was definitely different for me,” Guo said. “Entrepreneurship is a way of getting from here to there, but with all of these detours in between. At the same time, in entrepreneurship you can’t really mess up, because there are so many places you can go with it.”

Entrepreneurship students are encouraged to work with students from other Francis Tuttle programs. Guo found a solid footing with students from the Biosciences and Medicine Academy, and what they landed on might just help doctors and nurses in the future.

“We started out by looking at heart monitors, because those can be expensive and sometimes they have problems with accuracy,” Guo said. “In the process of working on that, we landed on tick-borne illnesses and just went straight into it.”

One of the problems with these illnesses is the time they take to manifest in humans. It can sometimes be days, but for others it can take weeks or even a whole month, and that is valuable time when it comes to treatment.

Guo and his team developed an idea for the “Tick Stick,” a swab similar to flu and COVID tests that can be used to detect tick-borne illnesses. At the moment, it’s a concept that is plausible but expensive, so the future work will be on making it more affordable.

But the process of developing ideas, learning about the subject matter, trying, failing, and trying again is what gave Guo the most from his time in the program.

“There were times when I asked myself why I chose this program,” he said. “I knew it was the right place for me. Being in that classroom, surrounded by entrepreneurship, it’s like a bubble. You don’t feel the need to defend yourself so much. It’s a very encouraging environment. I really enjoyed the everyday interaction with people in the program.”

Guo graduates from the program in May 2024. He plans to attend the University of Wisconsin where he will study Chemistry.