Each year, students in the MBA in Entrepreneurship & Innovation compete in the Shark Tank style Enterprize Awards as part of their capstone course. Jack Berg M ’25 took home the win this year and the $15,000 prize in startup funding for his innovative business idea simpleRx.
In second place and the $3,000 prize was Rylan Terry, Ph. D. with HT Crystals and Rylan Haley secured $2,000 in his third-place finish with Great Graves.
The background of simpleRx
The idea for simpleRx is rooted in Berg’s frustration for the unpredictable costs associated with prescription medicine for consumers. “In the current climate, when a prescription is written the patient needs to choose which pharmacy to send it to from the doctor’s office,” says Berg. “Consumers are heavily restricted in their autonomy to shop for which pharmacy has a better price, or even if the drug is in stock.”
These issues are what drove Berg to find a solution to the problem. Leveraging the resources available through the Clemson MBAe program, he was able to transform this solution from an idea to a viable business opportunity. “Professor Matt Klein was a huge help in mentoring me throughout this journey,” says Berg. “It started with his Entrepreneurial Strategy course where I was encouraged to conduct interviews with medical entrepreneurs for a class assignment, allowing me to build my network.”
After taking his class, Berg relied on continued mentorship with Professor Klein to refine the concept. Klein, a business owner and experienced entrepreneurial mentor who volunteers with NextGen Venture Mentoring Service (VMS), a Greenville-based program modeled after MIT’s VMS, met with him outside of class to help shape the strategy and test key assumptions. “He was a huge help in finding a way to test something that doesn’t seem testable on the surface,” Berg elaborates. “He helped me understand that sometimes regulatory roadblocks exist, but how to pivot, keep innovating and keep trying to find success.”
“Jack exemplifies the kind of founder we love to see come through the MBAe program, someone who is both intellectually curious and action-oriented,” says Professor Matthew Klein. “Through simpleRx, he identified a problem that impacts millions of people and applied lean startup principles to start solving it. As a professor and mentor, it’s exciting to support students like Jack who are building solutions with real-world impact.”
Why the Clemson MBA Program?
After graduating from High Point University with a degree in business administration and a minor in entrepreneurship, Berg knew he wanted to pursue a startup in his career. “Clemson’s MBAe Program really stood out to me as very few programs across the country offer specialized courses in innovation with an entrepreneurial focus,” states Berg. “The ability to finish with the pitch competition to a panel of judges for real seed capital was a truly unique selling point as well”
The Future of simpleRX
With the $15,000 in seed funding from the Enterprize Awards, Berg plans to allocate the money to development for his app. “As a startup, it is quite expensive to get to launch,” he states. “The scale of these winnings will allow us some time to be strategic with our next step. We will be able to put some time into the development, and continue to attend large networking events, to help get this thing off the ground.”
As for the future, Berg is excited as he sees an opportunity to bring the concept of simpleRx to bring affordability to other industries, including affordable housing. “There is the ability to make it easier for consumers to find affordable options for necessary spending, such as prescriptions and housing.” Berg says. “At the end of the day, the idea behind simpleRx is to bring real solutions to real problems for real people.”
About the Clemson MBA in Entrepreneurship & Innovation
The Clemson MBAe Program, ranked #11 in the world by Poets & Quants, is designed for students with a passion for innovation. The concentration is designed to bring your ideas to fruition, whether you want to start your own company, innovate at your current role, or address needs via a non-profit, the MBAe is here to achieve your goals. To learn more, click here.
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