Early entrepreneurs

"Our team feels a sense of accomplishment in planning and executing two successful campus-wide events," Hazard said. "It empowers us to go into the workforce and know that this experience has helped prepare us for the real world."

Hazard said entrepreneurship classes are a good way for students to get an idea  of how to start a business.

"These classes let people know how to get started," Hazard said. "College is the time to explore your options."

Many Aggies have taken businesses that started small and have led them to grow into large, successful businesses. The Aggie 100 — a list complied by the Center for New Ventures and Entrepreneurship in the Mays Business School — honors the 100 fastest-growing, Aggie-owned businesses.

This year, the No. 1 Aggie business is Tranzon Auction Resolutions, owned by Dwight and Kelly Toney, Class of 1970 and 1992, respectively.

To be considered for the Aggie 100, businesses submit financial information to an accounting firm in Houston, which crunches the numbers for each business to determine winners.

"Anyone can nominate a company," said Ashley Crane, assistant director for the Center for New Ventures and Entrepreneurship. "If a student has a dad or an uncle who's an Aggie and has a business, we'd love to hear about them."

Crane said many business owners on the list didn't graduate with a degree that pertains to their business.

"There's a trend that reflects that your degree doesn't really have anything to do with what you do in life," Hazard said. "The list is really unique."