Houston ISD students pitch businesses at NRG Arena<\/p>\n
The yearlong program selects more than 100 Houston Independent School District high school students to learn the foundations of entrepreneurship, including how to launch, manage, and financially operate a business.<\/p>\n
Throughout the program, students work alongside mentors and coaches before pitching their business ideas during the \u201cHustle Tank\u201d competition held at NRG Arena.<\/p>\n
Students present their ideas directly to 50 Cent and a panel of Houston business leaders in hopes of gaining support and confidence in their entrepreneurial dreams.<\/p>\n
50 Cent said one of the most valuable parts of the program is the confidence students gain throughout the process.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that\u2019s probably the biggest thing the program is offering them,\u201d 50 Cent said. \u201cA different kind of confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n
Students involved in the program say the experience is helping reshape how they view themselves and their future.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the end, we\u2019ll look back and laugh because although it was hard at some point, it was worth it,\u201d student Genesis Rodriguez said.<\/p>\n
50 Cent also spoke candidly about relating to many of the students\u2019 personal struggles, including growing up without both parents in the home.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had that in my background and experience, so I can relate to them on that level,\u201d 50 Cent said. \u201cIt makes it easier for me to communicate with them.\u201d<\/p>\n
For 50 Cent, the mission goes beyond business pitches and competitions. He said the goal is to expose students to opportunities they may have never imagined and show them success is possible regardless of their background.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have every reason why you would not be successful in my background,\u201d 50 Cent said. \u201cIf you want to make it, you\u2019re going to make it.\u201d<\/p>\n
50 Cent said he hopes to continue expanding the program in Houston, calling the city \u201cthe right place for it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Houston ISD students pitch businesses at NRG Arena The yearlong program selects more than 100 Houston Independent School…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":814644,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5130],"tags":[4089,218428,330813,6263,4345,330811,330814,330812,6214,358,3187],"class_list":["post-814643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-50-cent","tag-curtis-jackson","tag-entrepreneurship-program","tag-hisd","tag-houston","tag-houston-education","tag-houston-youth-programs","tag-hustle-tank-competition","tag-students","tag-texas","tag-tx"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116618428867166399","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/814643","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=814643"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/814643\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/814644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=814643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=814643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=814643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}