When Carlson School sophomore Max Minakov was in sixth grade, he was tasked with digging up his parents' driveway one shovelful at a time.
“I really hated shoveling snow,” Minakov says. “When I was a kid, I would either do it after school or wake up at 5am to do it, and I had a hard time doing it. I thought there had to be an easier way. I was there.”
Minakov took the idea and has run with it ever since. He is currently the founder of Nivoso, an automated snow removal robot for driveways and sidewalks. The robot is fully autonomous and keeps surfaces safe and accessible 24/7 without human intervention. Minakov says it's a “Roomba for snow.”
The idea is gaining traction throughout Minnesota, and not just during the winter. Nivoso won the student division of the 2023 MN Cup this fall and received $26,000 in seed money from a startup competition. He has received letters of intent from several major snow removal companies and is working with a large senior housing facility to pilot his product.
“I want people to be the ones who see the Niboso robot right next to the snowblower at the hardware store and have to choose whether or not they will have back pain for the rest of their lives,” he says.
The Minakov family has an entrepreneurial and inventive spirit. His grandfather was an inventor, and when he was a child they were always tinkering and building things. One of their projects was an elaborate backyard treehouse modeled after a sailing ship, with everything imaginable built into it, from shingles on the outside to a mini-fridge on the inside.
At the Carlson School, Minakov was able to hone his entrepreneurial skills in a variety of ways. For example, during his time in his lab at the Carlson School, instructor Amy MacDonald adapted Minakov's curriculum so that his class work applied to his work at Nivoso.
“Everyone at the Carlson School wants you to succeed,” he says. “So many people have helped me get Nivoso up and running. Without the connections I made at Carlson, I would have been lost.”
For those looking to pursue entrepreneurship, Minakov has a simple message. “Please do your best.”
“I see a lot of people who don't have the confidence to start a startup while in college,” he says. “But for me, now is the best time to do it. I'll have more free time than I will have after graduation and I'll have all these resources at my disposal. I've done it many times before. I have made mistakes, but that fear does not stop me from pursuing my dreams.”
This story is adapted from the Carlson School.
Learn more about entrepreneurship at the University of Minnesota.
