Skip to content

Indiana · Parent-approved · Revenue on record

Ditch the
summer job.
Start a hustle.

High schoolers start real businesses. We give them proven hustles, mentors, and a reason to go all in.

Join the HustleHire a StudentComing soon

Free. Grades 9-12.

Who we are

High School Hustle is a nonprofit program that accelerates the next generation of entrepreneurs through mentors, incentives and software.

Students don’t need more theory. They pick a real hustle, get a mentor at school, log every sale in one dashboard, and compete for $150,000 every summer. A project of Sagamore Institute, Inc.

Join the Hustle Hire a StudentComing soon

What it is

Real businesses. Run by students.

3,403
Student sign ups
$3.47M
Student revenue
155
Earned $2,500+
100+
Schools reached

01

Start

Pick a proven hustle. Lawn, detailing, cookies, sitting. Launch this weekend, not next year.

02

Learn

Mentors who have already done it. Fail. Iterate. Keep the one that pays.

03

Earn

Real customers. Real revenue. Logged. That number is how you compete.

Summer competition · Jun 1 – Aug 1

$150,000 for high school hustlers.

Two ways to win, both on sales: $5,000 each to the top 20, and $500 each to the first 100 to reach $2,500.

Join the Hustle Competition details

Competition starts in

--

Days

--

Hours

--

Minutes

--

Seconds

The prize pool

Jun 1 – Aug 1

$150,000

Crawford Coats Award

Top 20 × $5,000

Beat the Summer Job

First 100 × $500

$100,000 to the top 20 sellers. $50,000 to the first 100 to reach $2,500 in sales.

Winter competition · Oct 12 – Nov 30

Sell holiday lights. Earn a trip to the Keys.

Students sell Christmas light installs for Imperial Exteriors and keep 15% to 30% of every job. Ten jobs, about $10,000 in sales, earns a trip to the Florida Keys. Open to students in Central Indiana and Fort Wayne only.

See how it works Sign up
Sunset over the water seen from a covered porch in the Florida Keys, with palm trees, a pool and a wooden table in the foreground.

The directory

Coming soon

Hire a student. Or buy from one.

The directory opens soon. Search and job posting are switched off until it does.

Straight talk

We get it. You’re skeptical.

Here’s what students say.

“I already have a job”

A job pays for time. A hustle pays for value. Clock out of a job, pay stops. Build a hustle, value keeps paying.

“Seems too good to be true”

Skepticism is smart. Don’t take our word for it. Hear it from the governor.

Gov. Braun on HSH

“I don't have a good business idea”

Good. You don’t need one. We give proven hustles. Pick one. Test it. Learn by doing.

“Too busy with school and sports”

So are our top performers. Five focused hours beats ten hours scrolling.

High School Hustle award winners on stage holding an oversized check under an arena scoreboard.

The answer

All hustlers follow a proven playbook.

You don’t invent a business here. Catering, detailing, lawns, treats. Pick one, run it, get paid. These students did.

Read student success stories

Student spotlight

Meet David.

“I always knew I could work hard! I just needed someone to show me how to bet on myself.”

Today, David is:

  • Running a full-service pressure washing, gutter, and window cleaning business and serviced over 300 homes

  • Landed a contract with Live Indy to clean dozens of properties

  • Leveled up to asphalt sealing

Read David’s story

Our reach

108 schools. 25 states.

Every dot is a school with students in the program. Blue means we showed up in person.

  • 19 in-person visits
  • 89 schools signed up on their own
  • 24 more states

Counts update as schools join

Indiana

Across the U.S.

Schools we visited in person

  • Bellmont High School
  • Pendleton Heights High School
  • Carmel High School
  • Fishers High School
  • Hamilton Southeastern High School
  • Zionsville Community High School
  • Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School
  • Heritage Christian School
  • Cathedral High School
  • Shortridge High School
  • Covenant Christian High School
  • Purdue Polytechnic High School Englewood
  • Danville Community High School
  • Avon High School
  • Cascade High School
  • Center Grove High School
  • Martinsville Academy
  • Bloomington High School South
  • Bedford North Lawrence High School

Schools that signed up on their own

  • Fremont High School
  • Saint Joseph High School
  • Penn High School
  • John Adams High School
  • Riley High School
  • East Chicago Central High School
  • Angola High School
  • Concord High School
  • Munster High School
  • Hamilton Junior Senior High
  • Valparaiso High School
  • Washington Township High School
  • Wheeler High School
  • Lake Central High School
  • DeKalb County Central United School District
  • Wawasee High School
  • Boone Grove High School
  • Warsaw Community High School
  • Carroll High School
  • Northrop High School
  • Columbia City High School
  • Bishop Dwenger High School
  • Woodlan Junior/Senior High School
  • Concordia Lutheran High School
  • Snider High School
  • Tippecanoe Valley High School
  • North Side High School
  • New Haven Jr/Sr High School
  • Canterbury High School
  • Homestead High School
  • Winamac Community High School
  • Wayne High School
  • Huntington North High School
  • Peru High School
  • Adams Central Community Schools
  • South Adams High School
  • Oak Hill High School
  • William Henry Harrison High School
  • West Lafayette Junior/Senior High School
  • Faith Christian School
  • Madison-Grant Jr./Sr. High School
  • Wes-Del High School
  • Muncie Central High School
  • Monroe Central Jr./Sr. High School
  • Winchester Community High School
  • Daleville Jr/Sr High School
  • Lebanon High School
  • Noblesville High School
  • Westfield High School
  • Guerin Catholic High School
  • Shenandoah High School
  • University High School
  • Hagerstown Jr. Sr. High School
  • North Central High School
  • Park Tudor School
  • Pike High School
  • Bishop Chatard High School
  • Lawrence Central High School
  • Brownsburg High School
  • Speedway Senior High School
  • Knightstown Community High School
  • Greenfield-Central High School
  • Warren Central High School
  • Herron High School
  • Scecina Memorial High School
  • Ben Davis High School
  • Crispus Attucks High School
  • Providence Cristo Rey High School
  • New Palestine High School
  • Lutheran High School
  • Plainfield High School
  • Southport High School
  • Rushville High School
  • Mooresville High School
  • Cloverdale High School
  • Franklin Community High School
  • Terre Haute North Vigo High School
  • Indian Creek High School
  • Batesville High School
  • Bloomington High School North
  • Seymour High School
  • Scottsburg High School
  • Borden High School
  • Floyd Central High School
  • Crawford County High School
  • Jeffersonville High School
  • Perry Central Community Schools
  • Academy for Innovative Studies Diamond
  • Reitz Memorial High School

More states

  • Arizona
  • California
  • Connecticut
  • Florida
  • Idaho
  • Illinois
  • Iowa
  • Kansas
  • Kentucky
  • Massachusetts
  • Michigan
  • Minnesota
  • Missouri
  • New Jersey
  • New Mexico
  • New York
  • Ohio
  • Oklahoma
  • Pennsylvania
  • South Dakota
  • Tennessee
  • Texas
  • Virginia
  • Washington

Get involved

The people who make it possible.

01

Students

Launch your first business, earn real money, and compete for recognition.

Join the Hustle

02

Mentors

Share your experience, keep students on track, and help turn ideas into action.

Become a mentor

03

Campus Leaders

Teachers, counselors and admins: run High School Hustle at your school, bring in mentors, and keep the program moving.

Lead a campus

04

Donors

Fund startup costs, back statewide competitions, and open doors with your network.

DonateBook a call

Start

Start your hustle today.

Free for high schoolers in grades 9-12. Sign up takes a few minutes.

Join the Hustle

Mentors: a few hours a month changes a student’s life. Become a mentor