Quick Pitch: Students Offer Their Startup Ideas During Annual Competition
Donning a Hello Kitty gym outfit, business administration senior Alara Wiefling entered the stage in front of the judges ready to pitch her business idea: Ju Jitsu- inspired modern gym ware with logos that infuse “combat expression filled designs,” like Hello Kitty and Superman.
“I was in the gym, just walking on the treadmill and I looked around and everybody is wearing the same exact outfit with no expression,” Wiefling said. “They’re basic single color sets, and I thought it would be really cool to add more fun and expression into gym ware.”
Wiefling started this project during her business startup class, and this project has been in the works for about six weeks.
“As I was standing there, I was just really grateful that I had the opportunity to stand up there and pitch something that was just this random idea I had on a random day at the gym, and people found it cool enough for me to be a finalist in the competition,” Wiefling said.
The 15th annual Elevator Pitch Competition, which occurred at the Performing Arts Center’s Pavillion Room, featured students from across all colleges pitching their ideas to a panel of judges. The catch: They only had one minute and thirty seconds to explain their idea.
The Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (CIE) hosted this event. The CIE strives to help students and community members become entrepreneurs through hands-on innovation programs centered on learn, prepare and launch, according to the CIE website.
As the winner of the competition, Carter Lim, who pitched Communicare, an AI communication coach that helps people practice their speaking skills, won $1,000. Sam Weston, who presented The Tendon Project, won the Audience Choice, and got $500. The Tendon Project is a device that gauges tendon health for athletes, inspired by Weston’s passion for rugby.
Other pitches included a location-based news curation app to keep consumers informed on local news, a titanium cutting board and a hangover cure.
“The energy at this year’s Elevator Pitch Competition was fantastic,” said Stephanie Zombek, senior marketing and communications manager for the CIE. “The variety of ideas on stage reflected the diversity of disciplines across campus, and that’s what makes this event so fun and impactful. Elevator Pitch Competition pushes students to think fast, communicate clearly and with confidence, and own their ideas -- skills that are valuable across every major and career path.”
Business administration sophomore Morgan Edwards pitched a company called Rooted Nutrition, which aims to be an affordable source of nutrition without any additives or dyes . Both she and her partner in the project, Finn Bourke, are endurance athletes who like to mountain bike, and when she is on a bike ride for about 50 miles, she has to eat every 30 minutes.
The company strives to offer this healthy nutrition source, as Edwards has experienced negative issues from other nutrition sources she has tried. Edwards gained skills in public speaking through this experience.
“To be honest, I feel like I was super nervous, because I haven’t really spoken at an event publicly,” Edwards said. “Especially giving a speech with no notes or no visual aids. And I don’t really remember half of what I said to be honest because I was just focusing on not messing up and at one point ditched what I had memorized and just kind of spoke from my heart.”
Through this experience, Edwards learned about viewing this event as an opportunity, rather than something that, “Oh, if I don’t win, there’s no point in me doing this.”
“Winning wasn’t really the goal necessarily of the competition, but just to practice getting my idea out there and sharing it with others as well as just meeting new people,” Edwards said.
Zombek said this competition teaches students about communicating under pressure, a skill used in many aspects of the professional world.
“Our hope is that they leave with more confidence, clearer messaging, and a stronger sense of how to connect their ideas to a broader audience,” Zombek said.
Top photo: Alara Wiefling, a business administration student, presents her idea for gym ware. (Photo: Katy Clark)
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