Students pitch their business ideas at the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation’s 2024 Student Concept Competition
Jesse Fry, a senior business administration major, pitches Headlok, a heavy-duty hat retention clip for motorcycle riders. Frey won Wednesday’s event. (Photo provided by Burg Clohe)
Scott Morris, director of the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Missouri-St. Louis briefly summarized the goals of the 2024 Student Concept Competition last week.
“We keep telling our students, ‘This is not steak, this is sizzle,'” he says. “What we want to know is whether they feel comfortable presenting in front of a crowd.”
The competition, sponsored by EIC and held Wednesday in Century Room B of the Millennium Student Center, attracted 30 students from across campus and was comprised of members of the local business community and UMSL faculty and staff. Pitched a business idea to a panel of judges. staff.
Students from any university or major were free to participate in the pitch contest as long as they belonged to the Student Entrepreneur Club. Mr Morris said he was initially expecting about 10 students to compete, but was excited to see so much interest in the event. Students competed for one first place prize of $1,000, two second place prizes of $500, and four third place prizes of $250.
Mr Morris said the judges were primarily looking for confidence, stage presence and the ability to tell a compelling story from the contestants. However, the students did not create the presentations on their own. Prior to the competition, they were paired with a local entrepreneurship mentor.
“They have been coached by their leaders throughout this process, and now they are ready to take the next step,” Morris said. “But all we really want is for them to come up with an idea and see if they can do it.”
Morris sees the competition as a gateway into the St. Louis entrepreneurial community. He envisions students using the prize money they earn from the event as seed capital to invest in their ideas and build more detailed business pitches. EIC plans to hold the contest again in the spring, with a top prize of $5,000.
“This is the first step. Submit your ideas,” he said. “In the spring, they pitch their business. How’s the business doing? What have they done with it? Once they get a little more serious, they can move on to the UMSL Anchor Accelerator. You can win bigger prizes and start meeting people in the ecosystem who can support you if you want to advance your business idea.”
Brandon Partain will present the Make or Break It Rage Room, where customers can release stress by breaking everyday items in a safe space.
The students enthusiastically proposed their ideas. The energy in the room was palpable Wednesday as students dressed to impress and rehearsed their talking points before taking the stage to pitch their businesses.
The afternoon’s presentations will feature a range of unique products and products, from an “anger room” where customers de-stress by breaking everyday items in a safe space, to sustainable subscription-based beauty products, to an app to find the best deals. It included the concept of service. Grocery store nearby.
In the end, senior business administration major Jesse Fry won the top prize for his Headlok, a sturdy hat retention clip for motorcycle riders. However, the Student Concept Competition wasn’t Frey’s first rodeo. In April, I won second place in the St. Louis Regional Entrepreneurship Educator Poster Competition held at the Cortex Innovation Community.
“I really didn’t expect to win,” he said. “I just wanted to practice and hone my pitching. Get more used to talking to people and displaying my product in the best light possible.”
Frey got the idea for his patent-pending product after losing his favorite hat, which he bought at a corner store in Hawaii, while riding his motorcycle down the Pacific Coast Highway.
Headlocks are simple but effective. The clip uses a spring, a slant, and a button at the top of the hat as an anchor. Locks and opens with just a twist of the wrist. One version includes a magnet for attaching to the top fuel tank of a motorcycle, and the other has a clip for attaching to a backpack or belt loop.
Frey worked with his coaches to hone his presentation before the competition and practiced his pitches repeatedly so he didn’t have to use notes. Despite his diligent preparation, Frey was a little surprised that he came in first place.
“It feels great,” he said. “I didn’t expect to win. We had a lot of great ideas today and we could have used any of them.”
Runners-up and $500 prize winners included Sedny Sorm and Kaine Koehler of EcoRadiance, a sustainable subscription-based beauty product line. Anthony Garavaglia and Michael Sherblom contributed to Agent Accelerator, an app that helps real estate agents jumpstart their careers. Nayesha Sullivan, Brent Moss and Vasilya Kadymova were named honorable mention and $250 prize winners for Aisle 4, an app that finds the best prices on groceries. Rebekah Vail of StickScript, a prescription drug bottle recycling service. Nick Eberhardt of Swap Meet, a subscription service that swaps typical household snacks for plant-based alternatives. My Care Companion’s Christy Clough is a portable device that helps seniors remember to take their medications.
Garabaria and Sherblom met as freshmen and recently met again in a strategic management class. Ms. Garavaglia works part-time as a real estate agent, and Ms. Sherblom works part-time as a digital consultant. The two combined their talents to develop Agent Accelerator after realizing there was a shortage of young real estate agents in the field and few affordable professional development options to help them break into the industry.
After the competition, participants gather on stage for a celebration.
They both appreciated the experience, especially the connections they made with leaders in the St. Louis business community, and understood first-hand the value of going through the process of creating a pitch.
“I think the biggest thing I learned is that preparation is essential, don’t do anything last minute,” Garabaria said. “I think we overprepared and it took us months to create the slides and everything. I think that was the ultimate thing that helped push us over the edge.”
Aisle 4 members wanted to gain real-world experience in creating a business idea and beginning the process of making it a reality. Like Galavaria and Sherblom, they practiced hard before the event.
“I was a little nervous, but it was so rewarding to actually be there,” Sullivan said. “It was very rewarding to be there and see what we had been practicing and working for, and being able to talk to people and share our ideas.”
Moss encouraged people to check out the Entrepreneurship Club and take advantage of opportunities such as the Student Concept Competition. Sherblom agreed.
“I was just grateful for the opportunity,” said Sherblom. “I encourage students to get involved. There are so many great opportunities here on campus: pitching opportunities, networking opportunities, career opportunities. The mentors and staff here are so dedicated and caring. So it really helps.”
