Real world context for W&J students
Washington & Jefferson College student Clara Barnett helps present her team’s project Friday on campus.
Washington & Jefferson College professor Dr.James March ask students questions during their business project presentations Friday.
Washington & Jefferson College students pitched fictitious family members and prospective companies for $1 million up front to invest in a clean-and-green business idea.
The presentations Friday that seemed straight out of “Shark Tank” were part of The Fullbridge Program, an entrepreneurial training consultancy in its second year at W&J, teaching students from freshmen to seniors everything about persuading stakeholders to invest in their ideas.
“It’s a two-week program, but they do this final project in only seven days. It’s a complete immersion experience in which they either have to tackle a strategic issue and convince a company to invest in their idea for a million up front, or get a wealthy family member to help start their own idea from the ground up,” said Ray Griffin, a consultant with The Fullbridge Program.
The pitch presentations focused on risk and, ultimately, the return on investment the “companies” would receive. Students had to show an “evidenced proof of concept” that would stand up to a five-year forecast of prospective business.
For sophomore Clara Barnett and her team, the pitch was to improve the “meal-in-a-container” concept of raw ingredients packaged by companies like Blue Apron, and pitching Whole Foods for a competing version: Whole Chef. The team highlighted Whole Foods’ stagnant revenue for the past five years, and said this customer outreach feature providing convenience could win over new customers and bring old ones back.
“We listened to (existing market surveys) on criticism of price, value and convenience of Blue Apron, and realized certain ingredient combos would work better. We also pitched the concept of an app that would allow customers to order those items at Whole Foods, pair with alcohol by suggestion, and the app would then track purchases of individual ingredients upon return visits to see if these recipe packages are spiking interest in those items,” Barnett said.
The presentation saw little critical feedback, partly because the methods have been already tested and used. That proved a bigger challenge for sophomore Jordan Yates and his team, whose idea was licensing the use of a plastic-recycling technology that turned bottles into “plaxx,” a hydrocarbon fuel.
“Our ‘company,’ Green Tech, utilizes the RT7000 unit to cut landfill waste and offer energy customers a fuel that is a third cheaper than a barrel of oil,” Yates said.
But the problem, as pointed out by Dr. James March, an environmental studies professor who sat in on the presentations, was one of licensing and rights usage.
“We talked to the British company, Recycling Technologies, and they’re at the same stage we would be if we’re in business: They’re trying to get this thing out into the market and sell it directly to waste-management companies. But, yes, our problem is one with patents and allowing it to be used or reproduced in the states,” Yates said.
“My entrepreneurial studies professors recommended me going into The Fullbridge Program outside of classes because they knew it would give real-world context. And that’s what happened. We were in touch with a company in Britain and researching how to start out in one city and go nationwide. My goal is to be a CEO at some point, so knowing how to manage a company, as well as knowing how to pitch and build a company, is just as important,” Yates said.
For March, the presentations showed how some prospective students may enter his classes with business problem-solving skills.
“With my questions, I just wanted to try to help the students think through every step, because some of these projects hinged on problems they hadn’t thought of, or problems they acknowledged but hadn’t tackled yet,” March said.
“These students saw challenges of patent law, hurdles of health care and insurances (of hiring and employing people as contractors). These are the things students of business and prospective entrepreneurs need to work out and wrestle with now, not later when they’re asking for the investment,” Griffin said.