Making Their Pitch
Members of the Landmark College community gathered in the Brooks M. O’Brien Auditorium/Lewis Academic Building on April 13 to hear five students make presentations about business ideas that earned each of them $1,200 in funding.
The awards were made possible through a gift from the Richard M. Schulze Foundation. Dr. Tamara Stenn, assistant professor of Professional Studies and faculty advisor for the Landmark Entrepreneurship Accelerator Program (LEAP) shared how Dr. Johan Wiklund, who is currently the Al Berg Chair and Professor of Entrepreneurship at the Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University, visited the campus in 2020 and was impressed by the entrepreneurial work of Landmark College students. This visit led to Dr. Wiklund and his colleagues donating the entirety of a $6,000 prize they received from the Foundation for a paper they wrote about “Moving Ideas from Lab to Marketplace.”
Two awards were given to students in the Communication and Entrepreneurial Leadership (COMEL) bachelor’s program: Martha Meigs and Jack Belinski; and three were given to students who are part of LEAP: David Danon, Chris Ferraina, and Justin St. Martin. Each student made a short presentation about how they planned to use the funding to grow their idea and then took audience questions. (Justin St. Martin was absent due to a scheduling conflict. His presentation was delivered via pre-recorded video.)
The event was livestreamed via Zoom. A recording of the event, comprised of Powerpoint slides and audio, can be watched by clicking here.
(Left to right) Martha Meigs, David Danon, Finn the Shark, Chris Ferraina, Jack Belinski
Jack Belinski discusses his participation in Exceptional Minds, an autism-focused computer animation school with connections to studios at Warner Bros., Pixar, and Disney.
David Danon shares how his award will grow UpBy5.com, his new crowdsourcing app for mentorship.
Chris Ferraina explains the revenue model for his business of reselling video games.
Martha Meigs shares her vision for The Giving Tree, which would provide hand-knitted winter hats to low-income families in the area.
Justin St. Martin's presentation about a landscaping business was delivered via video, due to a scheduling conflict.