Entrepreneurs Compete in Brave Pitch Competition

By Brandon Wallace '17

Young entrepreneurs from different majors shared their best business ideas at the spring Brave Pitch Competition. Emma Heth '18, of St. Louis, took the top prize with an idea for a business that specializes in birthday parties for young girls.

Heth’s “Traveling Tiaras” proposal won a $250 prize and a trip to the annual Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization conference.

“I think the competition was a really valuable experience because we learned how to form our ideas into presentable short pitches,” Heth said. “Traveling Tiaras is something I'm interested in doing at home, so it was cool to have the judges’ validation.”

The competition, sponsored by the Turner School of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, is an "elevator pitch" competition in which students have three minutes to describe a new idea, innovation or social venture to a panel of judges and the student audience. The best three pitches win cash prizes.

Political science and criminal justice studies double-major Brad Webster ’15, of LaGrange Park, Illinois, came in second. He pitched a stylish magnetic button that goes on the shoulder to keep purses from slipping.

Sarah Wagner ‘17, a dietetics major from Mahomet, Illinois, came in third place.  She pitched an idea for a tattoo-like adhesive film that attaches to teeth and acts as a breath freshener as it dissolves.

Daniel Bachrach ’15, an entrepreneurship major from Northbrook, Illinois, appreciated the chance to brush up his sales pitch.

“I think the best values learned from this competition are the presentation skills,” he said. ‘Learning how to cut the fluff and be concise in the delivery is an important skill in any business setting.”