SCHULZE SCHOOL OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP
BUSINESS PLAN COMPETITION
EVENT PROGRAM FEBRUARY 19, 2021
EVENT SCHEDULE 12:30 PM
STUDENT ORIENTATION
12:45 PM
JUDGE ORIENTATION
1:00 PM
WELCOME
1:20 PM
FINAL PRESENTATIONS Undergraduate and Graduate & Alumni Divisions
3:00 PM
JUDGE DELIBERATION & KEYNOTE Keynote presentation by Rachael Rinehart St. Thomas alumna, Business Plan Competition winner, and Founder of Moody’s Ice Cream.
3:30 PM
AWARDS & CLOSING REMARKS Welcome by Laura Dunham, Associate Dean of the Schulze School of Entrepreneurship Congratulatory Remarks from Dean Stefanie Lenway, Dean of the Opus College of Business Undergraduate Elevator Pitches Announcement of Awards, Undergraduate Division Graduate & Recent Alumni Elevator Pitches Announcement of Awards, Graduate & Recent Alumni Division Closing Remarks
PITCH ORDER UNDERGRADUATE DIVISION TIME
PRESENTATION
JUDGES
1:20 PM 1:40 PM 2:00 PM 2:20 PM 2:40 PM
Atlys Fendesha Fly! FreshConnect VisUplan
Tara Anderson Paul Campbell Katie Phelan Killian Rieder Nick Tietz
GRADUATE & RECENT ALUMNI DIVISION TIME
PRESENTATION
JUDGES
1:20 PM 1:40 PM 2:00 PM 2:20 PM 2:40 PM
Auris AI Blushing Tide Charters LLC Campus Bites OneU StatTrick
Susan Johnson Judy McNamara Clarence Nunn Nick Stokman Paul Taylor
PRESENTATION FORMAT Each team has 10 minutes for their business/social venture pitches Judges have 8 minutes to ask questions and provide teams with feedback A 2 minute transition time will occur between each team
AWARDS There are two divisions of competition – undergraduate and graduate/recent alumni – with a top prize in each of $10,000 cash.
UNDERGRADUATE DIVISION First Place: $10,000 cash prize Second Place: $5,000 cash prize Third Place: $2,500 cash prize Fourth Place: $1,000 cash prize Fifth Place: $500 cash prize
GRADUATE & RECENT ALUMNI DIVISION First Place: $10,000 cash prize Second Place: $5,000 cash prize Third Place: $2,500 cash prize Fourth Place: $1,000 cash prize Fifth Place: $500 cash prize
MEET THE TEAMS UNDERGRADUATE DIVISION ATLYS Charles Schwinck, Financial Management and Izzy Iliff, English Atlys is an intuitive online marketplace, centered in sustainability and dedicated to the mission of promoting ethical shopping habits. FENDESHA Abenezer Ayana, Computer Science Fendesha is a Netflix-like streaming platform for Ethiopian movies and shows.
FRESHCONNECT Matthew Donley, Catholic Studies Online marketplace where anyone looking to buy or sell homegrown produce or animal products locally can do so easily.
FLY! David Shipp, Entrepreneurship and Marketing Fly is the Uber of aviation and allows users to connect with pilots to fly users to the destination of their choice.
VISUPLAN Rachel Farah, Computer Engineering and Kevin Malmstem, Computer Engineering Visual planning app to assist children who have Autism Spectrum Disorder and bring structure to their lives.
MEET THE TEAMS GRADUATE STUDENT & RECENT ALUMNI DIVISION AURIS AL Ebenezer Dadson, Electrical Engineering, Angelica Franashouk, Marketing and John Wallace, Electrical Engineering AI-assisted stethoscopes that capture, analyze, and interpret acoustic signals and indicates results in real-time.
BLUSHING TIDE CHARTERS LLC Audrey Meyer, Law – Juris Doctorate Blushing Tide Charters LLC is a private sailing charter company serving Boston Harbor and the New England coast that provides learning experiences from the sailor's perspective.
CAMPUSBITES Eric Martin, Entrepreneurship & Real Estate and Jackie Page, Entrepreneurship & Marketing CampusBites offers a trio of software solutions allowing colleges and universities to offer mobile ordering, on-campus food delivery, and contactless in-person ordering kiosks.
ONEU Kyle Andrews, Entrepreneurship OneU’s software platform brings clarity and simplicity to college degree planning and selection process.
STATTRICK William Griffith, Financial Management and Ben Sjodin, Financial Management StatTrick eliminates the difficulty of entering sports stats and results by offering statistic and data entry as a service to sports teams.
JUDGES UNDERGRADUATE DIVISION TARA ANDERSON ’04, ’07 M.A., ’08 J.D., Owner, TJA Business Law Tara Anderson is the founder of TJA Business Law, PLLC, a law firm that advises privately held businesses, including a number of emerging and established tech companies, on commercial contracts, intellectual property, mergers and acquisitions, lending, commercial real estate, and employment matters. She is on the board of a number of privately held Minnesota companies and is active in the Association for Corporate Growth. Tara has been active in the Minnesota State Bar Association, serving on both the Computer and Technology Law Section Council and the Business Law Institute Planning Committee. She also serves in a variety of capacities for a number of Minnesota nonprofits. Tara received her B.A., M.A., and J.D. from the University of St. Thomas.
PAUL CAMPBELL, Co-Founder & CEO, Brown Venture Group Dr. Paul Campbell is a Co-Founder of Brown Venture Group, a Venture Capital Accelerator focused on technology entrepreneurs of color, based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Launched in 2018, Brown Venture Group, LLC is a venture studio venture capital firm exclusively for Black, Latino, and Native American technology startups. Prior to launching Brown Venture Group, Paul was a telecommunication sales executive as well as a serial entrepreneur, launching startups in IoT and media production. He holds a Doctorate in Social Entrepreneurship and an MBA in Global Business Management.
UNDERGRADUATE DIVISION KATIE PHELAN ’16, Global Product Manager, Medtronic Katie Phelan leads commercialization of Medtronic's Patient Management Monitors portfolio as a Global Product Manager for the Cardiac Rhythm Management business. She focuses her time on launching her portfolio of products in Australia, Western Europe, Japan, and Canada. Prior to Medtronic, Katie spent three years as a Management Consultant for Accenture, specializing in business model optimization for health insurance companies. Katie is energized by the constant progress the Schulze School of Entrepreneurship is making and is passionate about guiding Minnesota entrepreneurs. She earned bachelor’s degrees in both Entrepreneurship and Financial Management from the University of St Thomas.
KILLIAN RIEDER, Founder, Killian Jewelry Killian Rieder is a mother of two, a nationally acclaimed entrepreneur, a talented designer, a successful business owner, and a visionary. She is the founder and designer at Killian Jewelry and cofounder and president of Edia and inventor of elo pillow, a pillow that reads stories and plays music to children to help them fall asleep. Prior to her current roles, Killian co-founded Chamilia, a jewelry company and was head designer for over a decade. In every consumer-based field she has played in, she has been disruptive in the market. Her talent, experience, and individuality set her apart from competitors and has led to a highly engaged and loyal customer following. Killian holds a bachelor’s degree in fashion design and manufacturing from the Fashion Institute of Technology.
NICK TIETZ ‘00, Founder & CEO, ILT Studios Nick Tietz has spent the last 15 years working as a serial entrepreneur, innovator, technologist, user experience designer, business and technology consultant. Nick has designed more than 100 apps, helped redefine the public education experience at MSP Public Schools, and led innovation efforts at Life Time Fitness as the Director of Innovation. Most recently he was a Co-Founder of Vitals Aware Services and has spent the past decade donating his time and creative services at multiple non-profits including The Nairobi Leadership Foundation, The Uganda Leadership Foundation, PACER Center, a board member for Playworks Minnesota and currently is partnering with StudiOne Eighty at Urban Ventures and both TotinoGrace High School and St. Vincent DePaul School advisory boards. Nick holds bachelor’s degrees in Journalism, Animation and Mass Communication from the University of St. Thomas.
JUDGES GRADUATE STUDENT & RECENT ALUMNI DIVISION SUSAN JOHNSON, ’85, ’95 MBA, CEO, Magellan Medical Services Susan Johnson is President and CEO of Magellan Medical Services, Inc. She founded the company in 1995. Magellan's mission is to provide MedTech companies with a business partner to assist in unraveling complex clinical issues by creating customized solutions integrating clinical field teams, market research and clinical call centers. Magellan has employees based nationally providing consulting services to Fortune 1000 companies such as Medtronic, Olympus, Boston Scientific, 3M as well as mid-size and emerging companies. In 1996, Susan was awarded Corporate Report's Business Competition Plan of the Year and University of St. Thomas' Practicing Entrepreneur Award. Susan holds B.S. degrees in financial management, business administration and marketing as well as an MBA degree in Venture Management all from the University of St. Thomas. She also earned an RN nursing diploma from Lutheran Deaconess/Augsburg College.
JUDY MCNAMARA, Finance Executive Coach, JMM Leadership Training, LLC. Judy McNamara is the former Senior Vice President of Global Tax for Ecolab Inc. In her role, she served as a key advisor to the companies C-Suite as well as its Board of Directors in terms of strategic acquisitions, global financing structured, tax advantaged repatriation planning and key strategies accretive to the companies EPS. She worked for several global Fortune 500 companies and lived and worked overseas for 7 years. Judy is currently retired from her work at large corporations and started a coaching/leadership business advising emerging finance leaders in developing global mindsets and increasing their leadership capacity and performance. She graduated with honors from Michigan State University with a bachelor's degree in accounting. She received her Doctorate in Law from the University of Michigan Law School.
GRADUATE STUDENT & RECENT ALUMNI DIVISION CLARENCE NUNN, Managing Director, Southeast Segment Head, Chase Middle Market Banking and Specialized Services Clarence Nunn is the Managing Director, Southeast Segment Head at Chase Middle Market Banking and Specialized Services, which focuses on companies with revenues generally between $20 million and $500 million. With more than 30 years of financial and industrial experience, Clarence has held functional leadership roles in P&L general management, sales, marketing, product development and quality in several domestic and global GE businesses – including GE Plastics, GE Capital Canada Equipment Financing, GE Vendor Financial Services, and GE Capital's Commercial Distribution Finance. Prior to joining Chase, Clarence was the president & CEO of GE Capital Franchise Finance. He graduated from San Diego State University with a B.S. in Marketing and received his MBA from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI).
NICK STOKMAN ‘13, Co-Founder & CEO, VidGrid Nick Stokman is a technology entrepreneur and St. Thomas alumnus. His most recent startup, VidGrid, a Video Platform for Businesses, was acquired by Paylocity in April 2020. Nick is an alumnus of and mentor at Techstars, one of the world’s top startup accelerators. He’s an advisor to multiple startups and was vote of on MN’s 10 most influential technologist in 2017 by the MN Business Journal. Nick has 4 children and lives in Stillwater, MN. He graduated from the University of St. Thomas with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, emphasizing in accounting.
PAUL TAYLOR, Founder, Serial Mentors, Ltd. Paul Taylor is a fourth career professional who has been actively engaged for the last 11 years as a volunteer Serial Mentor working with startups with several organized programs including gBETA St. Thomas, MN Cup, Clean Tech Open, Gener8tor and Techstars. Paul's first career was with a Minnesota Fortune 500 company with executive positions in Sales, Marketing and General Management. His second career was with three startups in sales and business development roles. Paul’s third career was a management consultant in revenue growth, performance improvement and strategic planning. Paul has devoted his time to giving back to entrepreneurs and civic organizations as a high impact volunteer and board member. His community volunteer service includes affiliations with his Alma Mater the University of Minnesota, Northern Star Council Scouts and the Citizens League. In 2018 Paul received the Mentor of the Year Award for the National Cleantech Open.
REVIEWERS Christina Brandt Cassandra Brost Patrick Campbell Greg Cash Brianna Herdering Andrea Jauli Barry Johnson Frank Klisanich Josh Kraft Mariann Kukielka Mike Lewis Mary MacCarthy
Sue Marshall Robert Mason Todd Mortenson Chris Muske Bruce Nordin Trygve Olsen Diane Paterson Jeffrey Reisinger Daniel Shea Nick Sweiven David Turnham
Thank you to all our judges and reviewers for sharing your time, business acumen and insights. Your critiques, advice and mentorship continue to help turn concepts into companies and create unique learning opportunities for our students. Your service helps the university fulfill its mission to educate students to be morally responsible leaders who think critically, act wisely and work skillfully, all for the common good.