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.

Four students posing for camera with Finn the Shark mascot
(Left to right) Martha Meigs, David Danon, Finn the Shark, Chris Ferraina, Jack Belinski

Male student with glasses and checked shirt making remarks while standing at a podium
Jack Belinski discusses his participation in Exceptional Minds, an autism-focused computer animation school with connections to studios at Warner Bros., Pixar, and Disney.

Male student with short dark hair and dark shirt standing in front of projection screen with a presentation slide
David Danon shares how his award will grow UpBy5.com, his new crowdsourcing app for mentorship.

Student in White Shirt and Hat at podium with presentation slide on screen in background
Chris Ferraina explains the revenue model for his business of reselling video games.

Female student at podium with presentation slide on projector behind her
Martha Meigs shares her vision for The Giving Tree, which would provide hand-knitted winter hats to low-income families in the area.

Powerpoint slide with picture of Justin St. Martin standing with tractor and text about his plans for a landscaping business

Justin St. Martin's presentation about a landscaping business was delivered via video, due to a scheduling conflict.