Taylor Classen '20 is no stranger to pitching business ideas. The junior at Elon University — and two-time Startup Experience participant while at Gilman — has kept busy buying and selling vintage and pre-owned timepieces for more than eight years. So he was a natural fit to be featured when the Gilman Entrepreneurship Network (GEN) gathered by Zoom for its February meeting.

Alumni from the classes of 1982 to 2010 tuned in to hear about Taylor's experiences, ask questions, and share feedback. Taylor, who describes himself as "a watch nerd who happens to be a dealer," talked about how he finds value in a crowded marketplace, his Towson Watch Company line of watches, the similarities between the watch and baseball card markets, and the MoonSwatch craze of 2022. He also shared and showed off his favorite watch — a Jaeger-LeCoultre Memovox Polaris — which is made for deep-sea diving and includes holes on the back to allow the sound waves from its alarm to expand underwater and alert divers that it is time to come up for air.

Taylor asked the group about how he might find investors to help expand his business down the road. Haftan Eckholdt '82 suggested that an opportunity like this might naturally evolve from the strong relationships he has already developed in his network. And Bryan Moore '12 added that he should consider making game plans for several business plan strategies in the hope that one will emerge that makes good sense for both him and his investors.

You can learn more about Taylor's journey or follow him on Instagram.