The spring Entrepreneurship elective concluded on Monday, May 6 with a “Shark Tank” style Demo Day competition. Nathaniel Badder ’94 welcomed the group and offered some background information on the class and the challenge that the teams were presented with back in January.

The judges, aka sharks, introduced themselves and told the group a bit about their business and entrepreneurship credentials. These included:

• Cheo Hurley ’92, P’25,’30, Founder, President and CEO of THG Companies
• Mark Neumann ’81, PP, Managing Member of 510 Ventures, LLC
• Justin Shelby PP, President of REEA Global
• Henry P. A. Smyth, Head of School at Gilman and recovering entrepreneur

Badder instructed the sharks and assembled crowd to judge the teams on three fundamental criteria: Is the problem they present worth solving? Could the solution they present actually work? Is the pitch clear, concise, and compelling?

First up was Checkbox, a software product that would solve the attendance-taking problem in high schools and even institutions of higher learning. The group argued that a lot of money and time are wasted — $1.25 million tuition dollars at Gilman by their calculation — while teachers delay lessons to take attendance, potentially affecting student grades and, as a cascading consequence, college acceptance to highly competitive schools. 

The software would allow students to check into class themselves via a QR code. The sharks asked about integration with Veracross and what safeguards would be in place to stop students from checking in from home when they weren’t really at class. The group addressed their concerns and expressed that they had spoken to a representative at Roland Park Country School as well as Director of Strategic Information and Innovation at Gilman Tye Campbell, who both said they would be interested in a product like this.

The second team was VeteransLink, a company that seeks to help service members transition back to civilian life by placing them in jobs after their service obligations are completed. Since the group’s research indicated that many veterans leave a job after just a year due to poor fit and overall unhappiness, their services would also include screening veterans for potential mental health challenges that could make steady employment more difficult. After the pitch, one shark asked how they kept their costs so low. The team’s CEO expertly answered that they would not incur training costs since they place people in jobs that require similar skills used during their military service.

The audience vote came in quickly and firmly in support of VeteransLink. After a private meeting, however, the sharks returned and announced their winner: Checkbox!

They also offered the following constructive feedback:

• Hurley and Smyth suggested that Checkbox group members reframe the problem they are solving. Is it a college admissions issue, or, more likely, a matter of making an administrative process more efficient?
• Neumann reminded presenters from both groups that judges and audience members have different backgrounds and don’t always know industry jargon or acronyms.
• Shelby encouraged the VeteransLink group to reconsider whether they needed to raise capital in order to get started, as it is a service-oriented business.
• Hurley liked how the VeteransLink group met a real need that is for a worthy cause, but noted that the profit margins are too thin in a competitive market. He suggested adding more numbers into the presentation to prove their case.
• Smyth offered to both teams that information about potential competitors would enhance the presentations.

Congratulations to all of the students who participated and came up with what could be very solid business ideas. And thank you to the shark judges as well as alumni mentors who worked with the students throughout the semester!