Photo: Francesca Santos and Rachel Freeland, grade 10 business students at St. Mary’s High School in Kitchener, got to participate in a “Dragon’s Den” style pitch competition with their classmates at the Communitech Hub on June 6.
Grade 10 business students at St. Mary’s High School in Kitchener got a taste of what it’s like to be in the pitching hot seat June 6 at the Communitech Hub.
As part of their curriculum, the students teamed up to develop a business idea to pitch, “Dragon’s Den” style, to a panel of judges made up of Wilfrid Laurier University Launch Pad founders and co-founders. These included Junaid Ali, Andrew Paradi, Carson Kolberg, Joshua Fujmagari and Dave Inglis.
The students had seven minutes to pitch their business ideas, followed by an eight-minute question-and-answer period from the “Dragons.” Six teams pitched products and services ranging from protein-packed popsicles to dog grooming skewed towards baby-boomer pet owners.
The team judged to have the most feasible was an idea proposed a game-based app called “First Fitness,” which would promote the importance of fitness and active living to youth in a fun way. What’s more, the team now has the opportunity to take advantage of four hours of mentorship with the judges themselves.
The event was part of the Junior Achievement Be Entrepreneurial program, which coaches students on entrepreneurial career options. The St. Mary’s students received pitch coaching and even Laurier Launch Pad’s business model to study as preparation for the big day.
“Providing high school students with the opportunity to pitch business ideas to a panel of founders and co-founders is an amazing out of classroom experience,” said Karen Klink, executive director for the Communitech Business and Education Partnership program.
“With Laurier LaunchPad and Communitech, this experience helps students explore entrepreneurship and the awesome start-up ecosystem we have in Waterloo Region.
Francesca Santos, a grade 10 business student at St. Mary’s who participated in the pitches, said she is confident she will one day explore an entrepreneurial career and own her own pharmacy.
“To me, it means having an idea and having enough courage and be willing to risk to pursue that idea and make everyone else see that idea, too,” she said.
Panelist Carson Kolberg, general manager at Meal in a Jar, thought the pitches were spot-on with their focus on other students as clients. He said it is popular for students to want to solve problems closely related to them, but added it’s important to look beyond that.
“Always take a look at bigger problems. Take a look at what world issues need to be solved and attack that,” Kolberg said.
“Going beyond convenience goods and going into industry problems, or social issues or any of that, and take a stab at it. You never know what sort of innovative solution you can come up with.”
