The semester is over! Time for an all-star pitch competition at the Sutardja Center for Entrepreneurship & Technology, run by Melissa Glass.
Along with cojudges Stephen Torres from UCB, Luke Kowalski of Oracle, and Peter Nachbaur from Keen IO, I was honored to judge the afternoon Fall Showcase at UC Berkeley.
We heard and gave feedback on all-star business pitches from teams from various classes with distinct approaches:
Technology Entrepreneurship, and the Management of Technology Innovation Program with Naeem Zafar,
Product Management with Ken Sandy,
and finally, some familiar-to-me teams (hi, Acuity & CoffeeX!) from the Berkeley Method of Entrepreneurship Bootcamp with Gigi Wang.
Some highlights:
- A venture using CRISPR technology to solve an unsustainable aquaculture practice -- feeding farmed salmon with fish oil that is too high in unhealthy Omega acids.
- A peer-to-peer investing tool to tap into the most successful fund managers who happen to be regular joes.