Student Competitions

Bank Pitch-Off and Shark Tank 101 Pitch Competition

The College of Business offers two pitch-style competitions for students to compete in every semester - the U.S. Bank Pitch-Off and the Shark Tank 101 Pitch Competition. This semester, both events had a record number of student participants for the fifth consecutive year. Overall, 273 students, over 25% of the College’s enrollment, pitched business ideas to teams of judges from throughout the business and University community. Fifty four judges heard nearly 200 different students or teams present an ‘angel fund investment formatted pitch of their unique startup business idea.

Since it’s inception nine years ago, 379 upper classmen, graduate students, and faculty have participated in the in U.S. Bank sponsored PitchOff. Held in the Student Union Building Ballroom, professionals from local banks, investment companies, and small businesses visited campus to judge during the event - this year ISU President Wagner and College of Business Dean Shane Hunt also joined in. Notable national organizations that have sent judges to past events include Office Max/Depot, U.S. Bank, Wells Fargo and the United States Office of Management and Budget.

A true campus-wide initiative, the College of Technology partnered with the College of Business to make working prototypes for many of the teams, and Regions 5 and 6 of the Idaho Small Business Development Center helped with coaching and judging. This year, 27 teams and 31 students pitched ideas to win over $16,00 in prize money. The winning student was senior Hannah Rasmussen, who received $2,000.

Conducted during the same week as the U.S. Bank Pitch-Off, the Shark Tank 101 Pitch Competition targets freshmen students and is conducted completely online using Zoom. Since starting the event in 2020, 1,009 underclassmen in Management 1101 have participated. The most recent event saw 249 freshmen students on 179 teams pitch a variety of business ideas. Over $12,000 in prize money was awarded.

“Combined, nearly $30,000 of U.S. Bank funding was awarded to students at these events,” said Assistant Professor of Management and Center for Entrepreneurship and Economic Development Director Dr. Jeff Street. “This was a record year for participation and for prize money given to our student entrepreneurs.”

“It’s great to be able to reward and inspire our students’ competitive efforts and bright futures through events like these,” said College of Business Dean and Michael C. Ruettgers Professor of Marketing Dr. Shane Hunt. “The economic future of Eastern Idaho will be driven by entrepreneurs and smal businesses that expand and create new jobs in our community. We are very proud that, thanks to the support of our incredible alumni and donors, we were able to make record investments into the entrepreneurial efforts of our students this year. We plan to expand our investment in 2025 and beyond.”

Fall Sales Competition

A College of Business tradition, the Sales Competition invites students from across campus to gain invaluable experience diving into the principles of sales for a chance to win cash prizes. New this semester was the addition of an individual competitor category. This category offered students the opportunity to receive a case study from a real company, this semester Federated Insurance, and pitch directly to professionals from the company. This format best mimics that of other state and national competitions where ISU will soon be establishing teams.

“We’re very excited to start our traveling sales team in 2025,” said Executive Director of the Walter Brown Center for Sales Excellence, John Ney. “We’re planning to attend three events this year - one in Boise, Idaho, one in Corvallis, Oregon and the National Collegiate Sales Competition (NCSC) in Kennesaw, Georgia. These events will be fantastic opportunities for students to network, be recruited by top professional selling companies, and win money!”

Nearly $8,000 in prize money was given out during this semester’s ISU competition alone.

“We had record breaking participation and prize money this semester. It’s a great opportunity for students to practice and apply their skills, but my favorite thing is watching the employers reach out and start recruiting our students. We’re excited to continue growing this amazing program,” said Ney.

Investing in the Entrepreneurs of Tomorrow

The winning pitch at this semester’s U.S. Bank Pitch-off came from College of Business Senior Hannah Rasmussen. The business idea, 1050 Technologies, centered around the creation of high-quality caution signs for law enforcement officers to deploy on scene to help draw people’s attention to an upcoming incident so they have time to move over and/or slow down. The signs are made of a retro-reflective material that is visible up to two miles away without causing glare for first responders on the scene.

Rasmussen, one of the 30+ students to compete, said she entered the competition as a way to “deep dive into the market and see how [she] could make the business the most successful.”