Cal Poly Students Win Big In the Elevator Pitch Competition

The Cal Poly Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) hosted its 12th annual Elevator Pitch Competition in the Performing Arts Center on Tuesday, November 2.

Director of Student Innovation Programs for CIE Jose Huitron said that this event is a great example of Cal Poly’s motto, ‘Learn By Doing.’

“It’s the ultimate resume builder,” Huitron said. “It’s a nice notch for students to have to say that ‘I came up with an idea, an inspiration, and I capitalized on the opportunity to share my idea and vision with the world.’”

Cal Poly students competed against students from Cuesta College, Allan Hancock College and even dual-enrolled high school students. 

Students gave their 90 second pitch to a panel of judges and two teams were selected to win $1000, while the ‘Audience Favorite’ won $500. 

Alexandra Joelson, who won the elevator pitch competition her freshman year, is now the CEO of Intego Technology and said that this competition gave her a real life look at being an innovator.

“I think that they really throw you into the world that is entrepreneurship. It’s not fake, it’s not just a school project or something for a grade,” Joelson said. “It’s something that you need to wake up every morning and be excited about, so I think it really shows you what it’s like to be an entrepreneur in the real world.”

The winners for this year’s elevator pitch competition were Ruby Ramirez from Allan Hancock college for her start-up, Home Goodies, and Cal Poly industrial engineering student Surya Venugopal for his start-up, X-Credit.

The ‘Audience Favorite’ was Cal Poly marketing management student Sara Dada for her start-up, Beacon.