6 College Students Pitch Us Their Startups | MFM Shark Tank

Power Hour and Startup Pitch Competition

• Power Hour is an underground society of handpicked college founders, similar to the CIA, with no meeting place, information, or way in or out, and members are individually informed about meeting locations 35s.
• The society was started by Bobby, who appeared on the podcast two years ago, and has since spread to universities, including the University of Illinois, with a deep partnership between the two communities 2m21s.
• The event features six college students, three from each school, pitching their startups in a college Shark Tank-style competition, with a winner and possibly other awards to be announced 2m43s.
• The competition aims to showcase the best startups from each school, with a lot of school pride on the line, and the audience includes tons of creators 2m47s.
• The event is hosted by Tommy Potter from Mish and Austin from the University of Illinois, with the goal of bringing together amazing founders, entrepreneurs, and content creators in the same room 1m27s.
• The first startup to be pitched is Meet Your Class, from the University of Michigan, and the pitches will alternate between the two schools 3m32s.
• The hosts have invested in one of the startups from a previous competition, which unfortunately failed, but they are looking forward to seeing if the current startups can succeed 3m16s.

Meet Your Class (Metor Class)

• Jonah, the COO of Metor Class, presented his startup, a platform for prospective college students to meet each other before coming to campus, which grew in popularity and scaled to over 400,000 account creations and $600,000 in revenue within two years 3m57s.
• The platform integrated with social media apps and built communities that extended beyond the platform, helping to address the issue of declining enrollment in universities 4m21s.
• A university called Christ College approached Metor Class to help with their enrollment struggles, specifically with "summer melt," where prospective students withdraw their commitment at the last minute 4m50s.
• Summer melt was a significant issue at Christ College, with one in three students withdrawing, resulting in a 33% vacancy rate 5m36s.
• Metor Class worked with Christ College to decrease summer melt, and students who used the platform experienced a 61% reduction in summer melt, expected to add $1.7 million to the college's top line 6m16s.
• The success of Metor Class has led to partnerships with eight other universities and admission to Tech Stars, allowing the company to bootstrap and build a larger team 6m45s.
• Metor Class is not currently raising money but plans to potentially open a seed round when the founders graduate in the spring 7m29s.

Side Hustle Idea Database and Startup Funding

• A side hustle idea database is available, featuring 100 ideas on how to start and grow a side hustle, and can be accessed through a link in the description below 8m23s.
• A startup has generated $600,000 in revenue, with the initial co-founders not paying themselves and instead reinvesting every penny back into the team 8m32s.
• The startup currently has around $300,000 in its business account, with $120,000 coming from Tech Stars and the rest from winning pitch competitions 9m7s.
• The startup's co-founders are Jonah and Blake, who are working on a business that helps college kids connect and also assists colleges in filling enrollment vacancies 9m19s.
• The startup's tools can help colleges decrease vacancies, and they plan to charge the colleges for their services, with the initial partners being heavily discounted at under $10,000 10m0s.
• The market rate for a solution like this is higher, but the startup is trying to get more logos and case studies before scaling up 10m16s.

Startup's Competitive Advantage and Pricing Model

• The startup has competitors in the mid-funnel conversion space, but they stand out due to their integrations with social media, allowing them to get a large organic user base 10m43s.
• The startup's competitors often use third-party apps that universities force students to download, but the startup's approach is more organic and provides more valuable data 11m4s.
• The startup is retrofitting social media platforms to bring in data that universities would otherwise have to pay for, making them a more attractive option 11m26s.
• The startup's pricing model is still being discussed, but they are considering charging universities a percentage of saved students or a flat fee 11m38s.
• The startup is offering a mid-funnel conversion tool to colleges as a flat fee, with prices ranging from $20,000 for small schools to over $200,000, which is considered a commoditized rate that universities are comfortable paying 11m49s.
• The tool aims to solve one of the biggest problems in the enrollment funnel, with one in three students at Christ College initially melting, and the startup has successfully converted more of them 12m25s.

Founders' Vision and Market Comparison

• The founders' vision for the next 10 years is to genuinely improve the student experience, make college worthwhile, and put power back in the students' hands, with the goal of becoming the go-to place for students to figure out where they will be most successful 13m12s.
• Students have negotiation power over tuition prices, and universities need students to stay in business, but this may not be applicable to large universities like the University of Michigan that are not tuition-dependent 13m42s.
• The startup's business model is compared to companies like Unibody, which raised $30 million during COVID-19 and generates tens of millions in revenue, indicating a potential market for the startup's services 14m34s.
• The startup's idea is likened to ApplyBoard, which helps international students get into small colleges and charges universities $2,000 to $3,000 per student, demonstrating the potential for a successful business model 14m56s.
• A startup idea is advised not to raise money from investors, but instead, bootstrap the business, which could potentially lead to a $20 million exit in four or five years 15m29s.
• The biggest risk for the startup is not a business risk, but rather the pressure to become a billion-dollar company after raising money from investors, when in reality, it might be a $50 million dollar company 15m46s.

MetaPo: Automated Translation Solution

• The next startup, MetaPo, is an automated translation solution for educators, founded by a college student who is currently on a gap semester 16m38s.
• The founder was inspired to start MetaPo after watching a Spanish TV show on Netflix with English dubbing, which had synchronization issues and poor voice acting 17m0s.
• The dubbing industry is a $60 billion market, but it is technically complex, expensive, and time-consuming, with costs ranging from $100 to $1,500 per minute 17m26s.
• MetaPo's solution allows users to input a video, select the input and output languages, and receive a lip-synced, voice-cloned, and text-translated video within minutes 18m1s.
• The startup has already gained traction, with $6,000 in monthly recurring revenue from clients such as the University of Illinois and Velcro Corporation 19m0s.
• MetaPo is also in talks with Coursera for a potential partnership and has a human-in-the-loop process for translating videos with industry-specific terminology 19m6s.
• A startup is planning a potential integration in quarter 1 of 2025 and has a paid pilot with Geese, which generated $1.35 million in revenue and saved the university 91% in actual cost and curating the course. 19m10s
• The startup's team combines business and technology, with the founder, Shara Kala, taking a gap year to focus on the project, and a machine learning team of five engineers with 37 years of experience in computer vision. 19m30s

MetaPo's Market and Traction

• The startup's demo showed a voice translation feature that makes the lips match, which is achieved by taking an original video or audio and synchronizing the lips based on the input in their backend system using an off-the-shelf library. 20m16s
• The startup is providing a solution to standardize the viewing experience for end-users, particularly in education, where universities are already translating courses but not videos, resulting in users having to read subtitles in a different language. 21m26s
• The dubbing market is estimated to be around $60-70 billion, including traditional dubbing in film, education, marketing, and translation in general, with the startup focusing on the education niche due to the central need for translation. 21m42s
• The startup has translated content for creators like MrBeast and B Nightmare but found the education niche to be more promising, with applications for people who have life-changing opportunities but face language barriers. 22m0s
• The startup's solution would be a new cost for universities, around $1 million, which they are not currently spending, as they are not translating videos but only tests and quizzes. 22m32s
• Translating a video typically takes a significant amount of time and money, with a 10-minute video requiring around four hours of work and costing $3 million to edit, including curating new slides and contracting a new professor to speak in a different language 22m42s.
• The proposed solution would be an added cost for universities, which are not currently spending money on this type of translation, and would not necessarily generate additional revenue, at least initially 23m26s.
• However, universities are moving towards putting courses online and digital translation is already being done, so the proposed solution could provide a better experience for international students and serve as a marketing play for universities 23m42s.
• The company has a personal connection with a higher-up at Velcro and provides internal communications services, including translating the CEO's 90-minute internal Town Hall meetings from Italian to 10 different languages 24m12s.
• The company is shifting its focus from enterprise to the education niche, including universities, educational content creation, and corporate trainings, in an effort to speed up its sales cycle and gain traction 25m1s.

Concerns and Strategies for MetaPo

• The company believes that partnering with universities can help build trust with educational content creators and establish a strong reputation in the market 25m32s.
• However, there are concerns that the product may be in search of a market and may face challenges in terms of adoption and revenue generation 25m46s.
• The sales cycle for universities is already slow, and the product's cost may make it harder to sell, as universities may not have the budget for it or see a clear return on investment (ROI) attached to it 25m54s.
• A potential strategy could be to target existing dubbing services with existing books of business, acquire them, and replace human labor with AI to reduce costs and increase efficiency 26m26s.
• This approach is similar to a private equity play or rollup, where companies are acquired, and costs are slashed by using technology to make things more efficient 26m50s.
• The company is exploring this strategy by partnering with a translation agency to understand their sales cycles and client acquisition processes 27m10s.
• The company is also targeting learning management systems, such as Coursera, to integrate their translation technology, which could lead to significant growth in the number of minutes dubbed 27m32s.
• The company had a meeting with Coursera to discuss a potential integration for translation in a couple of courses, which could lead to a significant increase in dubbed minutes 27m37s.

MetaPo's Technology and Market Positioning

• The technology used to dub videos is impressive, but it's not a scientific breakthrough, and other companies could potentially offer similar solutions 28m10s.
• The success of the business will depend on who builds the best business around the technology, including the right market, go-to-market strategy, and pricing model 28m32s.
• The company's founder declined an offer from TechStars in June and is taking a gap year to focus on the business, which was a difficult decision for their parents to accept 28m46s.
• A college student is part of a top 1% pre-accelerator program and is taking a semester off school to focus on their startup, with the goal of showing the program's organizers some key performance indicators (KPIs) to justify their time off 29m2s.
• The student's story is compared to that of Johnny Dallas, who started working with a company in eighth grade and eventually dropped out of high school to work full-time, with the company convincing his mother that he was "going pro" rather than dropping out 29m25s.

Milu: Personalized Skincare

• Nathan, co-founder of Milu, is creating personalized skincare products based on an individual's unique microbiome, which is the trillions of microbes living on the skin 30m20s.
• Nathan's interest in microbiology began at age eight after a life-threatening encounter with a flesh-eating bacteria, and he has since been driven to understand how the skin microbiome affects human health 30m26s.
• The skin microbiome is compared to a complex city with different microbes performing unique jobs, and its well-being is essential for healthy and beautiful skin 30m45s.
• Many common skincare products contain preservatives and harsh chemicals that can harm the skin microbiome, leading to skin problems such as acne and dryness 31m10s.
• Milu's approach is different, using a comprehensive solution that combines microbiome science, AI, and personalization to create skincare products that work with an individual's unique microbiome 31m51s.
• The company's "Milu Biome Sense" system involves a microbiome collection kit, a short survey, and AI-powered analysis to create personalized skin insights reports 31m56s.
• Milu offers personalized skincare products, including a serum and cleanser, with custom formulations designed to adapt to the user's skin needs over time through retests and reformulations, ensuring microbiome balance for lasting skin health, all for $59.95, which includes the test kit, analysis, and custom products, with a $16.95 monthly subscription for refills and retails as needed 32m30s.
• The company uses plantable boxes and recyclable packaging, reflecting its commitment to sustainability, and is pioneering a science-driven personalized approach to skincare, currently inviting new members to join its beta program 32m46s.

Milu's Market and Feedback

• The idea of a skin microbiome was initially unfamiliar, with some people associating the term "microbiome" with gut health, but the concept of a skin microbiome is a real and important aspect of skincare 33m26s.
• The company has no revenue yet, as it is currently in development and conducting beta testing 33m53s.
• The pitch was well-received, with praise for the deck and the storytelling, which was created by the founder and his co-founder, Ron, with input from other students in the community 34m6s.
• To improve customer acquisition, it was suggested that the company use content to its advantage, particularly on platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, where storytelling and science-based information can resonate with people looking for personalized skincare solutions 35m8s.
• The company plans to use a different go-to-market strategy, avoiding the common pitfall of sinking initial revenue into advertising, and instead focusing on content-driven growth 35m49s.
• The goal is to please 50 people in beta testing by working closely with a smaller group to ensure the product and algorithm are working as intended before going mass market 35m53s.
• Short-form content is considered as it is known to resonate with the target market, which is the younger audience 36m6s.
• There are no direct competitors doing exactly what the company is doing, but there are skincare companies that do microbiome testing and personalized skincare companies 36m12s.
• Parallel Health is the biggest skin microbiome company, offering a $200/month protocol that includes sequencing on the skin microbiome, which is a high-end product 36m23s.
• Proven Skincare is another successful company that does personalized skincare based on a quiz, and the company's approach is a combination of microbiome testing and a quiz 36m38s.

Addressing Potential Criticisms of Milu

• The company acknowledges that health-related topics can be controversial, and there may be people who love or hate the idea of microbiome testing for skincare 36m56s.
• Critics may say that microbiome testing is not necessary and that using a few basic skincare products can achieve similar results 37m11s.
• The biggest liability is that the skin microbiome field is relatively new, and the company is testing a hypothesis that tailored skincare is better than traditional methods 37m23s.
• People may object to the idea of harnessing the power of germs on the skin, as it goes against the societal idea that all bacteria are bad 37m40s.
• Critics may also argue that the benefits of microbiome testing are minimal and that other factors, such as good sleep, drinking water, and eating clean, have a greater impact on overall health 38m16s.
• The company needs to convince potential investors that people care about hyper-personalization and that it is the future of skincare 38m52s.
• A successful pitch should make investors believe that the outcome is inevitable and that the company will be the one to take advantage of it, with two main cases to be made: the trend is going in a certain direction and the company will be the one to capitalize on it 39m0s.
• The trend in hair care and beauty products has shifted towards personalization, with companies that have adopted this approach having successful exits, and the same trend is expected to happen in skincare 39m22s.
• A pitch should show that the company's approach is the next logical step in the industry, making it feel inevitable, and that the company will be the one to capitalize on it 39m41s.

Pitching Milu and the Future of Skincare

• The feedback given to the pitcher is that their pitch was missing a science-based, hyper-personalized approach that is expected to be the next wave of successful skincare companies 40m11s.
• The question is raised whether the company's product will have a visually different result compared to off-the-shelf products, and if so, whether that will be enough to make the marketing work 40m48s.
• If the product's effectiveness is not visually apparent, then the success of the company will depend on its ability to market and brand the product effectively, as is often the case in the supplements and vitamins industry 41m12s.
• The example of L'Oreal is given, which is successful not because its products are scientifically better, but because the company is better at marketing 41m41s.
• The company recognizes the trend towards clean and sustainable beauty and wants to capitalize on it 41m53s.
• A product was created that is a box that can be planted in the ground and grows flowers, with before and after pictures being a key aspect of the product's marketing, and beta testing results are currently looking promising 42m2s.

Brothers Nuts: Healthy Snacking

• Austin Majors is the co-founder of Brothers Nuts, a company that aims to revolutionize healthy snacking with organic sprout nut and seed snacks 42m45s.
• The idea for Brothers Nuts came from Austin's family, who found that many snacks were not healthy and tasted bad, and was inspired by Austin's father's diagnosis with stage four brain cancer and his subsequent seven-year survival due to changes in diet and lifestyle 43m8s.
• Brothers Nuts' products are sprouted, making them crunchy and flavorful, and the company has done over $1 million in sales over the last seven years, with products available in 200 retail locations 43m47s.
• The company plans to reach $10 million in sales over the next four years by expanding distribution, getting new grocery store accounts, and innovating through new products, such as a clean chocolate almond and a high protein variant of their most popular flavors 44m2s.
• Brothers Nuts aims to become a national brand and is on track to achieve this goal, with the nut market selling $10 billion this year and the company checking all the boxes for being seed oil-free, sprouted, and gut-friendly 45m0s.
• The company is on the cutting edge of a mainstream trend that started in 2010, with products labeled as sprouted growing 34% in velocity and sales, and they are experiencing success and growth 45m17s.
• The reason for their success is attributed to contributing to the founder's father's legacy, and the goal is to grow this legacy and create a new one, with the mission of changing what people snack on to lead to longer, healthier lives 45m32s.

Brothers Nuts' Retail Presence and Sales

• The company is in multiple retail chains, including Fresh Thyme Market with 70 stores across the Midwest, Mom's Organic Market on the East Coast, and The Fresh Market, and they are expanding to new stores like Whole Foods and Sprouts 46m35s.
• The company's revenue has exceeded $1 million in sales since its inception over seven years, with $400,000 in sales this year, $200,000 last year, and a projected $2 million in sales next year 47m23s.
• The company is in a total of 200 retail stores across the country, including bigger players and smaller one-off stores, health food stores, and golf courses 47m46s.
• The retailers need to see the velocity of sales on the shelf at their stores to consider expanding the company's products to more stores, and the company's unique product has few competitors 47m57s.
• The company's product is incredibly unique, offering organic sprouted nut options with few competitors, and they need to demonstrate a gap on the shelf to expand their products 48m29s.
• The business in question sells nuts that contain no seed oils, and the founders claim to have had success with major retailers, going from 3 to 30 to 70 stores without having to approach them. 48m36s
• However, there are concerns about the business's social media presence, with only 50 followers on TikTok, which is seen as a disadvantage for a young company with limited experience and resources. 49m12s
• The importance of social media is emphasized, as it is seen as a key way for the company to tell its story and generate excitement among consumers, which can then be used to persuade retailers to stock the product. 49m32s
• The current state of the nut shelf in stores is described as "stale," with the same old brands dominating the market, and the company's unique selling point of being seed oil-free and trendy is seen as an opportunity to stand out. 49m51s
• The company's founders, two brothers, own the business 50-50, with their mother serving as the chief flavor officer, responsible for ensuring the quality of the nuts. 50m46s
• The story behind the company is seen as a major strength, and the founders are encouraged to leverage this to build a strong social media presence and attract customers. 51m5s
• A comparison is made to another successful nut brand that has built a large following on social media, with the suggestion that the company could learn from this example and build a similar online presence. 51m15s

Investor's Feedback on Brothers Nuts

• The investor has invested in several seed oil or seed oil-free companies, but it's unclear if they will become mainstream, and the current startup has tailwinds to help it succeed 51m48s.
• The investor thinks the startup's numbers are on the small side for an e-commerce company, with $1 million in revenue across seven years, and needs to show that the nut category is huge, with companies like Blue Diamond making $1.8 billion in revenue per year 52m10s.
• The investor suggests that the startup should highlight its fresh packaging, challenger brand status, and better story, as well as its social media presence, to differentiate itself from established brands 52m56s.
• The investor notes that the sprouted products category is growing 34% year-over-year, and the startup should emphasize its position as a sprouted nut brand 53m27s.
• The investor believes that the startup has the potential to be huge, but is not currently using its strengths, and needs to take feedback and change its approach to achieve success 53m46s.

Tour: AI-Powered Salesperson for Apartments

• The next startup, Tour, is an AI-powered salesperson for property managers, which aims to increase the number of in-person tours taken by apartment prospects, as only 4% of prospects who visit an apartment website take a tour, and tours are the highest converting part of the apartment sales process 54m14s.
• Installs Tour Tour helps apartments scale their digital salesperson, allowing them to recreate their best in-person tour and replicate it on their website, making it available to prospects 24/7 55m4s.
• The process involves the property manager pasting a link to the apartment website, which is then scraped to generate video scripts that help the salesperson record the tour, combining it with a knowledge base into a smart virtual leasing agent 55m28s.
• Once the tour is ready, the company pastes a piece of code on the website, making the salesperson available 24/7, and allowing them to interact with prospects through digital micro-interactions, offer tours, and ask qualifying questions 55m41s.
• Replicating the in-person tour can drive nearly 3x engagement and create more qualified leads for the apartment, as seen in the company's work with some of the largest property managers in the nation 56m18s.
• The company has delivered over a million tours, driven over $30 million worth of leases, and reached over a million dollars in revenue, with the recorded videos being repurposed for follow-up with leads and automatic ad campaigns 56m31s.
• The company aims to revolutionize the $2.5 trillion apartment leasing industry, which still relies on static photos, manual scheduling, and follow-ups, by providing a more compelling visual and video-first experience 57m27s.
• The founders are a passionate and driven team who have designed and delivered experiences for top companies, including Growth at Ramp and Google Shopping, and have raised around $350-400k in funding 58m1s.

Challenges and Advantages of Virtual Apartment Tours

• Matterport, a company that creates 3D virtual tours, has been tested by Airbnb and found to decrease conversion rates, possibly due to apartments looking unappealing in 3D or the need for in-person salesmanship 58m26s.
• Some apartments may not need to be filled immediately, and owners might not see the value in spending money on virtual tours when vacancy rates are low 59m2s.
• Certain apartments may not want to showcase their properties online due to their condition, preferring to sell them in person 59m15s.
• Matterport is a public company that generates $540 million in revenue per year, but the speaker's company differs in that it provides an active experience that partners with apartments to guide potential renters through the sales funnel 59m44s.
• The speaker's company aims to hit a larger market than Matterport by providing a more comprehensive experience, including follow-up emails and targeted advertising 1h0m4s.
• The nature of apartments is changing, with more amenities and a focus on experience, making virtual tours a potentially important part of the rental process 1h0m28s.
• The speaker's company has delivered over a million tours, many of which are international or out-of-state, and sees virtual leasing as a key advantage for apartments 1h0m50s.
• The company also aims to augment the sales force by providing support and reducing churn rates among frontline sales teams 1h1m16s.
• The startup aims to provide a more comprehensive experience for customers by augmenting websites with virtual tours and segmenting leads to help property managers allocate resources more effectively, with the goal of communicating the physical establishment to customers and saving money by better allocating resources 1h1m42s.

Tour's Technology and Revenue Model

• The virtual tours are not AI-generated, but rather actual videos filmed by a video Pro Network or using scripts that can be easily started from a phone, with the iPhone 16 being capable of producing high-quality footage rivaling Sony cameras 1h2m15s.
• The startup takes the knowledge base and median supply throughout the whole sales process, and the video is accompanied by an AI wrapper that includes chat, Q&A, scheduling appointments, and following up with targeted ads 1h2m40s.
• The startup currently has $450,000 in annual recurring revenue (ARR) from 130 property managers, with most paying around $300 per month, and has achieved this through a land and expand motion, demonstrating results and expanding within property managers 1h2m50s.
• To scale from 100 properties to 1,000 or 10,000 in the next year, the startup plans to automatically generate tours to demonstrate value to apartments before in-person visits, using website scraping, image processing, and information pulling to create a prototype tour 1h3m40s.
• The startup will use these auto-generated tours as a sample and cold email property managers to showcase their value, and will run A/B tests on apartment websites to measure the difference in revenue with and without their installation 1h4m20s.
• A startup is discussed, which helps properties generate more value by delivering four times the number of tours, three times engagement, and more qualified leads, resulting in higher conversion rates of leases, with an additional $300,000 to $500,000 in leases 1h4m36s.
• The startup achieves this by doing three important things: delivering more tours, increasing engagement, and capturing more qualified leads 1h4m46s.

Selling Tour to the Apartment Industry

• Sam is convinced by the startup's proposition but has concerns about selling to old-school companies in the industry, such as apartment buildings and colleges, which can be difficult to work with 1h5m17s.
• The industry is slow to adapt to new technologies, but the startup believes that having an AI agent to help book appointments and sell properties will become the next mandatory feature for websites, just like having a website, photos, and videos became essential in the past 1h6m22s.
• The startup's goal is to make their product feel inevitable, and they believe that their AI agent will become a necessary tool for apartment buildings to remain competitive 1h6m18s.
• The startup has already achieved some success, with over a million tours and revenue growth, and has also created nicely merchandised matching zip-ups 1h7m43s.

Pet: AI-Powered Email Management

• A startup, Pet, was initially working on a no-code engine to help businesses automate daily tasks with AI, but shifted focus to email management after realizing its most valuable automations for clients were email-related 1h8m45s.
• The startup's clients, including large enterprises, were struggling with managing their cluttered inboxes, with one business owner reporting employees spent more time on emails than their actual job 1h9m18s.
• According to McKinsey, the average employee processes over 600 emails per week, wasting 13 hours and thousands of business dollars, despite email being an essential part of life 1h9m31s.
• Despite the burden of email, 86% of business professionals still prefer using email, making it a problem that needs to be solved rather than eliminated 1h9m51s.
• Pet is building a virtual executive assistant that can learn from users, respond to emails on their behalf, and prioritize important emails 1h10m1s.
• The startup's mobile app is launching on the App Store next week and has already secured six figures in annual revenue from a big four customer and is starting a pilot with the largest children's enrichment franchise in the world 1h10m30s.
• Pet has also worked with five global financial institutions, completed a seven-figure raise, and won first place in one of the Midwest's largest startup pitch competitions 1h10m43s.
• The founders, AD and Mark, collectively bring over a decade of experience in AI and building companies, with AD having built and scaled numerous online security businesses to millions of users during his teenage years 1h10m56s.

Pet's Pivot and Funding

• The startup has a generative AI engine that was started in February, and they initially used the technology to develop email automations for businesses, raising money on that concept, but have since pivoted to an email client interface that works better with Enterprise customers 1h12m1s.
• The startup has a six-figure Enterprise contract and has raised $1 million, but the product they initially raised money for is not the same as the current product 1h11m42s.
• The team's website does not clearly tell the story of their pivot, but a folder on the website labeled "New! Our Email Client" provides some information about the change 1h12m38s.
• The team has decades of experience, but this claim is met with skepticism, and it is suggested that this type of claim can come across as overselling and is not a believable metric 1h12m47s.
• The founder is 20 years old, and it is suggested that instead of claiming decades of experience, they could tell a more believable and exciting story about their individual experience and skills, such as starting to code at a young age and building notable projects 1h13m24s.

Pet's Enterprise Sales and Product Development

• The startup has done a great job of selling into difficult-to-sell Enterprise customers, and the question is raised about how they were able to secure an Enterprise contract 1h14m27s.
• The founder of a startup worked as a consultant at a university organization, which led to a connection with a high-level business executive at a big four enterprise through their mentor, the director of the consulting organization 1h14m44s.
• The executive was looking for a solution to certain problems within the enterprise, and the founder's personal project happened to solve those exact problems, leading to the creation of a company 1h15m10s.
• The initial product was a generative AI workflow engine that could automate complex day-to-day tasks by plugging AI into legacy systems, such as processing and analyzing pitch decks for venture capitalists 1h15m26s.
• The product was similar to Lindy, but the founder found that their product was being used mainly for email automations, and the barrier to entry for non-technical users was high 1h16m10s.
• To address this issue, the founder decided to change the interface to a virtual assistant or secretary, making it easier for non-technical users to use the product 1h16m32s.

Pet's Competitive Landscape and Future

• A potential challenge for the business is that it is entering a highly competitive space, with companies like Google, Superhuman, and Microsoft already working on adding AI to their email services 1h17m11s.
• The concern is that it may be difficult for the startup to get users to switch from established email clients like Outlook and Gmail, and that the competition may be too intense for the startup to capture a significant opportunity 1h17m40s.
• The startup has raised a little more than $1 million in funding and the team members are currently on a gap semester from school, with one member having only one class left to complete 1h17m55s.
• The startup is working on an email client that is designed to cater to specific niches and requirements of certain businesses, which cannot be met by standard email clients like Gmail and Outlook 1h18m35s.
• The startup is starting a pilot with the largest children's enrichment franchise, which is willing to switch from Gmail to the startup's email client due to its unique features 1h18m51s.
• The email client is not meant to replace Gmail, but rather integrate with it, allowing users to log in with their Gmail account and use the startup's interface instead of Gmail's 1h19m45s.
• The startup's goal is to provide a more tailored experience for businesses, which is not possible with standard email clients that have to cater to a large audience 1h19m5s.
• The startup's idea is considered huge and potentially multi-billion dollar winning, but also highly competitive 1h20m16s.

Awarding the Best Pitches

• The discussion concludes with a proposal to award the best pitch, favorite school, and audience choice awards 1h20m46s.
• The discussion involves choosing the best startup pitches from college students, with options including AI apartment tours, a dubbing company called Metapo, Brothers Nuts, and an AI email client called Pathet. 1h21m15s
• Sam chooses the University of Illinois as the top school, citing the impressive pitches from Metapo and Brothers Nuts, with the latter already generating $400,000 in revenue. 1h21m31s
• Another person disagrees, choosing the University of Michigan due to the traction of its startups, particularly Tour, which has $500,000 in annual recurring revenue and has served a million users. 1h22m11s
• The two individuals have a tie in their votes, leading to a discussion on their favorite business to invest in. 1h22m48s
• Sam chooses Brothers Nuts as the business he wishes he owned, believing it could become a family business worth hundreds of millions, but notes that he wouldn't invest in it. 1h22m55s
• The other person also chooses Brothers Nuts, believing it's close to becoming a legitimate business that could be seen on grocery store shelves, and expresses willingness to invest in it. 1h23m25s
• Both individuals acknowledge that most of the companies had an AI element, but it's challenging to stand out in a competitive market. 1h23m56s

Audience Choice and Concluding Remarks

• The discussion concludes with the crowd's choice, where the audience reaction will dictate the winner of the audience choice award. 1h24m35s
• Six college students from Michigan and UI presented their startups, with the loudest presentation being from Milu, a skin microbiome company from Michigan 1h25m30s.
• The students were praised for being ahead of the curve and already part of the 1% of the 1% by being active entrepreneurs 1h26m42s.
• The feedback provided was intended to be helpful, even if it came across as tough, as a sign of respect for the students' efforts 1h26m52s.
• One of the speakers shared their own experience of being inspired to become an entrepreneur after attending a similar class in college 1h27m6s.
• The speaker encouraged the students and others listening to consider entrepreneurship as a lifestyle, emphasizing that it may be a Tipping Point moment for them 1h27m37s.
• The current phase of life for the students was highlighted as the best time to pursue entrepreneurial ventures, with a 4-year window of relatively low responsibilities 1h27m45s.
• The organizers of the event, Austin and Tommy, were given a shout-out for their efforts in bringing together the students and creating a contagious energy 1h27m52s.
• The event was announced to be taken Nationwide, with the possibility of future events and a pizza party sponsored by MFM 1h28m19s.
• The organizers offered to provide financial support to the students to host more events and encourage others to get excited about entrepreneurship 1h28m34s.
• The event is an informal gathering of students who are passionate about building things and doing cool projects, rather than an official entrepreneurship club of the school 1h28m44s.
• The participants appreciate the underground and off-the-books nature of the gathering, which allows them to pursue unconventional career paths and focus on creating innovative projects 1h28m43s.
• The event organizers express gratitude to the participants and encourage listeners to support them by visiting their websites and checking out their products 1h29m2s.
• The event comes to a close, with the organizers wishing everyone a wonderful Wednesday 1h28m57s.