Nine student teams representing seven MU colleges and schools had seven minutes to pitch their ventures and five minutes to answer questions from a panel of judges. Each pitch was comprehensive and included the venture’s selling points, business plan, market strategies and more.
Sponsored by U.S. Bank and Veterans United Foundation, EQ aims to “support the next generation of job creators,” said Greg Bier, MU executive director of entrepreneurship programs.
Aaron Heienickle, a sophomore studying marketing and computer science from Weldon Spring, Missouri, won $10,000 for Skypig, a company that sells entrepreneurship games. During his presentation, Heienickle said games with a “doing business” bent like Monopoly are too long and complex for impromptu play. Players pitch random, and often outrageous, products to an "investor" in his easy-to-learn card game.