Shark Tank Cornell
Marshfillows
Miles Biggs ’13, a student who previously appeared in our entrepreneur
feature, returns to Slope Media with Marshfillows. He pitched this venture again
at Shark Tank with his best friend since freshman year, Dan Krenitsyn ’13, and
they successfully acquired a patent for their chocolate-filled marshmallow. If all
goes according to plan, Marshfillows will be available in grocery stores across
the country next to familiar names like “Jet Puff.” However, this is the only
marketable chocolate-filled marshmallow, with their patent already cited as a
reason for the rejection of another similar submission. During taste tests 84%
prefer Marshfillows to regular s’mores as the inner chocolate and marshmallow
melt simultaneously. No one in the audience objected when samples were
tossed out to the crowd.
Quixand Inc.
Johnson School MBA student Andrew Paget ’13 pitched Quixand Inc.
This venture allows local merchants and small businesses to advertise their
products and services to hotels through a single platform. Paget’s Quixand
Inc. promotes their material on a mobile app. Companies pay according to the
amount of material posted. Ultimately this brings hotel deals to a wider audience.
Splat
Another venture in the Slope Media entrepreneur feature is by Ben
Russo ’14, Scott Bergman ’13, Ricky Panzer ’13, and Jeran Fox ’13, who
presented Splat at Shark Tank. Splat claimed their product will turn your
smartphone into the ultimate gaming device. The device plugs into your phone
and allows users to purchase a multitude of games, conveniently found all in one
place. Splat is marketed towards the unique gray area of those who enjoy mobile
causal gaming, Massive Multiplayer Online First Person Shooter, and fans of
outdoor recreation.
Resallex, Inc
Scott Johnsson presented Resallex, Inc., a web app that quickly makes
and sells standardized contracts. Cutting out a lot of the middle men, Resallex
provides the fastest, cheapest, and most quality contracts for their customers by
communicating directly to customers and providers. This service is useful to all
consumer service purchasers.
BrewJacket
Aaron Walls ’14, Amanda Bradely ’13, and Matt Goff ‘14 enthusiastically
presented BrewJacket Inc. The product cools kegs of beer without the use of a
refrigerator, only needing a wall outlet. It’s simple black design offers a solution to
elegantly chilling kegs without the use of the classic bucket and ice. BrewJacket’s
are also smaller and more energy efficient, therefore allowing one to cool kegs
anywhere and save energy at the same time. The device can be used around
500 times, and is marketed towards liquor stores, bars, hotels, restaurants, and
university students everywhere.
InPlace
Pear Somboonsong, a Hotelie, pitched her idea InPlace. InPlace is an
innovative healthcare service that renovates homes to provide housing, then
places seniors in the closest InPlace home in their community. It additionally
offers health services through mutually beneficial partnerships. InPlace
therefore offers a place where senior citizens can age in a familiar community.
Somboonsong first got the idea when interning at a senior citizen’s living
facilities. She claims it to be the solution for seniors to age comfortably and
affordably, a problem that often occurs because of health care expenses.
Mind:Me
The phone, clock, mailbox, and calendar rapidly morphed into the
smart phone. For those who utilize their iphones and droids to the fullest, it
can be hard to spend a minute away from them. Engineering students Hooman
Bolandi, Jeffrey Buente, Grant Phillipson, and Patrick Simeon have developed
a notification bracelet called Mind:Me to keep your messages literally at your
fingertips. In case your phone is buried in a bag or under a jacket you still won’t
miss important texts, emails, or reminders since Mind:Me will receive and display
them. Stuck in a lecture or running late, Mind:Me Technologies can stay with you
when your phone fails.
Pick2Pay
Srikanth Deshpande and Zhongyang Fu are the minds behind Pick2Pay.
Credit cards today have a complicated array of rewards programs that match
with varying products. It seems that customers care little about what card they
use, as 66% would switch cards for rewards. Pick2Pay matches customers with
multiple cards with the best card to use for what they wish to buy according to
their respective rewards programs.
FiberSpark
FiberSpark seeks to provide the “fastest internet at the lowest cost,”
according to founders Jay Lee, Jeff Shaffer, and Kelsey Kruse. Their model
takes advantage of existing resources, building networks off of existing fiber optic
cables. Connectivity spans from building to building, apartment buildings and
businesses having instantly complete coverage. Their market is primarily urban,
and their market of urban businesses alone could grow to gross 28.3 billion per
year in five years.
Party Headphones
Ever heard a silent rave? That’s a trick question and a horrible joke,
though you have probably heard of the silent rave trend. Jacob Reisch
commercializes the silent rave with Party Headphones, which sells sets of
headphones allowing listeners to pick their own music and forget about noise
restrictions. The business is running and has had several clients including
Cornell Wrestling and MoMa. However, even Jacob admits “if you think this
sounds ridiculous– it is, but people love it.” He hopes to focus on rental business
catering to larger events such as weddings and trade shows.
Solar Flare
Johnson school MBA students Carlos Wang and Pallavi Nambiar took
the floor to present Solar Flare with Mikayla Diesch, a freshman engineer. Initially
designed for a competition, Solar Flare is s food production company that has
produced a nutrition bar for astronauts during space flight. NASA even took
their bar into space. The bar is “as good as taking vitamins” and bolsters mental
energy. Solar Flare seeks to continue making organic, sustainable products that
embrace the latest knowledge in food technology, and promote optimal brain
function. Solar Flare won the Shark Tank competition.
SUNN
Graduate students Jeremy Blum ’13, and Kelton Minor ’13, presented
SUNN with MBA student John Ciecholewski ’13. An existing company, SUNN
creates lamps that provide daylight-spectrum lighting. Their lamps mimic the
differing light conditions experienced across the course of a day. Blum has
produced two prototypes, one of which was on display during the presentation.
Mimicking the light cycle of an outdoor day, these lamps could improve the
health of those working indoors. Such light has been shown to reduce seasonal
affective disorder and has revitalized circadian rhythms.
