Big Pitch for the Big East: Xavier Senior Presents ‘Humanely Raised’ Idea
Mar 10, 2019
By Ryan Clark
Even from the very beginning, Casey Smith didn’t think he would win. After all, it was the same reason he presented alone: He just didn’t think people would identify with his idea.
But that was the challenge, right? Casey needed to make people feel his idea was important. He needed to make his pitch the best it could be.
And that was the entire goal of Xavier’s Pitch Day, an event led by the Management and Entrepreneurship faculty and the Entrepreneurship Club, with promotional support from the Sedler Center and financial support from the Center for Innovation.
Each school in the Big East Conference invited its students to make their best pitch. The idea was up to them. It could be anything. But the pitch would be to potential investors, with the chance that their ideas could actually become reality. The winners would be invited to New York City the day of the men’s basketball tournament championship game to compete against winners from the other schools.
When it all began months ago, when more than 25 Xavier student teams started out, Casey thought his idea was important, but difficult to relay. Casey, who has a Community-Engaged Fellowship, has always practiced service related to sustainability. It began in high school and included at the Friar’s Club and Gabriel’s Place, a garden-to-table eatery that teaches children about healthy foods. Then he went on to serve as general manager of Xavier’s Urban Farm and as the CEO of D’Artagnan Enterprises, which oversees six student-run businesses on campus.
“The idea was to use technology to identify humanely raised meat,” said the 21-year-old Finance and Sustainable Economics and Management major. “There’s a growing distrust about the meat industry and the ways they raise animals. People are starting to reject that.”
And this would also help small farms, Smith said. “This is a way to bridge the gap between consumer interest and small farms to compete with larger farms,” he said.
His pitch involves using technology to identify which meat is humanely raised, then tagging that package with a “humanely raised approval” sticker. According to his research, 67 percent of people were likely to purchase meat that was “humanely raised,” even at an added cost—sometimes as much as 30 percent more.
But when he approached classmates to help with his idea, many joined other groups, saying they weren’t interested in an agricultural idea, which reaffirmed Smith's original misgivings. Still, he was encouraged by Xavier faculty to move forward on his own, so he did.
To his surprise, Smith made the finals, which were held Feb. 25. There, he presented alone, while two other groups presented their ideas: A powdered multi-vitamin formula personalized for the customer, and a roving ocean clean-up machine. Smith utilized imagery of animals in cages to show how they live and are treated during their existence. It seemed to have an effect on the audience.
Each group presented to a panel of judges made up of Xavier faculty and alumni. Dozens of other faculty and students filled Smith Hall to see who would win. So what makes the difference? Smith says you need to excite the judges. “Get them thinking like you,” he says. “Talk dollars and cents. Talk feasibility. Make them see how we can get this off the ground. Know your material. Be confident. Make them believe in you.”
After the judges deliberated for more than 30 minutes, Smith was told he won first place.
“I was really surprised,” said the senior from Loveland, Ohio. “I was able to talk with some of the judges afterward and I learned about some of the things I’ll need to do to improve, but everyone had really great ideas.”
“The Department of Management and Entrepreneurship is very proud of the 25-plus student teams who participated across the University and all who supported the Big East Pitch Contest,” said Mike Halloran, teaching professor in Management and Entrepreneurship. “Special congrats to Casey Smith who will represent Xavier on March 16 in NYC. We look forward to continuing to build efforts to support Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Xavier University.”
Now it’s on to the big time. Smith will represent Xavier in the Big East Inaugural Startup Challenge on Saturday, March 16. Held from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at St. John’s University’s Manhattan Campus on Astor Place, Smith will compete against the other Big East schools.
“The Startup Challenge reinforces one of the strategic imperatives of the conference, which is to enhance academic collaborations across the Big East membership,” Big East Deputy Athletic Director Vince Nicastro said. “We are excited to see the creative and innovative ideas that BIG EAST students will bring to New York.”
Smith will make his pitch to judges, who will rank them on a variety of factors including idea or concept, market need, value proposition, feasibility and presentation. The top three teams will receive an honorarium to be used to help grow their startup business, with the overall winner being recognized during the Big East Championship game Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.
“I’m excited and nervous,” Smith said. “But I now think I have a unique idea about an industry that’s not very much talked about. It has the potential to get the judges excited.”
Smith himself already has a job lined up after he graduates from Xavier in the spring. He has interned with the Cargill feed company in Dayton, Ohio, and will work as a management associate supporting sales and finance.
“This is an amazing opportunity,” he said of the New York pitch. “In my mind, this idea will eventually be brought to market. I believe transparency and visibility in this industry is on the horizon.”