Scheeler Wins Bulldog B.I.T.E.

From left to right, Jim Cunningham (’97), Jonathan Scheeler, Doug Villhard (’94) and Daymond John pose for a picture as Scheeler accepts his prize. Scheeler won first place in the 2018 Bulldog B.I.T.E. elevator pitch competition.

Jonathan Scheeler, a senior business administration finance major, won the 2018 Bulldog B.I.T.E. elevator pitch competition.

As the winner, he earned a prize of $3,000 for his drone data servicing concept.

Shane Legatzke, a senior accounting and business administration finance major, earned $2,000 for his pitch of a system of grants to educate high school students on financial literacy. The team of Joey Goldman, a sophomore business administration marketing and management major, and Victoria Kleitz, a senior business administration management major, finished third and won $1,000 for their pitch of an application that allows users to find charities that are credible and donate to them.

An elevator pitch outlines the concept or idea for a product, service or project in a short period of time, typically from 30 seconds to three minutes. The length of the pitch mirrors the time spent waiting for and riding an elevator in a high-rise building. The purpose of the pitch is to spur the interest of a potential investor or financial backer.

Bulldog B.I.T.E., which stands for Business Innovation by Truman Entrepreneurs, allowed participants to pitch a for-profit or not-for-profit concept. Judges selected six teams to attend the live pitch competition April 13 in the Student Union Building to present their concept to a panel. Contestants were judged based on the problem, product/service solution, market, competition, value creation, seed money, a Q&A session and the presentation of the concept.

The final round judges for Bulldog B.I.T.E. were Jim Cunningham (’97), Paul D. Garnett (’73), Amanda Gioia (’93), Mike McClaskey (’85) and Brian Roth. The first round judges for the competition were alumni Amy Gryder (’97) and Ron Thomas (’65).  

Alumni Doug (’94) and Diane (’95) Villhard, along with Express Scripts, sponsored the 2018 Bulldog B.I.T.E. competition.