Students at Da Vinci Communications Showcase their Marketing Skills in ‘Shark Tank’ Competition
Da Vinci Communications hosted its very own ‘Shark Tank’ competition earlier this month with teams of Marketing Pathway students presenting their innovative business ideas to a panel of Sharks (judges) from Sony, Adobe, Netflix, UCLA, LinkedIn, and Da Vinci staff.
The eight-week project, known as the Shark Tank Innovation Plan, followed a format similar to the ABC reality show “Shark Tank” in which aspiring entrepreneurs pitch their products to a panel of seasoned investors who offer feedback and consider investing their own money and expertise in the business.
Seniors in Angel Maxwell’s Marketing Pathway used design thinking and an entrepreneurial mindset to develop an innovative solution around the driving question: How might we build powerful, thriving communities where everyone enjoys safety, wellness, and economic freedom? As part of this project, students developed unique products or services to make their communities a better place. They created business plans, conducted market research, developed financial models, sales and marketing plans, and created a product prototype to showcase a life-changing idea.
Over the four-day Shark Tank event, students in groups of 2 to 3 presented a range of innovative ideas from virtual reality cooking courses, to sweat-resistant body spray/deodorant, to customizable children’s books, and more, all to solve real-world problems.
One team, composed of seniors Karen Primero, Samantha Guervara and Karen Cisneros, created a customizable AI toy they called Robopal to engage with students (specifically with autism) to help them with their day-to-day learning experience. Inspired by our Da Vinci FUTURES students, the Robopal team has been working on this project for the past eight weeks and were excited to present it to a panel of community members from a wide range of industries and backgrounds. Each judge was given unlimited funds in virtual money to “invest”.
Students were super inspired by their Shark Tank experience. Some feedback they shared:
“The shark tank project allowed me to expand my creativity and helped me to really think about what kind of change I want to see in the world.
“Presenting in front of a panel of ‘sharks’ who are real life entrepreneurs was extremely helpful and motivating to get offers from every single shark. It made me believe even more in our idea and that it could be successful in real life. My partner and I are currently looking into getting a patent on our innovation.”
Congratulations to our young entrepreneurs who participated in the Shark Tank competition. We are really proud of our Da Vinci Communications students who inspired us with their outstanding entrepreneurial, presentation, and communication skills. Students were confident, well-prepared, and knowledgeable in speaking about how their business idea creates a positive impact in society. We are immensely thankful to our community partners and friends who supported this project and provided real world feedback.
“I am so proud of the hard work our students put in on this project. It was really rewarding for me to be able to provide an opportunity for them to showcase their efforts to members of the community who come from a variety of career backgrounds. From their business plans to their prototype examples and presentations, they courageously jumped into the pool of sharks and all came out unscathed!” shared Mr. Maxwell.
Several Da Vinci Communications students will showcase their Shark Tank presentations in March at DECA’s State Career Development conference. DECA, a high school and college program designed to prepare the next generation of marketing and business leaders, is integrated into the Marketing Pathway at Da Vinci Communications. Follow @dvcdeca to learn more!
