Big Sell participants seek big deal for their big break
By Karen Caffarini Post-Tribune correspondent March 26, 2011 9:58PM
the winners
First Place:
Adam Paulson, Crown Point
Pet Pooper Scooper, A wire-framed, clamp-style pooper scooper with a bag that easily slips over the device for easy and sterile handling of dog waste. It can easily clip onto a dog’s leash.
Second Place
Nanette Frank, San Diego, Calif.
Girlease Ultimate Bra Liner, a disposable 100 percent natural and biodegradable material for relief of under-breast moisture.
Third Place
Mitchell Blosky, St. John
The Love Crunch, a nutritional bar formed into circles, the cut directly in half. When one half is sold, the other half is given to feed the hungry.
Updated: August 4, 2011 4:20PM
MERRILLVILLE — They came with props, products and big ideas.
They hoped to leave with the financial resources and backup support needed to make those dreams reality.
They were the more than 50 entrepreneurs who participated in the inaugural The Big Sell event at the Radisson, either individually or as a team. During the event they had two minutes to pitch their ideas to the general public, who either agreed or disagreed that the idea is a good one. Finalists had another round in which to sell their innovation to a group of judges.
The top three winners received cash and backup support for one year.
Sham Tickoo, a mechanical engineering professor at Purdue University Calumet, pitched his wind turbine for automobiles. He said peoples’ reliance on oil could be lessened with the device, which would be installed on the top of a vehicle, allowing it to run partially by wind. Plus, he said, if designed in the right way, it could generate thousands of jobs in Northwest Indiana and globally.
Carl Weatherspoon Jr., of Gary, said he wasn’t nervous as he spoke before about 200 people about his Gospel Clothing Line, clothing with religious-based designs, even though this was his first time promoting his business at an event like The Big Sell.
“This is a great opportunity for people to get the type of exposure needed,” Weatherspoon said.
The youngest entrant was Nicholas Laszlo, a 17-year-old junior at Munster High School, who was promoting his invention, uDEALS, a free iPhone and iPod application offering mobile coupons for college students.
Like other presenters, Laszlo was hoping venture capitalists would take an interest in his product, saying he needs about $26,000 for the development stage. He said the app would be on the phone and shown to the cashier at a school, restaurant, store or other outlet. The cashier would be able to scan the barcode on the phone.
“Basically, this was my idea,” Laszlo said.
College students Maxime Pinto and Andrew Altman from Tufts University in Massachusetts traveled to Merrillville in hopes of convincing a venture capitalist to invest in a product called the Shield, a collapsible motorcycle roof designed to provide protection to drivers in India during monsoon season.
“This started as a school project and developed into a business idea. Now we’re looking for venture capitalists,” Altman said.
Pinto said the product, which has a patent pending, would be manufactured locally and distributed in India. Altman and Pinto are two of five people in the company, Roof For Two.
Dushan Nikolovski, director of the Center for Entrepreneurship Success at Purdue University Calumet, said he started to develop The Big Sell four years ago to stimulate entrepreneurship and economic development locally.
“There have been some great ideas here,” he said.
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