Fresno State students Tyler Turk and Aubrey Lim pitched their products in front of an audience of more than 700 people, advancing to the final round of the pitch competition at the 2015 Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization (CEO) National Conference Nov. 5-7 in Kansas City.
Students, faculty and budding entrepreneurs from across the globe attended to network with and learn from entrepreneurs and business leaders.
Turk presented Date in a Crate, a subscription-box company designed to offer spontaneous and unique date-night ideas. Turk earned third place in the competition.
“Just being around nearly 1,000 other entrepreneur students was extremely inspiring,” Turk said. “Getting the opportunity to share my business and vision with all of them sparked a new fire inside of me. I was honored to be chosen as the third-place contestant, and it only drives me to be better.”
Lim pitched Sports Jerky, a healthy, artisanal jerky made of beef heart for fitness enthusiasts. Lim won the Fresno State CEO Pitch Competition earlier this year with the same product. Lim placed in the top six at the national competition with honorable mention.
“I enjoyed all 90 seconds of the pitch,” Lim said. “But it was the hours of mentorship and prep that got me there. I’m excited to grow Sports Jerky into something bigger.”
Turk and Lim each participated in the Laval Entrepreneur Mentor Program through the Lyles Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Fresno State. Turk won the program’s subscription-box competition with Date in a Crate, while Lim’s Sports Jerky won the program’s food-product competition.
For more information, contact Angelica Cano at 559.278.3735 or acano@csufresno.edu.
