On Thursday evening, after seeing the six local entrepreneurs give their three-minute pitches during The Next Big Thing pitch competition, Pearson Crutcher realized something — she hadn’t the faintest idea of who would win the $10,000 prize.
Crutcher is the executive director of the Society for Entrepreneurs (SOE), and the principal organizer of the event that’s a joint venture between SOE and Epicenter. She’s no stranger to the world of startups; and she knows what it takes for them to be successful.
But all six competitors had been confident and concise in their delivery. All six had readily and thoughtfully answered lightning-round questions from the panel of judges.
“I honestly had no clue who was going to win,” Crutcher said. “What a great program you have, when any of them deserve it.”
The Methodist Presentation Theatre at the University of Memphis’ FedEx Institute of Technology was the site for the third-annual competition on Nov. 18, which went from about 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., and was comprised of the entrepreneurs’ three-minute pitches, a lightning round Q&A session with the judges, a cocktail reception for participants and attendees, and the announcement of the winners.
The six participants were selected from a batch of 17 applicants, and most had been previously covered by MBJ.
There was food entrepreneur Cristina McCarter, co-founder of City Tasting Box, the local organization that evolved from a pandemic pivot and provides well-organized boxes containing culinary items from Memphis staples. There was 25-year-old John Wilcox, co-founder and CEO of Diatech Diabetes, which is developing a software platform that could ensure people with diabetes everywhere obtain proper amounts of insulin.
There was fiercely protective mother Laura Cheston of FindYa, which is designing a small tracking device that could help protect pets and loved ones. There was music aficionado George Monger, CEO of Connect Music Group, the local music monetization startup that distributes songs globally and ensures artists, writers, and producers receive compensation and recognition for their work.
There was hospitality tech expert Brian Edwards of WeighUp, which has developed a coaster-like device designed to prevent liquor theft at bars and restaurants. And there was Yale alum Taiwo Stanback of Youdle, the app that was founded by Action News 5 anchor Kontji Anthony and looks to help shoppers quickly find products they need in nearby stores.
The list of judges, meanwhile, included a number of prominent Memphians — like Church Health founder and president Dr. Scott Morris, Landers Auto Group president Kent Ritchey, KGR Group founder Edith Kelly-Green, Crews Center for Entrepreneurship founder Hilliard Crews, and EnSafe Inc. founder and chairman Phil Coop.
Competitors could score up to 50 points, which were divided across five, 10-point categories. The last was, “On a scale of one to 10, how likely would you be to invest in this company?
Ultimately, Diatech Diabetes scored the $10,000 prize, with the company planning on using the funds to support its current National Institutes of Health (NIH) studies.
“Winning was a great opportunity to showcase to the Memphis entrepreneurial community our progress over these last several months,” Wilcox told MBJ. “Aside from winning though, the entire competition was awesome for connecting with the local investor network and promoting local businesses that are growing here in the city.”
Crutcher shared a similar sentiment. For her, the event wasn’t just a win for Diatech — it was a win for Memphis.
“It’s just such an exciting thing for this city, that’s all I kept thinking about as I was sitting there,” she said. “You keep reading about how hard it is to do business now, in this environment. But look at these amazing businesses right here that are being started and grown in Memphis."
