Baylè Golden, an entrepreneur and Michigan Tech graduate student, won first place in the Bob Mark Model Competition with a pitch for her startup SafeRow. Golden secured the top prize of $2,000 as well as the Social Impact Award for an additional $1,000. The contest was held Jan. 19 in the Memorial Union Building Ballroom in memory of its namesake, the late professor Bob Mark.
This was the 16th annual competition, which is held every year as a part of Innovation Week, a set of business themed events held by Husky Innovate. The event was founded by Michigan Tech Professor of Business Bob Mark, who was passionate about entrepreneurship and wanted Michigan Tech to have a pitch competition. It was later renamed in his honor after his passing.
The contest itself consisted of 12 competitors who were given four minutes each to pitch their business to a panel of judges. Then there were two minutes for the judges to ask the contestant questions about their idea before moving on to the next presentation. The judging panel consisted of professors from the College of Business, as well as local entrepreneurs and business leaders. The contestants, Michigan Tech undergraduate and graduate students, each presented the problem they sought to address, the way they would address it, as well as their expected market share and business roadmap.
After hearing a wide array of pitches from water testing devices to online clothes fitting tools, the judges ultimately decided on Golden’s pitch for a tracking device to help find missing children. The company called SafeRow would produce a bracelet that would allow parents to know their child’s location, and could not be removed by force. Golden emphasized that children can go missing even in places perceived as safe, “I had a best friend…and when we were in second grade she went missing and she never came home” Golden said. This event was what led her to eventually develop her device, which she hopes to bring to market by the end of the year.
