Entrepreneurial Product Pitch Competition

Group of students delivering a marketing presentation using a detailed PowerPoint graphic.

The Entrepreneurial Product Pitch Competition, which took place on December 12, provided students in Marketing 4580X and Engineering 4300 the opportunity to present their collaborative projects. This year, the event upped its game with a larger room and some exciting additions to its line-up of judges.

Introduced in fall 2023, Ivy’s Marketing 4580X: New Product Marketing is a hands-on, project-driven course focused on the knowledge and skills needed to successfully launch product or digital service innovations in today’s competitive marketplace. In the business world, new product work is a collaborative process, which this new course works to imitate through collaboration with Iowa State University’s College of Engineering.

The course is taught by Gwen Friedow, lecturer in marketing, who has been interested in the new product marketing space for some time. Before teaching, she worked as a business and brand specialist and held the position of chief strategy officer at SCC, an award-winning integrated marketing firm in Chicago, Illinois, until June 2020.

“New product development is like a team sport. I want our Ivy students to have the kind of interactive, collaborative learning experiences that allow them to lead those teams successfully,” said Friedow. “I love how innovative new products can make the world a better place – whether that’s solving a serious problem or just bringing a little joy.”

Ideas for the collaboration were sparked by the College of Engineering’s Industrial Engineering 4300: Entrepreneurial Product Development Engineering course, which has been offered since spring 2018. Focused on new products, it is a class that Dave Sly, teaching professor in engineering, helped design the curriculum for and has been teaching since its inception.

“It was very rewarding to experience this whole process, similar to how a marketing professional would navigate new product marketing in the real world. The hands-on nature made for one of the most valuable experiences I’ve had at Iowa State.”

— Grace Estenson

With the help of Sekar Raju, chair of the Ivy Department of Marketing, and Judi Eyles, director of CyBIZ Lab and the Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship, Friedow and Sly were able to build the concurrent course schedules and create this incredible, collaborative opportunity for business and engineering students.

“This course allowed for collaboration on the complete development of a product, from conception to introduction into the market,” said Grace Estenson, a recent industrial design and marketing graduate from Ely, Iowa. “It was very rewarding to experience this whole process, similar to how a marketing professional would navigate new product marketing in the real world. The hands-on nature made for one of the most valuable experiences I’ve had at Iowa State.”

As a capstone for the semester-long project, students compete in a product pitch competition, giving them the chance to showcase their developments. Following the success of last semester’s event, this semester’s competition featured a larger venue alongside its impressive line-up of judges:

Michael Whalen, founder, president and CEO, Heart of America.

Cris Christenson, president, Acco.

Dan Johnson, executive vice president and director, ag/commercial markets, State Bank & Trust.

Adrian Wallace, senior consultant for business program management, Nationwide.

Randy Hendricks, managing director, Huron Consulting Group.

Continuing to grow and improve their collaborative course, Friedow and Sly are providing incredible opportunities to their students each semester. With the boost to their venue and industry collaboration, students have a greater opportunity to build connections and gain feedback from successful industry professionals.

“One of the ways Iowa State brings an immense amount of value to its students is by having professors and educators that have a great depth of industry knowledge,” said Sean Dillon, a senior in marketing. “Gwen has a very in-depth knowledge of the world of marketing and her knowledge has been incredibly valuable throughout our class this semester. She has been a great help on our project throughout the semester, reminding us to pull back and look at the product from the perspective of the customer base, keeping us on the right path forward!”