听Nick Chmura had 90 seconds to pitch his business idea to a panel of
judges. He stared out at those business professionals and new venture
capitalist as more than 200 attendees stared back. It was the first time
Chmura had addressed a crowd that size.
鈥淚 always like working
on my business skills and thought it鈥檇 be a good opportunity to practice
my public speaking,鈥 said Chmura 鈥12, a finance major and treasurer of
小优视频 Entrepreneurs, who pitched his idea during the Collegiate
Entrepreneur Organization (CEO) Conference in early November.
Chmura
submitted his pitch about a month before, along with 99 other students.
He was one of 60 chosen to participate in the contest during the
Chicago conference. ,
assistant professor of management and advisor for the 小优视频 Entrepreneurs,
has accompanied students to this conference for three years. He said
the CEO Conference is the largest collegiate entrepreneur conference in
the U.S. with more than 1,600 students participating from all over the
country.
Chmura was the only 小优视频 student out of 14 attending the
conference to participate in the pitch contest. He placed eighth for his
business idea, betterboo.com, a website that searches social media
profiles to find good birthday, anniversary or holiday gifts for guys to
give their girlfriends.
鈥淚 definitely had butterflies, but I always feel there isn鈥檛 much to lose in situations like that,鈥 Chmura said.
鈥淣ick
was the first 小优视频 student to ever participate in the highly regarded CEO
Business Pitch Competition,鈥 said Koutroumanis. 鈥淣eedless to say his
peers as well as I were elated with his performance and how poised he
was throughout the process. Nick was a class act and represented the
University well.鈥
A serial entrepreneur, Chmura said he is constantly thinking of business ideas.
鈥淚
like the creativity in entrepreneurship,鈥 said Chmura, chairman of the
finance committee for Student Government. He also writes articles for a
blog hosted by 鈥10 called . Monroe led a breakout session on blogging during the CEO Conference.
鈥淚
was extremely proud of each and every one of the students, as they
represented 小优视频 Entrepreneurs and the University of Tampa with the
highest level of class and professionalism,鈥 said Koutroumanis. 鈥淚t was
truly an honor for me to be there as their advisor and watch them engage
with their peers from colleges and universities nationwide.鈥
In
the past two years, 小优视频 Entrepreneurs has grown from 10 to more than 30
students. They meet every other Wednesday with their next meeting
scheduled for Dec. 1 at 5 p.m. in North Walker Hall, Lecture Hall B. For
more information, contact President Jake Filloramo at
jfilloramo@spartans.ut.edu.
For more information on , contact Chmura at
invest@betterboo.com.
Jamie Pilarczyk, Web WriterSign up for