Business Students Place in Top 10 at IACBE-CapSource Competition
By Kevin Boodoosingh
Three Florida Tech teams placed in the top 10 in the International Accreditation Council for Business Education (IACBE)-CapSource 2021 Fall Student Case Competition.
The three teams featured a combined four MBA and six undergraduate students.
4th place: Creation and Innovation Team 3: Alyson Shelton, Aidan Moga and Jaxson Francisco
5th place: MBA Team: Cole Solomon, Natalie Odisho, Daniel Garcia Martin and Julien Remiti
8th place: Undergrad Team 2 Future Business Leaders: William Branca, Veronica Hayward-Mildish and James Robbins
During the competition, students were challenged to bring GENUINO—an Italian startup powered by blockchain technology that connects nonfungible tokens (NFTs) with real-world objects—to the U.S. market.
Teams produced two required deliverables: a five-page executive memo that positions GENUINO as a high-end marketplace in the U.S. NFT sport collectable space and a three-minute video pitch introducing team members and summarizing their creative go-to-market strategy for GENUINO. There were additional suggested deliverables, as well.
With 24 participating teams representing 19 universities, teams that placed in the top 10 really took the time to understand the information, submit all the suggested deliverables and provide actionable suggestions, says Jordan Levy, founder and executive director of CapSource, in the Competition Final Results Webinar.
CapSource, together with IACBE, creates competitions for students to work with real-world companies and produce materials and plans that companies can actually use, says Tim Muth, Bisk College of Business instructor.
“One of the things I was super excited about was that I didn’t know anything about NFTs before this. So, it was very educational for me, and I’m actually signed up for a blockchain class next semester because of it,” student Cole Solomon says in the webinar.
The three Florida Tech teams won a GENUINO Classic Pack, including five NFTs, and a chance to win game-worn items, and because of their outstanding performance, they now have the opportunity to travel to Costa Mesa, California, for the Spring 2022 IACBE Live Case Competition.
“I’m super excited to be able to be a part of this process for GENUINO and for CapSource. I’m also looking for future projects like this through CapSource and for several clubs we have on campus,” Solomon says. “It was just a very educational and interactive study for us, and we would love to keep doing it.”
