Student takes Canyon Challenge for a spin and wins

Photos by Ralph Freso / Slideshow

What started as buyer’s remorse turned into an entrepreneur’s success story Friday night, when Grand Canyon University junior Caleb Manzari won the first-place prize at the IDEA Club’s 18th Canyon Challenge at Sunset Auditorium.

Manzari, who is majoring in entrepreneurship with an emphasis in technology, convinced a three-person panel of judges that his product, Vinylessence, a vinyl LED slipmat that lights up vinyl records while playing, was worthy of the $2,500 award. Vinylessence already has more than 360 preorders through Kickstarter.

“The proof is in the pudding, and we got a lot of pudding,” Mazari told a robust group of students and judges during his pitch. Those judges included Kyle Brown, CEO of Trinity Capital; Nate Randleman, real estate investor; Darian Harris, CEO of Fuse Ventures; and Jim Murphy, Lux Manufacturing board member.

During an ensuing question-and-answer session, Harris said he just built a record room at his home and speculated that companies, such as Best Buy, would “kill” for a product like Vinylessence.

The judges listened to five- to seven-minute pitches from five finalists before asking questions.

IDEA Club hosts the event each semester, modeling it after television entrepreneurial competition show "Shark Tank." Bysamotto, an analytics platform for content creators that helps them monetize their personal brand, produced by student Sam Otto, earned the second-place prize of $1,500. And Brushcap, a protective plastic holder for paintbrushes, founded by Joy Henning, won the third-place check of $1,000.

Walker Wood, who produced Roster, a customer relationship management (CRM) system that organizes dating lives, earned the People’s Choice Award of $1,000, while Cole Sims of Street Track Racing, which produces a biker jacket with an interior cooling system, won the $750 Lux Innovation Award.

Manzari’s mission started three years ago when he was swayed by a photo of a record that “looked so good” in a photograph because it had a light behind it. He paid $250 for it.

“That’s so pretty,” Manzari thought. “It’s a rare record.”

But when Manzari put the record on his player, he said, “I probably shouldn’t have paid $250 for that. That’s how it’s going to look when I’m actually listening to it.”

So Manzari embarked on a project that combines a visual and listening experience, starting in his bedroom, advancing to his residence hall room, and “now it’s here.”

Manzari, who says he has an “engineering spirit,” acknowledged the challenges of producing such a product because “I'm thinking of how much we're fitting inside of such a small area. It can't be too thick, or else it's not going to work on other people's record players. I don’t want it to work on one. I want it to work on all of them.”

Manzari attended an IDEA Club meeting as a freshman but became consumed with his studies and his other “side hustle.” He returned for the IDEA Club’s two final pitch meetings this spring because he felt he was ready to launch his product.

“It was kind of hard keeping it a secret for a while, and here I am,” said Manzari, who readjusted and didn’t finalize his slide presentation until the eve of Canyon Challenge.

Wood’s dating app contrasts his previous business product, his 3D Skates & Scoots cupholders, which mounts to scooters and skateboards and were a hit at IDEA Club Marketplaces this school year.

He brainstormed with former IDEA Club president Caleb McCandliss at GCU's Canyon Ventures, which helps startups by providing space, mentorship, and access to funding and a student workforce. What came from that talk? “Everyone struggles with poor dating decisions,” Wood said, but he didn't know of a CRM system for dating. The product is now available at Apple’s App Store.

“Just kind of solve the problem and then come up with the solution,” said Wood, echoing one of his program's entrepreneurship themes.

“I’m happy with the (People’s Choice) award. Sad I didn't place or win, but that's OK. It's part of business. You fail, you get up and you keep going again. But it seemed like the people loved it.”

Eleven IDEA Club Marketplaces, where student entrepreneurs sell their products, produced more than $120,000 in revenue this academic year, reported the club. That increased the total to more than $850,000 and more than 600 student vendors that have been involved with the Marketplaces since their inception.

IDEA Club also honored the following Marketplace participants:

Awards, in the form of Noggin Boss hats, were given to the following vendors who raised more than $25,000 at Marketplaces:

IDEA Club also started a mentorship program last year and placed more than 100 participants into 15 mentor groups.

Awards went to the following recipients and their businesses:

GCU News senior writer Mark Gonzales can be reached at [email protected]

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