Five teams of rising sophomores presented their brightest business ideas to a panel of entrepreneurs, investors, and Wabash faculty this morning at the Hoosier Heartland State Bank Success Center. Pitch Day is the culminating event for the Business Innovation Program (BIP), a paid summer internship that provides hands-on experience to equip liberal arts students with the skills and confidence to lead in today’s rapidly evolving business world.

Much more than a crash course in business, the BIP is the signature offering of Wabash’s Center for Innovation, Business & Entrepreneurship (CIBE), a month-long experience in which students from all academic backgrounds explore sales, marketing, finance, emotional intelligence, leadership, and consulting. They work on real projects with businesses and non-profits, gaining practical experience while expanding their networks.

The capstone event—Pitch Day—is where it all comes together.

Each team pitched a business idea they developed over the course of BIP. Ranging from an app to streamline large group travel to a drone-powered food delivery service, the ideas were bold, creative, and deeply informed by weeks of market research and financial planning.

For RJ Morrison ’28, it was a first-time experience delivering a full-scale business pitch. His team presented an AI-powered tool for real estate agents, designed to analyze housing trends, estimate asking prices, and accelerate home sales.

“I had given elevator pitches and done a little public speaking, but this was my first official business pitch,” Morrison said. “This experience taught me to question things a lot more and be more detail-oriented—to not take everything at face value.”

He also learned just how complex entrepreneurship can be.

“There are so many hidden fees and startup costs. Insurance and obtaining a patent are very expensive,” said Morrison. “All of those little costs really add up—and it just shows how detailed you have to be with all of the numbers.”

After both judge deliberation and audience voting, one product stood out: PetTracker. The smart collar, which monitors a dog’s location and vital signs, took home People’s Choice and earned the highest investment from the judges. Acting like a smart watch or fitness tracker for pets, PetTracker alerts owners to irregularities in heart rate, body temperature, and other signs of illness.

Beyond competition, Pitch Day also offered reflection. Judges returned to the students not only with critiques but with hard-earned wisdom.

Pat East ’00, a venture capitalist and founder of The Mill co-working space in Bloomington, Indiana, shared his own Wabash story.

“I was Wabash College’s worst English major,” he joked. “Between me and my best friend, we failed comps five times.”

But he credited that experience—and the liberal arts—as foundational to his success.

“That process of failing and learning from it mettles you for the future. I encourage you to take everything you’re doing at Wabash and learn from it—even those big failures,” said East. “Everything that’s happening in business, especially with AI and tech, is about figuring things out on the fly. As an English major, you have to read a text and defend your interpretation. That’s all technology is these days. If you do that for four years as an English major at Wabash, you’ll be well suited for the business world after.”