Stories of Technology, Innovation, & Entrepreneurship in the Southeast

Pero Brittz and his start-up named MathPath captured first place and $1,500 in the first-ever “First Flight Pitch Competition” hosted by Carson-Newman University’s new Moser Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership.

The program, launched in late March 2024, featured six Carson-Newman students pitching ideas ranging from gifting flowers and a popup coffee shop to blue light glasses to help student athletes improve both their academic and athletic performance by getting more sleep. It was held late Wednesday afternoon and early evening on the campus of the Jefferson City school.

John Morris, Moser Center Director, said the preparation by the students was very similar to the Vol Court program that is offered twice-a-year by the Anderson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. There were four sessions including the pitch competition.

Brittz captured first place for his idea that would help parents of homeschoolers find the right math curriculum for their sons and daughters. Noting that he was homeschooled before enrolling at Carson-Newman, Brittz said his go-to-market strategy starts with working with church-related umbrella schools in Kingsport and Morristown. These schools allow parents to homeschool their children while meeting state requirements, essentially providing oversight and support for homeschool programs.

Judges were:

1. Gregg Bostick, Director of the Knoxville office of the Tennessee Small Business Development Center;
2. Joe Gibson, Executive Director for the Jefferson Alliance;
3. Keith Hickey, Senior Vice President and Chief Lending Officer at Three Roots Capital; and
4. Chris McAdoo, Chief Experience Officer at Knoxville Entrepreneur Center.

The other competitors and their business ideas included:

1. Curtis Magwood who presented FootLoc, a cleated product for athletes;
2. Levi Burdette and Sam Shelling who pitched Athloptic, the idea of blue light glasses to help with sleep;
3. Anna Richason who presented Groovin Grinds, the popup coffee shop that would be in a VW bus and become a franchise model after initially starting in Atlanta, Huntsville, AL, Knoxville, and Tampa, FL;
4. Kayla Ramsey who pitched The Secret Garden, a retail flower shop that would also grow 15 to 20 flowers for resale; and
5. Alan Chen who presented Chew Chew, a natural product for dogs that combines the valerian root and chamomile.

Ahead of their pitches, longtime Knoxville entrepreneur Lee Martin delivered an inspiring, fast-paced presentation that he titled “I Dare You – A Metric for Sustaining a Joyful Life.” He told the students that personal balance depends on four key elements: physical, mental, social, and spiritual.

Listing his personal goals in each quadrant, Martin said, “There are seasons in our life when we are out of balance.” He urged them to draw a square with four distinct sub squares. “Think about those four squares and (how to achieve) balance.

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