“SaleSummary,” an artificial business consultant proposal, won top honors in the 2nd Annual Young Entrepreneurs Pitch Week finale at the Nevada County Government Center in Nevada City.
A team of Nevada Union High School seniors (Jack Kendrick-Cisneros, Luca Ricciardi and Peter Kosina) won $1,500 for first prize and additional $250 for crowd favorite at the finale Feb. 6.
“It was such a good learning experience,” said Kendrick-Cisneros. “It was a big reality check on what it means to start a business.”
Working with mentors during pitch week, Kendrick-Cisneros and the other students learned about revenue models, what product development costs, how to attract clients and more.
The students’ pitch was for an AI business consultant that would advise small businesses at a fraction of traditional costs. Business consulting is $300-$1,000 an hour while a basic level of the AI consultant would cost $250 a month and would offer data to build growth strategies as well as continuous recommendations for smarter decisions.
A total of four teams of high school students competed in the program. The SaleSummary team worked with mentors from 4:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m. every day of pitch week on their project and spent additional time with each other as a group.
Young Entrepreneurs Pitch Week was sponsored by the Nevada County Economic Development Office with River Valley Community Bank underwriting the cash prizes. Judges were Board of Supervisor Chair Lisa Swarthout, Haven Caravelli, Michael Fund and Bob Zucca. Sixteen mentors and three instructors supported the students.
Mentor Andy Bernadett said he was impressed with the students' work. "The students were impressive, poised and articulate," he said. "There is hope for the future!"
So when will SaleSummary be available to the public? Not anytime soon. “It would be ambitious considering we’re all still in high school,” said Kendrick-Cisneros.