By Lacie Blankenship
Two student teams won $500 to help grow their businesses at the March Firestarter Pitch Competition.
Hosted quarterly by the Center for Entrepreneurship (C4E), Firestarters offer Vanderbilt students a chance to pitch a business concept at any early stage of development. Participants receive feedback from industry leaders and potentially walk away with prize money to invest in the development of their concepts.
Liza Moskowitz
Five student teams representing Vanderbilt Business, Master of Education program, and the undergraduate college pitched their businesses in the March Firestarter. Liza’s Loaves, presented by Liza Moskowitz (MBA’22), and EZread, presented by Alvin Eizner (BS’23), Rishi Saran (BS’24), and Aidan Simms (BS’23), tied for first place.
Moskowitz’s plan for Liza’s Loaves, Nashville’s first challah micro-bakery, began with home baking in 2020. Liza’s Loaves plans to connect to authentic Jewish culture by braiding bread and fostering community.
“I was not interested in entrepreneurship when I started at Vanderbilt Business, but the past 2 years have given me the skills and confidence to pursue an idea that I am passionate about,” said Moskowitz. “I signed up for the Firestarter Pitch Competition because I wanted to push myself out of my comfort zone and take one step to make Liza’s Loaves a reality within Nashville.”
EZread aims to be a go-to source for simple and comprehensive summaries of student textbooks. This business plan combats educational barriers caused by textbook prices or density.
Rishi Saran and Alvin Eizner at 48 Hour Launch
“[The Firestarter] was a great experience,” said Eizner. “I enjoyed listening to all the other competitor’s pitches, and definitely appreciated all the feedback we got from them as well as the judges.”
The March panel of judges consisted of Ethan Fedida (BA‘12), Co-Founder of Campfire Group; Liz Rogers (BA‘11), Founder and Creative Director of Anacrusis; Woody Klemmer (BA‘13), Head of Growth at ForMotiv; Sam Graber (MBA’01), podcaster and media expert; and Alex Morton, Managing Director at Actual Insight Solutions.
“I was most nervous to receive questions from judges, but this was my favorite part,” said Moskowitz. “Their questions and feedback helped me focus how I might move forward with my business. A few of the judges also expressed interest in ordering challah one day!”
“The Firestarter Competition gave us a great opportunity to meet and learn from others in Vanderbilt’s entrepreneurial community,” said Saran.
“The March Firestarter was the last one of this year,” noted Stacie Pawlicki, Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship, “but we want to encourage students to continue to grow ideas to present once Firestarters return with the new school year in August.”
EZread is offering negotiable pay rates and flexible hours for student writers to help accrue textbook summaries. To get involved, click here.
To learn more about the participating students and their startups, read the C4E’s blog post on the March Firestarter.
