Matt Nickerson ‘24
Chief Features Editor
Through the HC Launch initiative via the Ciocca Center of Business, Ethics, and Society, Holy Cross is rewarding student entrepreneurs for their ingenuity and giving them a taste of the business world. The 11th Annual “Cross Tank” Competition (newly rebranded from “Shark Tank”) was held on Monday, March 25th, in Smith Labs 155. Before three judges, including two different alumni, several students gave presentations in two different categories: the Concept stage, which consisted of business ideals, and the Operational Stage, which consisted of currently-profiting business ventures. Everyone competed for the top three spots of each stage; the Concept stage’s prizes were $1500, $1000, and $500, while the Operational Stage offered prizes of $3500, $1500, and $1000, respectively.
Ralph Carbone ‘24 is one of the two co-founders of “jestr,” a competitive photo sharing social media app, along with fellow senior David Brush. The app is currently available to download on the App Store. jestr competed in the Operational stage of the Cross Tank and came in third place, receiving a $1000 dollar prize. “It amazes me how creative other students are, and there was so much to learn in hearing their pitches,” Carbone reflects. “Pitching to the judges was both a great and fun experience. Holy Cross has taught [David] and me so much about community; and so, we created jestr as a new way where community can be discovered on social media.”
Brush adds, “The competition was fierce, but impressive. Everyone there clearly showed up to win. I can see each and every entrepreneur succeeding in the future. It was a very well-organized event, and I’m so grateful to have been given the opportunity to participate. I would like to congratulate That’s Yo Body and Trivflic, amongst the other winners!”
The second-place winner for the Concept stage was sophomore Nico Corporon ‘26, who also pitched a mobile application, “Unibite.” Corporon explains the app’s function, saying, “I am proposing a meal plan generator app partnered specifically with college campus dining options across campus. While there are roughly 19 million new college students that head off to their schools each year, in many cases, this is the first time students are presented with the chance to choose what they are eating on a daily basis instead of just relying on what their parents are making for them. This tends to lead to unhealthy dietary habits which begin forming at early stages of college students’ experiences at school.
“Here’s how it would work: Holy Cross dining would share the menus on every single food item being served for a semester. Students will have the chance to log the foods that they have eaten one night given all of the food data is logged into the app. From here, the app will recognize the food you have logged and all of the ingredients in that specific meal. When it comes time for your next meal, the app will remember the food you logged previously in a week and keep track of all of the ingredients you have already eaten as well as the ones you lacked from your previous meal. Then, based on the data that the app has stored from the menu throughout a week, it will tell you what foods you should either be eating to avoid in order to maintain a well balanced, nutritional diet for the entire week.
“My experience at the Cross Tank event was a great opportunity to engage with fellow students and gain insights into their entrepreneurial ventures. The competition provided a platform for showcasing the hard work students have put into their business ideas, all while receiving feedback from a panel of judges representing diverse industries. This exposure allowed me to identify strengths and weaknesses in my app’s features as I transition from the concept stage to developing a physical product.”
Nicholas Lazzaro ‘23 served as one of the three judges of the event. The recent graduate, who is currently attending the Carroll School of Management at Boston College, is also a small business owner. He is the founder and chairman of Nick’s On-Site Dealing, an auto detailing service in Millbury, which has earned him accolades such as the Worcester Business Journal’s 40 under 40, as well as the CrossTank prize in 2022. “Holy Cross is a special place to me,” Nicholas says. “I was able to foster and grow my business with peers, professors and alumni. I was truly honored to be thought of to judge this competition. I have experience competing on the national level with other MBA students across the country, and [the] CrossTank helped me prepare for this. I couldn’t be more grateful for this experience.”
The ultimate winners of the 2024 CrossTank competition were T.J. Haigh ‘26 for the Operational stage, and Logan and Skyler Mott for the Concept stage (the former Mott is class of 2027). Haigh won the 2023 Concept stage of the CrossTank for his trivia social media app Trivflic. The Motts won the Concept stage for their invention Mark-it, “a tailor-made product for track and field enthusiasts, providing precise markers for starting points in various field activities” (Ciocca Center). The latter prize was particularly striking to the audience, as the brothers demonstrated prototypes, earning them a further $250 as part of the Audience Award, a brand new addition to the proceedings. Both winning teams, beyond their cash prizes, moved on to the WooTank Collegiate Showdown, held on Tuesday, April 2nd in the Brickbox Theatre in Worcester.
“Preparing for a pitch at any level…is not an easy task,” Haigh says when asked about how the WooTank went for him. “You need to be able to stand in front of a crowd, at Woo Tank almost 200, and present your business for 7 minutes, then get questioned for another 7 minutes by the judges after that, all live, all on stage, no commercial breaks like on Shark Tank. You have to know your business, suppliers, metrics of scale etc, and how they affect you inside and out.
“Woo Tank was an unreal experience, 8 teams from 4 colleges right here in Worcester (Nichols is close enough) pitched to three prominent business folks: Brian, Mark, and Margeret. Without the Ciocca Center, and the constant support from Rob Murner and his team, Trivflic wouldn’t have been able to compete and represent Holy Cross at the level that it did. Woo Tank had close to 200 people watching it, that’s a lot of people and eyeballs staring at you waiting for you to entertain them.”
Although not everyone walked away with a cash prize at the CrossTank, or received as much money as they may have wanted, everyone walked away happy with the advice and attention that they had received. Presenting ideas that are very near and dear to one’s heart, particularly with the intent to make a difference, is no small task, and all of the contestants performed admirably and with grace. Haigh admits as much in his final thoughts on the event: “The connections I made at [the CrossTank] propelled Trivflic forward. The app wouldn’t be where it is today.”
Featured image courtesy of the Ciocca Center
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