On Sunday, April 27, the University hosted its inaugural Shark Tank event featuring an afternoon of high-energy pitches, Q&A, and networking at Ring Family Performing Arts Hall. The event is the culmination of the student forum “Wesleyan Shark Tank: The Art of the Pitch” (CSPL 420) co-led by student leaders Michael Astorino ’26 and Ben Carbeau ’25 and facilitated by the Patricelli Center for Social Entrepreneurship. The event was modeled off Shark Tank, an American reality TV show where entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas to a panel of investors, seeking venture capital to help launch or grow their startups.
“We had seen so many students with interesting ideas and ventures that they had been working on on campus, and just like starting a business, we identified a gap that existed here and filled it,” Astorino said. “So we brought students together and created this course, the student forum…. We had three weeks to pull it all together, create [a] syllabus, line up guest speakers, and build out the class. Beyond that, the class has been great. We’ve had guest speakers at every class, everyone from lawyers to start-up founders to top executives helped teach the course, and Ben and I were kind of the guides on that…journey, more than teachers.”
The event kicked off with opening remarks by Assistant Professor of the Practice in Public Policy and Director of the Patricelli Center Ahmed Badr ’20, followed by an introduction to the panel of sharks. The panelists were Strauss Zelnick ’79, founder and partner at ZMC; Stuart Ellman ’88, co-founder and general partner at RRE Ventures; Marisa MacClary ’94, a healthcare technology entrepreneur; Josh Goldin ’00, Founder & Managing Partner at Alliance Consumer Growth; Olayinka Lawal ’15, Global Strategic Partnership Manager at Google and investor at Black Angel Group; AJ Wilson Jr. ’18, Corporate and M&A Associate at King & Spalding LLP; and Rodger Desai, CEO of Prove Identity.
Throughout the event, student entrepreneurs showcased different ventures, pitched their ideas to the panel, and received real-time feedback. The business ideas ranged from healthcare to finance to streaming music. The sharks engaged with the presenters through insightful questions and advice, offering both mentorship and critical insights to help refine their business models. Additionally, some sharks committed to providing funding in exchange for a share of the company. The passion of the students was greatly appreciated and set the tone in the room.
“I thought it was great,” Zelnick, the namesake of the Zelnick Pavilion, said. “I thought the business plans were excellent. The students were energetic and interesting. The panel was really well-experienced, and I thought it was a great event.”
The event concluded with networking among the participants, sharks, faculty, and spectators.
“I thought it was an A+, incredible job,” Desai said. “[It] was well organized. All the pitches were really thoughtful, and I could tell they were passionate about what they’re doing. It was great that they involved other students, so it’s a very communal program. I thought it was incredible, and I hope they do it every year.”
There were six participating teams that each pitched for two minutes before a Q&A session. The sharks then deliberated before presenting a potential offer.
Palmer Zarzycki ’28 presented first about his company, “Perfect Beach Day NJ.” Perfect Beach Day NJ is an inclusive beach concierge service that provides full setup and clean-up at different beaches in New Jersey since 2022. This is Zarzycki’s second venture, after his wholesale sneaker empire that grew to a six figure valuation.
“It was awesome to have all the eyes on me,” Zarzycki said. “I had the sharks’ attention, and I thought the presentation and Q&A went well. I think I secured some great mentorships from Zelnick and Goldin. I hope to just take their mentorship with a lot of intent. So it was great. I think that the mentorship that I anticipated coming from Strauss did end up landing. And Josh, I know, has a ton of expertise in [venture capital] funding, so even if this is my million-dollar idea, I think they’ll be able to provide that launch pad.”
Yuchao Wang ’25 presented next about his venture, Han Chung Classics (HCC). HCC sells authentic, period-correct, and automatic pop-up fog lights. The fog lights are built from original 1980s tooling but have been updated with modern LEDs.
“This was my first ever pitch,” Wang said. “I definitely was pretty nervous coming up to this, but I practiced a lot in my bedroom, in the bathroom, to the mirror, to my girlfriend, to all of my friends. And I think it paid off. I did pretty well on stage. It was a great experience.”
This was followed by Soundscape, the brainchild of Annabelle Schlesinger ’25 and Daniel Silverstein ’25. Soundscape is a music sharing platform built for interpersonal music sharing, so that music can be shared by trusted friends and curators, not artificial intelligence.
“I left the room feeling extremely inspired,” Schlesinger said. “Daniel and I got a lot of great words of wisdom from the sharks, both on stage and after; they gave us really great advice. And now we have these connections that I think will really go a long way moving forward for us.”
Silverstein expressed similar sentiments as he reflected on the growing community of entrepreneurs at the University.
“In a similar vein, I feel supported by the alumni who were there to show support, or who were the sharks,” Silverstein said. “I feel supported by the Patricelli Center and the school for kind of taking a leap of faith on Astorino and Carbeau and letting a class like that happen. I feel supported by my classmates and my community members who are there to support, and I also want to be a support for the rest of the community as well, and kind of do this together, and just support the ideas and creativity of the school. I think that so many people are so talented and have so many great ideas, and it was cool to see some of them yesterday.”
Adil Mohammed ’27 delivered his pitch next about his healthcare-related startup “OneChart.” Mohammed did not respond to a request for comment.
This led into the next presentation by Shannon Burke ’25, the founder of Cycle Aligned Athletics. Cycle Aligned Athletics is a platform that educates and empowers female athletes to train in alignment with their menstrual cycle. Additionally, Burke was offered $5,000 in funding to continue her ongoing research in this field.
“I thought that today’s event was amazing, super cool, definitely, a special thing that I’ve never been a part of,” Burke said. “And I think that being the first person to receive funding was super validating. Just like that, there’s belief in my idea, and there’s potential for it to grow. I’m super happy with taking this course in general. And I think it’s just a great opportunity for student entrepreneurs to have a space to share their idea and get access to potential funding.”
The final pitch of the event was delivered by one of the 2025 New Venture Awards winners, Abdiasis Daauud ’27, about his venture Agab. Agab is a system to simplify accounting for businesses in the Horn of Africa through a digital platform. Dauud received the highest amount of funding among all participants, receiving a collective offer by two sharks to cover the entirety of his $15,000 request.
“I am being very honest, when I went up on this stage, I didn’t think I was gonna get the whole thing,” Dauud said. “The offer came very quickly, and I was very surprised, but I’m very glad. We have plans for exactly how we’re going to spend every single dollar of the money. So I think it’s just great, because if we had not gotten the money, we would have to rearrange a lot of things and prioritize things. And I feel like just having the full amount is wonderful.”
As the event came to a close, students left with new connections, valuable mentorships, and renewed confidence in their entrepreneurial journeys. This was made possible by the hard work of Astorino and Carbeau, who expressed their gratitude for the support that they have received and the resounding success of the first-ever Shark Tank at the University.
“I just found this experience to be so special for a lot of different reasons,” Carbeau said. “It introduced me to so many incredible entrepreneurs at Wesleyan, and that kind of community is really cool, because as an entrepreneur, you do crave the support of others, and you want to be around people who are on a similar mission. Just being a part of that event was something that I’ll always remember. I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to be a part of this class, to work alongside Michael, and to work with all of our incredible students. And of course, I’m grateful for the people who made yesterday happen, all the sharks, the alumni, everyone from Patricelli, all the folks who helped out throughout the day. It’s just an incredible experience.”
Looking back at the event, Badr commended the work of the student forum leaders.
“Wesleyan Shark Tank, as a student forum and as a showcase, is a testament to the creativity of our students,” Badr wrote in a message to The Argus. “Michael and Ben have created a powerful forum for students to build businesses and mobilize investment and support in an intentional, accessible, and, importantly, fun way. The Patricelli Center is proud to support this initiative, and we look forward to making it an annual gathering.”
Raiza Goel can be reached at rgoel@wesleyan.edu.
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