Montclair State Students Shine Bright at UPitchNJ

Montclair State University beat eight other New Jersey universities and colleges in the fourth annual UPitchNJ statewide collegiate business model competition on April 26 at Seton Hall University. Representing Montclair State and earning a third place award was TacOp, led by Jonathan Morgan, a senior finance major with a minor in entrepreneurship, and Brett Siegmeister, a junior visual communications design major.

UPitchNJ is sponsored by the New Jersey Collegiate Entrepreneurship Consortium, which represents the entrepreneurship education programs at New Jersey’s four-year colleges and universities. Undergraduate student teams from 12 universities and colleges in New Jersey pitched to a panel of successful entrepreneur judges to win prizes and coaching.

Morgan’s and Siegmeister’s pitch, TacOp, is a 3D-printed device that holds hooks while fishing. The fishing accessory securely holds up to five hooks while attached to a rod by an adjustable clip-on component.

“It all started when my uncle had an idea for a fish hook holder, then Brett and I refined it to what we have today,” says Morgan. Both students took it in their hands to bring the idea to life and make something great out of a simple, yet, innovative idea.

In the process of turning the idea into a product, Morgan and Siegmeister turned to Professor Ross Malaga for guidance and direction. He taught and mentored both students during their ENTR 303: Create and Pitch Your Startup course. Professors Jason Frasca and Iain Kerr spent many hours working with the two students as they iterated on 3D print designs of their device in the MIX Lab, an interdisciplinary hub for transformative innovation open to all students.

For Morgan and Siegmeister, earning third place was much more than winning a cash prize and standing tall against eight other teams. “Being able to place is reassurance that our product has value in the eyes of the judges, but more importantly to the public,” says Morgan. “It was an honor to represent our school and to continue having a Montclair State team place in the top three every year.”

Montclair State remains the only school that has won a prize every year in the contest – a testament to the innovative curriculum at the Feliciano Center for Entrepreneurship. Every year high-quality and interdisciplinary teams representing Montclair State are entered at UPitchNJ.

A few of weeks after their participation at UPitchNJ, Morgan and Siegmeister pitched TacOp to a panel of judges at Montclair State’s annual pitch contest  known as “BulbHead.com Inventors Day for Aspiring Entrepreneurs.” They were one out of the seven teams to make it to the final round of the competition.