Slam Dunk Star Max Pearce Wins First Annual Startup Contest

Recently, Purchase College, SUNY took a page from reality television when it launched its own Startup Pitching Competition, modeled on the popular ABC show Shark Tank.

The winner of the competition, Maxwell Pearce ’18 is an economics major who is the founder of Flynance, a startup organization that helps young athletes navigate the complex world of collegiate and professional sports while learning basic pocketbook economics. Pearce, who is a senior captain of the men’s basketball team at Purchase, just won a spot in the NCAA’s slam dunk contest in San Antonio on March 29.

He received a $5,000 award along with his co-founder and fellow economics major, Derick Ansah ’17. The two plan to officially launch their company this summer.

Maxwell Pearce said, “We identified a major problem in sports culture. There is a consistent pattern of student athletes who suffer career ending injuries or graduate from an institution with no guidance on what to do next. The Flynance program will directly address this lack of preparation.”

The pitching contest was the culmination of assistant professor of economics Liya Palagashvilli’s class Entrepreneurship and Finance: Turning Ideas into Startups, which is supported by longtime donor Nancy Deckinger and the Dr. E. Lawrence Deckinger Family Foundation.

The course was co-taught by Palagashvili and Vadim Revzin, an entrepreneur-in-residence with GenFKD, a non-profit designed to increase young Americans’ understanding of financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and the skills necessary for careers in the new economy. The course focused on entrepreneurship and career-readiness through an intensive curriculum developed by GenFKD that included storytelling, networking, data analysis, budgeting and finance, pitching, leadership, negotiation strategies, taxes, and regulation.

Pearce said, “The course and professors did a magnificent job preparing us for a thorough business examination. They have a lot of great experience and essential knowledge about how to startup businesses and are doing a great job checking in with us on our progression.”

He is also very grateful to the Deckinger Family Foundation for their support. “Winning this grant has enabled us to get a great start to getting off of the ground and has reinforced our confidence in this company and helped us realize the potential of our mission.”

Nancy Deckinger hopes her donations help start many new businesses. She said, “I want to be a catalyst for students starting their professional lives.”

“Our Purchase students are so full of creativity and great ideas, and we’re thrilled to work with GenFKD and help students bring their business ideas to fruition,” says Palagashvili.

The second place award of $2,000 was presented to Liam Nethercott ’18 (economics) for a campus food delivery service concept, SUNY Purchase Delivers.

The audience also gave an honorable mention to Danellys Wong ’18 (media studies) and Justin Hess ’18 (new media) co-founders of IRL, a collaborative platform for under-represented artists.

The “sharks” were a diverse group of entrepreneurs who provided invaluable feedback after each student presentation. Among them were:

• Danny Nardo, co-founder of Nardo’s Naturals (who received an investment from Barbara Corcoran on ABC’s Shark Tank)
• Joe Bayen, an experienced entrepreneur and founder of Lenny Credit
• David Liu, of the XO Group Inc. (formerly The Knot)
• Sarah Hill, CEO of Bookstr
• Courtney Cachet, television personality and celebrity designer
• Nick Ohnell, philanthropist and founder of Ohnell Capital (founder and former CEO of Communications Supply Corp)
• Justin Dent, executive director, GenFKD

About the Dr. E. Lawrence Deckinger Family Foundation

Since 2011, the Dr. E. Lawrence Deckinger Family Foundation has established a number of programs in Journalism and Economics. First, the Foundation launched the only undergraduate Investigative Reporting course in the entire SUNY system. Thanks to the Foundation’s continued generosity, this class has become a mainstay of the Journalism Program. The Foundation has increased and expanded its support to include, among other things, the establishment of the Journalism Internship Fund, the Journalism Story Contest, and the Economics Essay Contest, and special guest speakers.

About Purchase College–SUNY

Purchase College, part of the State University of New York (SUNY) network of 64 universities and colleges, was founded in 1967 by Governor Nelson Rockefeller. His aspiration for Purchase was to create a dynamic campus that combined conservatory training in the visual and performing arts with programs in the liberal arts and sciences, in order to inspire an appreciation for both intellectual and artistic talents in all students. Today, Purchase College–SUNY is a community of students, faculty, and friends where open-minded engagement with the creative process leads to a lifetime of intellectual growth and professional opportunity. For more information about the College, visit www.purchase.edu.