With stage lights beaming down, a group of five teens wearing matching green T-shirts and wide-leg denim jeans stood shoulder to shoulder. Facing them was a panel of judges ready to ask tough questions about the students’ business proposal for an innovative portable barbecue smoker, including everything from its design to a marketing plan.
This event wasn’t Shark Tank but Pitch Night at Vista Ridge High School in Leander ISD, where entrepreneurial students have the unique opportunity to take part in a business program known as INCubator that could lead to seed funding for the very best idea.
“My favorite part of INCubator is definitely learning the fundamentals of starting a business,” said Vista Ridge High School student Bryce Rogers, whose team pitched their smoker under the company name of Bear Box. “That’s something you don’t get to learn every day.”
