‘Shark Tank’ star to hear University of Iowa student pitches

IOWA CITY - The University of Iowa's student union later this week will morph into a 'shark tank” when businessman and TV personality Daymond John speaks and listens to pitches from UI student entrepreneurs.

John, founder of the FUBU apparel company and co-star of ABC's 'Shark Tank,” is scheduled to speak about entrepreneurialism in the Iowa Memorial Union at 7 p.m. Thursday, according to a UI news release.

His lecture, 'Five shark points: fundamental keys to business and personal success,” will be followed by a series of product pitches from UI students. Like on ABC's 'Shark Tank,” John will sit on a panel of venture capitalists who will assess the students' business pitches and decide whether to invest.

The panel also will include John Pappajohn, a UI business graduate and benefactor and Des Moines-based venture capitalist; Tom Bedell, a Spirit Lake entrepreneur and benefactor of the UI-based Bedell Entrepreneurial Learning Laboratory; and Sarah Gardial, dean of the UI Tippie College of Business.

UI students pitching to the panel will include business majors Andrew Shao and Anthony Gair, business and Spanish major Emily Roberts, and Chen Cui, a doctoral student in computer science.

Shao will pitch his business, Test Buddy, which designs and sells an extender for classroom desks. Gair will seek support for his venture, Track Slides, which makes cleat covers for track shoes. And Roberts and Cui founded Western Wise, which provides personalized English language Internet-based tutoring to children in China.

Shao came up with his product out of frustration to find desk space for all his materials during exams, according to the news release. Gair, a Hawkeye football player and high school track athlete, started Track Slides as a way to prevent cleat damage during walks across concrete. And Roberts created Western Wise while working as a writing tutor. Many of her Chinese clients had limited English skills, so she paired up with Chinese native Cui to develop a product to teach English to Chinese children.

The students have said they view this as an opportunity to get feedback.

'I'm going into it with no expectations,” Shao said in a statement. 'I'm hoping to get some experience and feedback and see what happens.”

The lecture was open to the public, but the free tickets were gone within a half-hour of becoming available.