The Elevator Pitch: Gates Innovators Share Their Big Ideas

(above) Director of Gates Jenny Sabados works with two of Cardigan’s Gates Innovators.

Walk into the Gates Lab when the eighth and ninth graders are in class and the lesson plan for the day is rarely clear. You won’t find objectives written on the board, copies of practice problems dutifully filled out by students, or step-by-step instructions on how to complete an experiment.

What you will see are teams of students huddled together, working independently on the development of their start-ups; in this inquiry-based classroom, teachers are present, not to tell students what to do but to ask questions that lead students on open-ended and unique quests.

Last fall, Director of Gates Jenny Sabados presented eighth and ninth-grade students with the option to sign up for two new yearlong courses––“Robotics” and “Innovators.” The robotics students competed in three competitions throughout the winter and continued to innovate and develop their robots throughout the spring for an on-campus expo during the Gates Invention and Innovation Competition. 

At the same time, the Innovators have been developing business plans for products and services that aim to solve current real-world problems. Students research their competition, network with entrepreneurs and experts in their field, develop prototypes when applicable using emergent technology, and compete in national competitions––including the Big IDEA Competition, the Blue Ocean Competition, Innovation World Series, and Community ChangeMakers. Their classroom is the real world, and their lesson plans are dictated by their business plans.

“Gates is more than a competition,” says Ms. Sabados. “It’s a learning philosophy that we strive for every Cardigan student to experience across academics, athletics, and residential life. By fostering a sensitivity to possibility, the Gates mindset cultivates confidence, empathy, and purpose, empowering the boys to take action and make meaningful contributions to the world around them.”

One of Ms. Sabados’ favorite exercises with her students is to break down the walls of the Gates classroom and transport her students to a coffee shop in Silicon Valley. Taking on the role of an investor, she asks her students to pitch their ideas to her, telling stories that are provocative, informed, professional, and concise. So grab a cup of coffee, take a seat, and listen to their pitches.

Innovators: Peter Norby ’25 and Allen Liu ’25

Company Name: Eco-Prime

Elevator Pitch: Online shopping has created a tremendous amount of waste. We want to create a box that is eco-friendly, returnable, reusable, and space-efficient. Our goal is to partner with Amazon and replace their most common shipping box––17.2” x 12” x 11.25”––with a reusable box that can be folded flat and returned to Amazon as an add-on feature for Amazon Prime users.

What has challenged you: The number of times we have had to pivot. We started off thinking we wanted to partner with a food delivery service but our research and our Zoom call with Mr. Kevin Lo [trustee and entrepreneur] helped us understand the market better and narrow our focus. It’s going to be important for us to start simple by producing one box, proving our concept, gaining the trust of Prime users, and then expanding to all packaging.

Innovators: PK Stasko ’26 and JT Tourangeau ’25

Company Name: PK Hockey Company

Elevator Pitch: PK Hockey Company is a small, New Hampshire business that was founded by a hockey player with the goal of peak performance for hockey players. Our hockey stick wax comes in a variety of scents and is reasonably priced. We use beeswax as our main ingredient, which is a by-product of honey, making it both eco-friendly and 100% sustainable. We strive to make the best wax for our customers and make each one with love. We also have made a commitment to giving back; for every $5.00 of income, we donate $.25 to Hockey On Your Block, a Chicago-area organization that uses the game of hockey to drive social change and foster more inclusive communities.

What has challenged you: “I can’t do it on my own,” says PK who started the company on his own prior to signing up for the Innovators class. “In order to grow the company, I’ve had to be open-minded and learn to work with others.”

JT, who has taken on the role of chief marketing officer, is learning to harness courage when he reaches out to possible clients and gets turned down. “Sometimes it’s hard to keep going,” he says. “At the same time, the Gates program has given us a lot of support and helped us to talk to entrepreneurs who have given us a lot of encouragement. It’s been really cool.”

What’s next: We’d like to be able to sell to 100,000 hockey players but in order to do that we need to patent our formula. Right now all the wax is made in the Gates Lab; we’ll need to partner with another company to help us scale up and produce enough product. 

Innovators: Cole Brown ’25, Ryan Sands ’25, Matt Blanchard ’25, Eli Heffer ’25, and Mana Petrini ’25

Company Name: EmployEASE

Elevator Pitch: “EmployEASE is a recruiter in your pocket, a consultant in your ear, and a skills instructor for your future.” Over ten percent of recent college graduates are unemployed. We’d like to help them find their forever career through a three-tiered program. At the first level, college graduates can download an application and EmployeEASE will help them find a job, matching in a traditional online employment website. At the second level, college graduates can receive counseling and training at a brick-and-mortar site that would prepare them for a job. At the third level, EmployEASE will provide its clients with job training and then connect them with employers who can give them real-life work experience. Unlike current employment websites, we intend to do the work of training clients so they are prepared for the work at the companies in our partnership.

What has challenged you: Working on independent projects like this puts a lot of the responsibility to stay focused on us. We have a lot of independence every day but we have to get our work done.

What’s next: We’ve already done some customer discovery, but we need to do more! Trial and error and research are great, but talking to people who have experienced the job search market helps us refine our business plan.

Innovators: Brian Cho ’25 and Daniel Rhee ’25

Company: Sensory Helmet Liner

Elevator Pitch: Sports are important, but head injuries continue to be a problem. We are building a helmet with built-in sensors that will tell our users when it is time to replace their helmets. The sensors will also track impacts over time and assess the cumulative effect. When a dangerous impact occurs, a notification will be sent to coaches and parents.

What has challenged you: It’s been a challenge figuring out how sensitive to make the sensors. It’s not meant to be a diagnostic tool and won’t replace the advice of a medical doctor, but we still want to make an algorithm that is accurate and reliable and doesn’t sideline kids unnecessarily.

It’s also been challenging to keep going. When we started, we had so much passion and thought we’d be done in a month.  But in February, we were supposed to enter the Blue Ocean Competition and we weren’t ready in time. We couldn’t compete. It was a big learning moment for us and made us more dedicated to sticking to our plan and getting our work done. 

What has surprised you: We feel really lucky to be a part of this program. We didn’t know that we could be professionals and have conversations with experts. We’ve been able to connect with a neurologist at Boston Children’s Hospital, and when we made a cold call to Boston University, they responded and sent us a lot of information in return. People have a genuine interest in our project and what we are trying to accomplish.