Coming up with a startup idea is the first step for a hopeful entrepreneur. The next steps are development and eventually pitching to investors. The 2025 Husky PitchFest provided an opportunity for iSchool students to take that leap and pitch their startup ideas to an audience. 

On May 15, nearly 100 people gathered in Kane Hall for the competition where startup groups and individuals had 60 seconds to pitch in front of a panel of judges. The event also drew participants from established businesses, research teams and even startups that were created as recently as a month ago.

One group of Informatics students drawn to PitchFest began their startup as a class project. Graduating seniors Karina Amaya, Li-Neishin Co, Mike Labrador, Elizabeth Skalatsky and Jenna Sorror comprise the startup, Quest. 

Quest seeks to create a community for gamers to share their opinions and memorable moments playing video games with their friends and other gamers. Their tagline reads, “It's like the Letterbox or Goodreads of video games.”

The idea arose as an autumn quarter class project for INFO: 340, Client-Side Development, where Co and Skalatsky’s project group wanted to create a startup specifically for the gaming community. 

“In the fall, we were both super interested in journaling and video games, and there isn't really an app for that,” Skalatsky said. “There's something for books and something for movies with Letterbox or Goodreads, but there really isn't anything like that for games.” 

After the class, the two wanted to expand their idea further and decided to pursue Quest as their Capstone project, creating the full team with Amaya, Labrador and Sorror. Together, they are developing their website, focusing on creating a safe online community for gamers.

Skalatsky said that for the Capstone project, “We're trying to make a space for marginalized [gaming] communities who feel ostracized from toxicity or hate speech and could find a trusted community with people that they can share their game experiences with in a safe space.”

Under the guidance of iSchool guest faculty member Ian Lurie and the mentorship of Nick Whiting, co-founder of his startup Kumika, the group began building the base of their site.

While still in the works, Quest is designed for gamers to create profiles and join community forums. With over 20,000 games in the site’s log, it is tailored for gamers of all types and interests. They list the “trending” games at the top of the site and have tabs that allow users to navigate to gaming communities, logbooks and personal accounts.

In hope of continuing their startup endeavor post-graduation, the group attended the iStartup Lab’s Pitch Workshops in winter and spring, learning how to pitch their startup idea in 60 seconds or less. 

The iStartup Lab, led by iSchool Assistant Professor Mike Teodorescu and Assistant Teaching Professor Jeremy Zaretzky, helps iSchool students across all programs develop entrepreneurial skills and turn their ideas into startups. It also creates academic and professional opportunities for innovation-driven students.

Each iStartup Lab Pitch Workshop features a presentation sharing tips on how to pitch. The workshops included support from mentors and a low-stakes pitching competition to prepare groups for the Husky PitchFest in May. 

After the winter workshop, the Quest team took feedback to heart, using it to refine their original pitch ahead of the spring workshop. One of their biggest takeaways was the importance of hitting an emotional note early in the pitch that reaches the crowd and resonates with potential investors. 

“I think the general emotion that we're trying to give out is, ‘Have you ever felt left out of a community or a group of friends?’” Labrador said.

Reflecting on their first pitch, the group realized their biggest challenge was assuming the audience was familiar with gaming communities when in reality, many people outside those circles are unaware of them.

With these notes in mind, they approached the spring workshop determined to deliver a more accessible pitch.

“I think reaching out to people through a shared experience or something that people have already experienced sometime in their life, whether it be with games or not, I think is a way that we'll try to connect with the audience,” Sorror said. 

Spring Workshop

At the spring workshop, Samir Mehta, senior advisor at Accretive Partners LLC, gave a presentation with demonstrations and tips for a good pitch.

When giving an elevator pitch, Mehta advised, “It's not about telling everything, but it has to be compelling. What you bring to the table has to be compelling. Tailor your pitch. You have to absolutely know who your audience is.”

Another mentor, Joy Tang, a Master of Science in Information Management Mid-Career track student, gave similar advice about tailoring your pitch to your audience.

“I think [your pitch] is more about framework, and about how you sell your project to different audiences,” Tang said. “Sometimes when I talk to those students' programs, I find a common problem is that they speak in their own language and don't consider who the audience is and what they want from the audience.”

After the workshop’s pitch contest, Quest placed among the top three. The team took careful note of what made them successful at the workshop and resonated with the judges to carry those strengths into Husky PitchFest.

“I think we definitely had a good plan of narrowing down the problem that we want to address to attract people within those first eight seconds, because [before the workshop] we had an issue with addressing all the features because we were so excited and passionate,” Co said.

Husky PitchFest

With about 20 startup ideas at Husky PitchFest, every pitch had a strict time limit of 60 seconds. Audience members were handed inflatable cheering sticks and instructed to noisily urge presenters off stage once they ran over their time limit. 

Quest’s pitch, delivered by Labrador (pictured at top), incorporated the suggestions they learned at both workshops, making sure to connect with the audience and emphasize their priority of creating an inclusive community.

“The pitch that we created in the [spring] workshop was the foundation for today’s pitch,” Sorror said.

With Labrador’s successful pitch practices and project demos at the workshops, the team knew he would excel as its chosen presenter.

He closed the pitch by reminding the audience, "Our goal for Quest is not to only create a place where you can celebrate your memories, but to celebrate each other.” 

Judges Sarah Studer, Elizabeth Scallon and Emmanuel Chan commented on the presentations and selected winners. After each session of pitches, the judges spoke to the audience about what they liked and what they were looking for. Following Quest’s pitch, Chan, who — as a gamer himself — gave the team a shout-out, saying he enjoyed seeing gaming included among the startup ideas.

For Quest, team members said participating in PitchFest was an incredible opportunity to hear directly from the judges and hear impressive pitches from other participants – leaving them hopeful for the startup’s future.

“As beginners, we had a chance to really step into the world of pitching and see a glimpse into how students of various backgrounds market their interesting projects and startups,” Li-Neishin Co said.