Last week, I had the privilege of serving as a judge for the BUS 1115 Shark Tank–style pitch competition for Florida Southern College, hosted at Catapult Lakeland—a fitting venue and an inspiring incubator for entrepreneurial ideas and early-stage businesses in our community.

As an FSC alumnus, it was meaningful to watch first-year business students present their ideas in a space designed for builders, founders, and doers. The teams were evaluated on fundamentals that matter in the real world: clarity of the problem and opportunity, strength of the value proposition, understanding of the target market, and the team’s ability to communicate their thinking.

This year’s competition placed less emphasis on detailed financial projections and more on problem–solution fit and feasibility of execution. That shift made sense. At this stage, learning how to think clearly about a customer problem, articulate a solution, and explain why it matters is far more important than perfect numbers on a slide.

In many ways, the judging criteria mirrored how I think about businesses every day through my work at OptaProfit. Whether you’re a first-year student or a seasoned operator, sustainable success starts with the same fundamentals: clear thinking, simple systems, disciplined execution, and strong communication.

I’m grateful to Florida Southern College, the faculty, and the team at Catapult Lakeland for creating a real-world environment where students can test their ideas and learn by doing. Most of all, I’m proud of the students who stepped up, took the risk, and shared their thinking.

That’s where confidence is built—and it’s always worth giving back to the places and communities that help shape the next generation of leaders.