About Patrick: Patrick Ayers (’21) enrolled in Anderson to explore entrepreneurship and consulting. Before Anderson, he worked in healthcare and performed pro-bono consulting. At Anderson, he has been involved in various pitch competitions and consulting projects.

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Every startup is trying to answer one fundamental question: How does it gain funds without giving up equity or going into debt? Prototypes are costly, and MBA students don’t have cash to burn. If your idea is well-researched, you can write a business plan and enter a pitch competition. My name is Patrick Ayers, and I, as part of OYA Apparel, chose this option and would like to tell you more about it.

First, let me tell you OYA’s story. We started after our founder, Mitchella Gilbert (FTMBA ’21), had spoken to multiple OB/GYNs and realized millions of women needed a pair of leggings that were not only fashionable, but supported feminine wellness. We felt that the best way to drive change around feminine wellness would be to design a pair of leggings that met every woman’s needs.

After agreeing that we would be a good fit for Berkeley Haas’s Investing in Inclusion Pitch Competition , we started writing our business plan. We spent hours selecting our best markets, defining our core values, and refining our value proposition. Teammates Mac Seder (FTMBA ’21) and Raylan Vaz (FTMBA ’21) handled finance and operations, respectively, and classmate Dhivya Sridhar (FTMBA ’21) helped with readability. We also consulted with Anderson faculty like Professors Shaddy and Poliquin to help sharpen our marketing and strategy. A week after submitting, we were elated to hear we had been chosen as a finalist and invited to pitch in front of an audience at Berkeley.

Mitchella, Raylan, Dhivya, and I decided to go. Unfortunately, the coronavirus had led to the public and media being barred, but we were happy to meet our judges and fellow contestants. The judges included diversity and inclusion leaders from Levi Strauss, the Salesforce Impact Fund, and Golden Seeds—a venture capital fund focusing on women entrepreneurs. After practicing in a waiting from for about an hour, it was our turn to go. Mitch and Dhivya presented flawlessly. The judges loved our concept and provided great feedback to help us improve our marketing. Here are my three key takeaways from the event:

1. Don’t be afraid to apply for pitch competitions if you’re in your first year. You can overcome any obstacle with preparation
2. When trying to create a new product, ask yourself: is it functional or aspirational? This question will help answer later questions around topics like pricing
3. If you’re going to pitch, practice in front of the mirror, then practice in front of faculty, then practice in front of classmates

Overall, this was an incredible experience for our growing company and we were proud to represent Anderson with a third place finish.

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Student Blogger: Patrick Ayers ’21

Undergrad: University of Florida

Pre-MBA: Senior Data Analyst at DaVita Healthcare Partners

Leadership@Anderson: VP of Allyship, Black Business Student Association; Anderson Strategy Group