The Hall of Fame.
Fretz’s leaders and best.
Laser Toaster
Fall 2016 – Joshua King, Daniel Olson, Nicket Parikh
Elevator Pitch: Create a TOASTER that used a LASER to “print” any image or phrase onto toast.
Notable Achievements:
Team of engineer roommates put in countless hours, rebuilt toaster, printed parts, used print rig from inkjet printer, installed lasers of various sizes (too small, too big, just right), created custom iphone app to drive the printer and created Fretz toast and Harbaugh toast. Highest rated team in the history of the class. 4.85/5. After the semester they put it in a closet and moved on to other cool things.
Go Nanas
Fall 2016 – Annie Slabotsky, Morgan Lerner
Elevator Pitch: Make the world’s best vegan banana bread!
URL: https://eatgonanas.com/
Notable Achievements:
– Started baking from home, then moved to commercial kitchen
– Pivoted during COVID to offer banana bread mixes
– Expanded distribution to 2,500+ stores nationwide
– Featured in Nordstrom, Wegmans, Whole Foods, and more
– Media coverage from QVC, Forbes, and USA Today
Valiant
Fall 2017- Jared Wangler
Elevator Pitch: Create a clothing brand with a group of Football players
URL: https://valiantmanagementgroup.com/
Notable Achievements:
Started a clothing line, initial success led to placement in M-Den, switching from Adidas to Nike resulted in a number of items no longer being produced, so Valiant stepped into that space, with great success. Increasing visibility within Athletics led to significant NIL involvement, which is now the core of Valiant’s amazing business.
Redemption Prom
Winter 2024
Elevator Pitch: Offer a Prom experience to college seniors who were denied a HS Prom by Covid.
URL: https://www.michigandaily.com/news/campus-life/umich-students-organize-redemption-prom-for-class-of-2024/
Notable Achievements:
Had a fantastic well attended event, one of the most fun Dr. Fretz has seen in the class history
Line Leap
Fall 2017 – Megan Sugrue
Elevator Pitch: Express pass to get through long bar lines, this project was the launch of an existing company in the A2 market.
URL: https://www.lineleap.com
Notable Achievements:
– Expanded to hundreds of bars nationwide
– 223 team helped with A2 launch
Tabs Chocolate
Fall 2021 – Oliver Brocato
Elevator Pitch: Chocolate with aphrodisiac nutraceuticals
URL: www.tabs.co
Notable Achievements:
– High quality, US-made
– Multiple flavors
– 250,000 customers
– Clever marketing and use of social media
– 223 internship partner
Wave RF
Fall 2023 – Eric Andrechek
Elevator Pitch: Small device using RF spectrum to link phones when cell towers are too far or overloaded
Notable Achievements:
– 1st test Fall 2023
– Multiple prototypes and phone app
– Company formed, patent pending
– Ideal for remote area rescue
– Mesh capable — friend groups can be spread out for miles
Exotic Dance Night
Elevator Pitch: When Dr. Fretz denied their plan to open a strip club, this team of ladies chose to stage an exotic dance night (clothed) with a local bar that loved the idea and installed poles for the dancers. Overcoming a huge number of obstacles and Dr. Fretz’s relentless demands for safety and security they finally hosted the event to great success
Notable Achievements:
Despite some attempted dashers, and someone pulling the fire alarm they had a fun safe event that the venue begged them to do again, and also made a tidy sum.
