Reeling into Success: First-Year Student Wins Fish Tank Competition

In a weeklong series of entrepreneurial events hosted by the School of Business at St. John Fisher University, a winner floated to the surface of the Fish Tank competition. Brennan Conn, a first-year business major, earned the $3,000 prize for his business start-up idea, Challkbar, a product designed to ease rock climbing in gyms.

The Fish Tank competition allowed any Fisher student, regardless of their major or stage in idea development, to pitch their business idea to a panel of experts. The event also gave students the opportunity to network with professionals and receive feedback on their ideas.

“The money is going to go straight into getting our initial batch of Challkbar out,” Conn, a rock climber himself, said. “It’s going to go into research and development and eventually push Challkbar into climbing gyms for every climber.”

The Challkbar product consists of a plastic base with a sponge attached, as well as a plastic cup. Conn says the product helps climbers grip the holds on the wall. A rock climber himself, he was looking for an alternative to the two kinds of chalk currently on the market: liquid chalk and powder chalk. Both methods he deemed inefficient, and sought to create his own.

“A climber would take the sponge, soak it in liquid chalk, attach it to their harness, and then in one quick swipe they have a fully chalked hand ready to go back on the wall,” he said.

Conn highlighted the University’s provision of 3D printers in the School of Business as a major support to his aspirations. “I wanted to push out a prototype as quickly as possible, and if I had to purchase a 3D printer and purchase these resources, I would have been spending a lot of money and time developing that prototype.”

Conn was chosen out of seven student presenters, winning the grand prize. On Friday, March 28, he again found success, advancing to the next round of the New York State Business Plan Competition. Additional student winners were Luke Strassberger (Covr), second place, $1,000 prize; Sydney Clupper (Vital Revive), third place, $500 prize; and Dylan Becker (Courspective) and Dom Mancuso (Mancuso’s Mobile Detailing), third place, $250 prize.

This article was written by Brooke Eastman, a senior media and communication major. Eastman currently works in the Office of Marketing and Communications at Fisher for the spring 2025 semester.