‘Naive and hungry’ for opportunity: Benchtop Innovations class launches Envee

When University of Richmond senior Trey Creamer grabbed utensils to dig into his homemade meal of pesto pasta with a side of Caesar salad, he expected nothing but a satisfying meal at the other end of the fork. To his surprise, he was met with the inspiration for this year’s Benchtop Innovations winner: Envee.

The Benchtop Innovations course at the University of Richmond is a Robins School of Business-sponsored course open to all majors where 16 students come together to take an idea and turn it into a marketable product. This year’s theme: salad dressings.

Four groups were selected by Joel Mier, lecturer of marketing at the Robins School of Business who runs the program. After only a few weeks of brainstorming, recipe development and pitch preparation, each group presented their product in a “Shark Tank” fashion to a panel of judges. 

Seniors Kerin Debany, a Global Studies and Spanish double-major with a minor in Sustainability, and Claire Binkley, a Rhetoric and Communications and Leadership Studies double-major, were in search of something unlike anything they had ever done at the University of Richmond. 

“[The class] was kind of the perfect way to work with a bunch of different people and really get your hands dirty and invest in something that you care about for an entire year,” Binkley said.

Although neither of them had spent much time in the business school, Binkley said, “naive and hungry for a new opportunity” were the two qualities Mier appreciated most from his students participating in this atypical, year-long group project.

The class began by easing students into the world of entrepreneurship and the basics of a start-up at a pace that had Debany and Binkley confused about what was to come, they said. 

After venturing out of the theoretical teaching, the students were sent to the sauces and salad dressing aisle with $100 per group, given to them by their professor to search for the flavor palette they were to aim for in the coming weeks. 

It was not long, however, before the class momentum spiked, Debany explained. 

“And then all of a sudden, you're in the kitchen,” she said. 

There were two weeks of trial and error as the students searched for a recipe; tossing together different ingredients, varying between vinaigrette and creamy dressing styles, and testing different portions while making certain to write down each measurement in case that experimental batch was the one to win. 

Binkley said that, at first, her group walked into the kitchen with an ambition to achieve perfection, acting as if they knew exactly how to tackle the challenge of crafting a recipe from scratch. 

However, it wasn't until they embraced the idea that mistakes were essential to progress that they found their best outcome, she said. 

“[The] best creations come when you embrace mistakes, we master[ed] our recipe on the silliest day when the four of us were really just laughing,” Binkley said. “Just roll with the punches and know that perfectionism isn't attainable”.

After finally executing the kitchen phase, group members began to develop their product. Through a partnership with Virginia Commonwealth University’s Brandcenter, an advertising school within VCU, students developed the predicted design, name, packaging and logo. However, a bottle of salad dressing with new, shiny labeling isn't everything, Binkley said. 

“You have a product, but you need to figure out, what's the story behind it? Is it something bigger?” she said. 

The development of this story was crucial for the most daunting part of the course: the pitch presentation. 

“Standards and expectations are high,” Debany said. “You feel like these need to be the best presentations you give at Richmond”.

With a mere two weeks of preparation, students were searching for every opportunity to brainstorm, collaborate and receive feedback as they fleshed out the story behind the sauce. Whether it was determining price ranges, recognizing the target audience or rehearsing the elaborate, often costume-involving, skits to set the scene of their pitch, preparation was key. Students were willing to prepare whenever and wherever. Binkley’s group ventured between 1 a.m. B-school sessions with Mier and brainstorming sessions at the bar at the on-campus dining location, The Cellar, where a group member bartends.   

“Throughout the entire process [you get] these waves of a really high adrenaline rush, really big peaks and valleys, and this goes on for like, weeks. [Then] it crashes. You feel horrible and exhausted,” Binkley said. “But positive feedback in meetings pumps you back up.”

After weeks of back-and-forth discussions, endless spoonful sampling of recipes and hours of rehearsing, the groups pitched their semester-long efforts and the judges arrived at a decision: Envee. 

Envee CEO Lindsay Batten said the win was an unexpected “shock to the system.” 

After the winner is selected, the entire class is then expected to back the winning product and become a part of the Envee team. 

Binkley and Debany, who were on different teams said, “It’s always bittersweet,” but both they and Batten emphasized that everyone was positive and supportive of the winning team. 

“[After winning] it kind of flipped the gears straight into drive,” Trey Creamer, CFO of Envee said. 

All students were then assigned to take on various roles within the emerging start-up, all with one goal, Binkley said: to sell. 

Since the course is primarily student-driven, the effort and momentum of the next few weeks will determine whether Envee has the potential to toss up the salad dressing market. 

 “Our professor [said], I need you to remember, I've never developed a product. You're the expert now. So if you want the answer, you're gonna have to go find it,” Binkley said.

Although Binkley and Debany didn’t win the bake-off, they said they gained an understanding that has impacted all facets of their lives. 

Debany, who stuck to her organized, structured schedule, learned to embrace adaptability through the spontaneity of each phase of the recipe progression. 

“You learn so much more when it is ‘go with the flow,’” she said. “There’s only so much you can learn from a textbook.” 

Binkley, who often felt stuck in the hustle culture at the university, realized how important it was to pause for a moment to take it all in. 

 “There is so much joy in it, you just need to stop and embrace [it]” she said. 

Contact features editor Bella Corona at bella.corona@richmond.edu