Rum Dogs wins first prize in 2016 Freirich Competition

A Skidmore senior’s four-year effort to revolutionize the maturation of rum by aging it in the ocean received a major boost Friday as the eight judges in the Kenneth A. Freirich Business Plan Competition awarded his startup the $20,000 first prize plus $5000 in legal services.

Alexander Nassief ’16, a native of Dominica, has pitched Rum Dogs in the competition every year since he was a first-year student. He twice placed second, and last year came in fourth, but showed his tenacity by returning to win the competition this year.

“I’m going to sink all of the winnings into rum,” he said, grateful for the support Skidmore’s startup community has given him since 2012. “There is a lot of demand we are looking to meet.” 

Nassief’s patent-pending technique reduces the time required to age a premium rum from five years to six months. That makes Nassief certain he can bring to market by the end of the year 2,500 bottles of a new premium rum, which he describes as “version two” of the Spice of the Antilles label he recently brought to market and shared with the judges Friday.

Created with the intent of fostering entrepreneurship and creativity across all majors and disciplines at Skidmore, the Kenneth A. Freirich Business Plan Competition has grown into one of the best-funded among liberal arts colleges nationally. More than 285 students and 175 businesses have entered the competition, which Freirich established in 2010 to encourage students to follow their passions with a transformational entrepreneurial experience.

Listen to Nassief talk about his experience in the Competition with coordiantor Roy, Rotheim. 

Seven startups selected in the competition’s semi-final round in February made presentations. Others awarded the top prizes included:

Adirondack Flannel—Jamie Benjamin '17 and Leif Catania '17 earned the second prize of $10,000 and $2,500 in accounting services to launch a line of men's and women's clothing that speaks to the spirit of the Adirondack Mountains. Gregg Smith '92, a partner in Edison Nation, mentored them.

AuxNation—Noam Kahn '18, Dhruv Singh '18 and Zack Jones '18 received the third prize of $5,000 for developing a mobile app to help DJs better match playlists with the preferences of event attendees. Their mentor was entrepreneurial physician Kathryn Peper '78.

MyCity Brew—Jonah Epstein '16, who recently raised $10,000 in a Kickstarter campaign to crowdsource a distinctive Buffalo, N.Y., beer, won the fourth prize of $2,500. His mentor is Larry Peck '92, a director at Peck Asset Management.

In addition, Claire Lindsay ’16 was awarded a special $5,000 prize in recognition of the important contribution that her launch of Green Onion LLC will make toward helping entrepreneurial farmers in the

Black Dirt region of Orange County. She and her sister Hilary are establishing a farmers’ cooperative that brings consumers to retail, food, arts and learning events. Her mentor was independent business advisor Christine Juneau '82, P'18.

Runner-up awards of $1,000 each were made to Lindsay and the following:

Good Citizen—Morgan Reid-Spaulding '16 and Annys Aristy '16 are developing a line of trendy clothing that uses recyclable fibers. Their mentor is Nancy Wekselbaum '73, owner of the Gracious Gourmet.

LeMur Technologies—Derek Halden '16, Anh Vu Nguyen '17 and Khalil Hall-Hooper '16 are developing a mobile app to evaluate employees via anonymous reviews by supervisors and colleagues. Their mentor is Andrew Eifler '07, an executive at AppNexus.

Thanks to the help they’ve received from alumni mentors over the last six weeks, all of the pitches the teams made in the final round were substantially more polished and persuasive than their semi-finals presentations. Nassief came in more sharply focused on his new branding, a shift he attributes to the marketing acumen of his mentor, Sara Arnell ’82, senior managing director of the Magrino Agency.

“We had many phone calls, Google docs working sessions, and FaceTime reviews of drafts and presentation rehearsals,” said Arnell. “Most importantly, Alex was motivated as never before.  He has a dogged determination to innovate the rum category and set a new standard for production, quality and taste. This prize was hard won and well deserved.”

“Alex is quintessentially what this competition is all about–learning, growing and changing your life forever,” said Freirich ’90. who spearheaded the competition in 2010 and has been the largest contributor to it. “We’ve all been impressed by how Alex has grown as both an individual and the owner of what promises to be a highly successful business.”

Said competition coordinator Roy Rotheim, professor of economics, “The quality of this year’s presentations, businesses, judges, and mentoring distinguished this competition from all others. I’m proud of everyone.”

In addition to Freirich himself, judges in the finals included:

• Thomas Caulfield, senior vice president and general manager, Fab 8, GlobalFoundries

• Molly Dyson '04, director, Dyson Foundation

• Susan Magrino '83, chair and CEO, Magrino Agency

• Mireya T.J. Manigault '09, regulatory director, PricewaterhouseCoopers

• Eric Rongley '89, founder and CEO, Bleum Inc.

• Rich Wartel '91, president and founder, Two Labs Marketing

• Ceci Zak '87, COO, HealthCare at Omnicom-DAS