Meet the Winners & Top Performers of WeSolv’s Pinterest Challenge!
WeSolv and Pinterest are pleased to announce the winning teams and top performers of the recently completed Pinterest Competitor Analysis and Product Challenge.
This challenge not only represents WeSolv’s continued success in partnering with organizations in an effort to recruit more diverse MBA candidates, but also the caliber of exceptional talent continuing to join these challenges through WeSolv’s platform.
Above all, this challenge represents WeSolv and Pinterest’s commitment to diversity. Now, more than ever, diversity is absolutely critical to the health and success of organizations. We are exceptionally proud to have offered a Challenge where the premise was improving diversity in our products — how can we help underrepresented communities find the inspiration they need on Pinterest?
198 students applied, and 95 high-achieving students from 21 MBA programs across the country were selected. The teams spent several weeks immersing themselves in the Pinterest platform, how its users engage with it, and its competitors’ solutions for making diverse products more accessible.
After dutiful research, extensive office hours with the Pinterest team and unsurpassed virtual teamwork — these teams were able to provide in-depth product recommendations designed to improve diversity on the platform. Read more about the Challenge here.
Among a group of 27 talented teams representing MBA programs across the nation, 4 received superior scores from both WeSolv and Pinterest SMEs before moving on to the final round. Each presented their solutions virtually to distinguished Pinterest judges: Meredith Guerriero — Head of US Partnerships, Annie Ta- Head of Inclusive Product, Arben Perkolaj — US Industry Lead, Bill Watkins — Global Head, Mid Market, Kevin Houldsworth — Senior Partner Manager, Elizabeth Luke — Communications Lead, Shayna Steinfeld — Diversity Recruiting Strategy Lead and Elise Batscha — Partner Manager.
These teams and top performers mentioned are just a small glimpse into the insightful recommendations presented during this Challenge. Please join us in congratulating all of the participants whose performance was exemplary in this Challenge!
First Place: Keegan Dunn, Mia Liang, Vidha Jha &Yun Lu (University of Washington — Foster)
What made them stand out:
This team was incredibly product-savvy, and it paid off. They provided especially unique and thoughtful ways on how to attract new URM audiences while also aligning with the idea of inspiration.
What team members said:
“Working with Pinterest was a blast! I love a challenge in an ambiguous problem space, and it’s been great to play a small part in making underrepresented Pinners’ experience better.”- Keegan Dunn
“I had decided to participate in this case challenge because the topic of diversity is one I am passionate about. It was a great experience getting to work with Pinterest and coming up with creative ideas with my team members to help the platform reach more underrepresented user groups.” -Mia Liang
“I had a great time solving an ambiguous yet important and relevant problem of increasing engagement for underrepresented user groups on Pinterest. Thank you for the learning opportunity and support, WeSolv and Pinterest team.” — Vidha Jha
“Participating in the Pinterest case competition was an engaging and rewarding experience. The opened-ended nature of the case gave my team the opportunity to explore potential root causes and empowered us to prioritize solutions that we felt were the most critical to reach underrepresented group users.” — Yun Lu
Second Place: Grace Kim, Nadia Ogene & Katarina Chan (University of Michigan-Ross)
What made them stand out:
A focused and strong balance on creators and Pinners. This team brought the heat when it came to the analysis and recognition that Pinterest is not simply a social platform, but also e-commerce.
What team members said:
Prior to starting my MBA, one of my goals was to complete a case competition. WeSolv’s Pinterest case competition not only helped me accomplish this goal but also do it in a meaningful way where I could apply my deep passion for diversity, equity, and inclusion. I am honored to have worked alongside such talented peers and contributed to furthering this initiative for Pinterest. — Grace Kim
The Pinterest Challenge gave me a unique opportunity to solve a problem close to my heart — making digital products more accessible and inclusive. This challenge was an invaluable experience that helped sharpen my product manager skillset to create a better experience for Pinterest’s users. — Nadia Ogene
The Pinterest Challenge gave me an opportunity to utilize the design thinking framework to tackle a real-life problem that’s predominant across many products. In addition, my teammates and I are part of the Consortium of Graduate Study in Management (CGSM), and it was amazing for us to work on a project that allowed us to follow its mission in promoting diversity and inclusion for underrepresented minorities. This experience sharpened my skills as a designer, marketer, and product manager. — Katarina Chan
Third Place: Rohan Bhatia, Tracy Brown, Gabriel Puterbaugh (University of Minnesota-Carlson)
What made them stand out:
Their intelligent insight into small businesses and creator support. This team had fascinating insights into innovations in AR and an interesting focus on users.
What team members said:
WeSolv’s Pinterest Case Challenge was a unique and rewarding opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of a rapidly growing digital media platform. The problem statement raised an interesting question that pushed me to think beyond the typical MBA theories and frameworks. In a short period of time, this project has given me valuable insights into how fast-moving tech startups identify issues, design solutions, and translate the targeted solution into implementation. -Rohan Bhatia
WeSolv’s Pinterest Challenge was an exciting and important case to work on. Inclusion and representation for underrepresented groups is a passion of mine along with eCommerce. The Pinterest team was very supportive and gave us great insights into what they are already doing which helped get the ball rolling. My team and I were challenged to look at the issue from all angles, not only the company angle but how this affects users, businesses, and content creators.- Tracy Brown
WeSolv provided us the opportunity to propose solutions that create more inclusivity on the platform for an incredible company like Pinterest. Our team is passionate about diversity and we relished the opportunity to think creatively, work collaboratively, and pitch new inclusive product features and business initiatives to a broad team at Pinterest. — Gabriel Puterbaugh
Pinterest Challenge Top Finishers
In addition to team scores, all participants received their own individual scores based upon their team’s performance and individual data points. Out of 95 candidates, the following individuals received top scores:
Jesse Chiang — Univesity of Southern California (Marshall) *Finalist*
Benson Lao — Univesity of Southern California (Marshall) *Finalist*
Emily Aguilar — University of Southern California (Marshall) *Finalist*
Angela Hubert — Univesity of Southern California (Marshall) *Finalist*
Madison Ashley — University of Cincinnati (Lindner)
Kaitlin Webb — University of Cincinnati (Lindner)
Devin Bachman — University of Cincinnati (Lindner)
Nicole Aufdencamp — University of Cincinnati (Lindner)
Keyonna Anderson — University of Illinois (Gies)
Nancy Yao — University of Illinois (Gies)
Qihua Wu — University of Illinois (Gies)
Jianju (Jay) Liu — University of Illinois (Gies)
Sukhreet Dosanjih — University of Southern California (Marshall)
Samira Modaressi — University of Southern California (Marshall)
Rafael Ortiz Jr — University of Southern California (Marshall)
Ana Vasquez — University of Southern California (Marshall)
Preeti Shastri — University of Illinois (Gies)
Michal Marzec — University of Illinois (Gies)
Nicholas Brown — University of Illinois (Gies)
Lola Ogun — University of Illinois (Gies)
Sarah Ellenba -London Business School
Macarena Crossa — London Business School
Lucia Donnangelo — London Business School
Rohit Allurri — London Business School
What’s Next?
By engaging top talent to solve a real hands-on business challenge, Pinterest stakeholders had a rare opportunity to see candidates in action, plus develop a solution to a real business need. Now, Pinterest can leverage data to efficiently identify and recruit the best talent for their upcoming roles. In addition to crowd-sourcing solutions to real product challenges, the Pinterest recruiting team received a slate of diverse, engaged, knowledgeable, and talented candidates with solid skills and competency data — predictive data.
Are you a company interested in learning about a similar approach for your MBA recruitment needs? Visit our website and connect with us!
Are you an MBA interested in joining the next Case Challenge?
We have exciting challenges with Rheaply (sign-up here) and Fetch Rewards (coming soon) in the books for his year. Join WeSolv to make sure you get on the list to receive information about this Challenge!
