"When was the last time you were excited about ketchup?" asked Shannon Oliver, MBA '13, in a video shown to the judges of the Lundquist Center for Entrepreneurship (LCE)'s annual graduate-level Venture Quest Investment Competition. Oliver and three other MBA candidates—Karen Bonner, Kurt Barajas, and Jessica Zutz—aim to bring new spice to the familiar condiment via their Red Duck line of artisanal ketchups. Originally cooked up as a project for this fall's New Venture Planning course—co-taught by Al Cochrane and LCE program manager Nathan Lillegard—three flavors of the spicy sauce were introduced to faculty and staff in an informal focus group session a few days prior to the competition. During its Venture Quest presentation, the team also offered samples--complete with piping hot french fries to dab up the ketchup samples--to the judges' panel. Clearly wowed, the judges named Red Duck Ketchup the competition's winning entry and awarded the team the top place in the elevator pitch competition as well. If all goes according to plan, this victory is just the start. The Red Duck team plans to take their product through the college's entire Venture Launch Pathway--and beyond. A fourth ketchup flavor is scheduled to take flight in 2014. Go (Red) Ducks!