One of five finalists competing for the $5,000 first prize at JWU Sharkfest 2025, Randy Benitez ’27, B.S.B.A. – Entrepreneurship had only minutes to pitch his product and persuade the panel of judges to declare his business idea a winner. The product Benitez was pitching — ReWriter — has taken him more than a decade to research, plan, develop and beta test.
JWU Sharkfest, the Larry Friedman Center for Entrepreneurship’s annual student business idea pitch competition, is open to all Johnson & Wales University students. Historically, all of the participants in Providence’s Sharkfest competition have been on-campus students.
Benitez is the first JWU Online student to be a finalist in the competition. Pursuing his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration, Benitez, who lives and works in New Jersey, took home $1,000 for his third-place win.
“The $1,000 award will go straight into ReWriter, to fund milestones to get to the next development stage,” Benitez explains. “There’s so much coding and development and programming to do. It’s not about profit at this point and so the prize money helps.”
ReWriter
A drummer, guitarist and songwriter for more than a decade, Benitez needed to solve the problem of capturing the songs he was composing for his band, and the bands of other musicians. Benitez explains, “A musician can be insanely talented, but when you’re writing a song while playing it, in three seconds you can forget what you just created. Expressing yourself through music — just pouring yourself out — you’re in a different state of mind compared to when you are transcribing the music to tablature.
“Many of my musician friends feel the same frustration about losing songs while writing them. That’s how I know that ReWriter is meeting a legitimate need. Potentially ReWriter could affect the entire music industry, but I’m not trying to conquer the world. I see this as a problem that needs solving.
Benitez explains that ReWriter, a revolutionary app, works similarly to Google’s speech to text app. “By transcribing music for you even as you are composing it, ReWriter reduces the time spent in songwriting. Without having to stop playing to click on your computer and type the notes, you can just focus on the playing part — ReWriter will do the heavy lifting for you.”
According to Benitez, competitors haven’t yet developed guitar tablature transcription equal to ReWriter. “Their transcription products involve extra steps to compose, edit or share the music, and often require additional software to achieve the end result. We’ve accomplished this by enabling musicians to visualize the music in real-time. ReWriter does everything in one shot, so we’re the one stop shop.”
Musical Talent
“Born in the Dominican Republic, my mother’s side of the family are all musicians. My first childhood memory, after we moved to Puerto Rico, was waking up to Michael Bolton’s music. I began to beat everything with a stick to make sounds like his. Eventually, I would play drums at church after the sermon. Inheriting an innate sense of rhythm from my mother, I didn’t know what I was doing, but other churchgoers noticed that I was musically inclined. For me, it was just fun — I was enjoying myself.
“Fast forward to the year following the 9/11 attacks, I moved with my family to the United States. Without access to musical outlets, I played sports. In the eighth grade, one of my friends introduced me to heavy metal music — Metallica and even more important to me, Pantera. I liked the rhythm compared with the heavier rhythm of the Latin music I had been accustomed to. I dove right in.”
Tablature and Tabit
Benitez says he struggled to read traditional music scores even while taking music classes in the ninth grade. “Simpler and more intuitive, I was able to read guitar tablature. While standard musical scores display the musical staff, musical notes and provide the key and rhythm, tablature — or tab — displays the strings and shows where to place your fingers.
“My friend, Michael, gave me the Tabit software. Tabit is a full-featured software program for creating, playing, and printing out tablature for guitar, bass, banjo and other stringed instrument. Tabit allowed me to manually enter notes on the computer, so that I had a way to jot down my ideas.
“Everything I wrote was a melody and driven by rhythm. I got a job locally at the supermarket and saved enough money to buy a netbook, the predecessor to Chromebook. Netbook was in Windows, so it was perfect for me. Writing music with the netbook, I became a hermit. My friends understood and my mom and dad supported me — they knew I was doing something special with the talent I had been given.”
Without Tabit There Would Be No ReWriter
“During high school, I played in garage bands and when we participated in a Battle of the Bands, we won. Graduating high school in 2010, I already had a decent catalog of music that I had written. I began playing my original songs in local bands and later did small tours throughout New Jersey. Using the Tabit software, I wrote music for the bands I played in and for other people’s bands.
“I became tired of having to stop playing and manually enter every single note on the computer. For 20 years, guitarists have been focused on how better to transcribe music. I found research as early as 2005 and mockups and prototypes of products that attempted to solve that problem. During 2013 to 2014, I began developing ReWriter with the desire to create an innovative iteration of guitar tablature transcription that makes a change to an industry level standard.”
Currently Benitez and his team are concentrating on boosting ReWriter’s recent beta release. “My research on demographics suggests that about 30 million guitarists exist in the US, and about 5% of those own their guitars. Those are actually our obtainable users and our clients. The demographic data shows that we’re looking at 18- to 34-year-olds, primarily in the northeastern region, who like to go to metal or hard rock concerts. This cohort is more likely to utilize guitar notation software to jot their ideas down while they are playing — or to learn other musicians’ songs from downloaded musical sheets they’ve purchased. Young adults learning to play instruments can also benefit from using ReWriter.
“But anyone at any age can benefit from ReWriter when they decide to pick up an instrument. We’re proud to have 200 subscribers. I can confidently say that we’re the only ones doing this for electric guitar real-time, without no additional software – just your recording interface.”
Long-Term Goals
“ReWriter does have an educational application, especially for music teachers. Once we have completed the visual component of ReWriter, we want to cater to other companies that provide services for students who have learning disabilities. Before I worked in banking, I was a musical instructor for kids with disabilities. ReWriter meets the needs of three different types of learners — visual, auditory and kinesthetic — because you are playing your guitar, hearing what you’re playing and you can also see how you are playing it as the notes appear on the computer screen.
“Eventually I would like to tap into the South American market, because they’re an underserved and undervalued nation — there is so much talent there.“
A CEO, and not a technical founder, Benitez sees himself as more of a visionary. “I’ve worked with eight developers to evolve ReWriter. I’m not the only one that’s trying to solve the problem — a community of people is working on similar projects and everyone is going to have different ways of solving it. I don’t see others as competitors — it is exciting to me. It’s natural to want to be the first; however, my wife reminds me, ‘You don’t want to be the first so much as the person who does it right.’”
JWU Online Has Been A Good Decision
Benitez came to JWU to build skills in finance and accounting to support his full-time position in banking. He’s also adding classes in entrepreneurship to learn about funding through Venture Capitalism and the angel investor world, including how to source deals, look at a company valuation and understand the projections that relate to ReWriter from a financial standpoint.
Initially, Benitez believed he didn’t have time to go to school. “I work full-time, write music for people, run ReWriter and there are always things I need to do at home. I will always be thankful to Alex, our financial advisor at the bank for advising me to make use of the opportunity to get more skills.
“I took my time to vet multiple universities before enrolling in the online business administration program. I wanted to be sure that the school I chose was right for me. Not impressed by ‘flash,’ I paid more attention to content — what kind of education the school offered and what I would receive.
“The majority of school websites are more focused on marketing and branding – and promoting an image. Their content contains a lot of jargon and doesn’t get straight to the point. On the JWU Online website, you can easily navigate to the programs and support services the school offers. The majority of online students are working professionals, so we appreciate drilling down to the point and knowing that the school caters to adults in addition to youth — and that the staff and faculty are here to help you.
“JWU felt like a an inviting, normal, humane place — not an elitist organization, in which you would have to be a cut above to feel part of it. It felt like everyone at JWU was accepted and celebrated. Recognizing that at 30 years old I didn’t have any professional development under my belt, aside from my own entrepreneurial spirit and personal projects, I took the dive.
“Assisting local businesses and individuals at the bank, I feel more confident. I’m able to explain concepts that I’ve learned and provide better advice because of the courses at JWU Online. I’ve taken in the business administration program. It also reassures me that the things I’ve done in business in the past were correct, and that I can help other businesses do the same thing. or point them in the right direction. Going back to school and acquiring new skills has helped at work and as an entrepreneur. Education is helping me understand the market, where it’s headed, and what will shape the future. I want to make good use of the life I’ve been given — and to challenge myself to grow.”
The Launch Pad Club
Together with Dr. Binczyk and Gabrielle Tringali ’26, Benitez co-founded The Launch Pad Club. Benitez explained, “The Launch Pad Club works together with The Launch Pad, to help students connect and collaborate with other departments that can support them in developing their startup ventures. Because of how it is structured, The Launch Pad Club is able to raise funds for events, while the Launch Pad cannot. Students in the club provide mentorship and business support to other students.”
An online student, Randy attends Launch Pad meetings, and meets with Launch Pad Club student members, virtually. “I like assisting someone from point A to Point Z. This week I’m meeting with a student I haven’t met before to help him with fundraising. I genuinely like helping people shine.”
Sharkfest
JWU Sharkfest’s annual Onstage Live Pitch Competition gives students in any program the opportunity to pitch their innovative business ideas and products to a panel of judges in front of a live audience.
Benitez first learned about Sharkfest in a posting on JWULink, the university’s internal news site for staff and students. Benitez contacted Dr. Jeff Binczyk, the Larry Friedman Center for Entrepreneurship and was excited that the university gave permission for him to be the first online student admitted to the Launch Pad. “Since day one, Dr. Binczyk has had me under his wing,” Benitez acknowledged.
Benitez credits his involvement with Launch Pad as having prepared him to make his pitch at Sharkfest. Providing a supportive, collaborative and safe space for students to develop business ideas and receive mentorship from faculty and small business specialists, The Launch Pad helps them turn their entrepreneurial visions into actual commercial or social enterprises.
Speaking at the Sharkfest 2025, Dr. Binczyck announced that the 98th student entered the Launch Pad on the day prior to the competition. Starting with only two students during the fall of 2023, he projects the number of students in the Launch Pad to grow to possibly 150 students during 2025.
The JWU Online Experience
“Everything about JWU Online been a great experience. I am thankful for all of the support through the students I’ve met through the Launch Pad and The Launch Pad Club — and, of course, Dr. Binczyk. Kudos also to my advisor, Tracie Sousa, who has always been there for me.
“If you are thinking about enrolling in an online program — just do it. The university is transparent in their information about what you will get from a JWU Online education. JWU feels welcoming and friendly. You will have a supportive staff from day one who will want you to succeed.”
Benitez recognizes he has a lot more work to do with ReWriter to meet his goals. When we caught up with him after his pitch at Sharkfest, Benitez said, “I am proud of myself for making the pitch. And I don’t know any other school that would promote students in pitching their entrepreneurial ideas.” We asked Benitez whether he plans to return to compete in Sharkfest next year, he smiled and said, “You know, that’s a good idea — maybe I should.” Asked to give one word that described his experience in the Sharkfest 2025 competition, Benitez exclaimed, “fun!”