Five-Minute Pitch Contest
2011 Pitch Contest Sponsor
2011 Pitch Contest Sponsor
June 14, 2011
The Pitch Contest has become an integral part of the Venture Forum’s commitment to fostering entrepreneurship and the growth of technology-based businesses, and is designed to generate investment interest for participating entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs contemplating, starting, running or operating early-stage technology ventures are invited to apply.
Phil Holberton
Want Pitch Feedback and a Video of Your Pitch Practice?
Here is an opportunity for professional mentoring to support your “pitch” --- at no cost to WPIVF Members.
Phil Holberton is an award-winning business plan contestant who will work with WPI Venture Forum Five-Minute Pitch finalists on polishing your 5 Minute pitch.
Phil will videotape your pitch, provide experience and thoughtful feedback, and give you the video to support your fine-tuning and practice of your pitch.
Each one-hour session is on a sign-up and scheduled basis on campus. (Between May 16th and June 3rd). The Holberton Group
Applications
Applications are collected online. The deadline is April 29, 2011. Please fill in the application form.
Process / Guidelines
The Pitch Contest consists of two rounds of selection. In the first round, applications are evaluated anonymously by a group of area business leaders. Ten finalists will be selected from among the applicants and invited to compete at the Venture Forum’s final meeting of the season, scheduled for 5:30 on June 14, 2011.
In the final round, each company will be given five minutes to pitch their business to a panel of expert judges and the Forum’s audience who will evaluate the entrepreneur’s presentation skills and overall performance. Each presentation will be followed by a two minute open discussion between the judges and the entrepreneur. The judges will then rate each business and the audience will do the same. Once all the pitches are complete, the judges will select the winner of the top prize in a brief and closed deliberation. An audience prize will be awarded based on the voting results.
In both rounds of the Pitch Contest, companies will be evaluated based on the following criteria:
• Business model: How the business generates revenue and profit.
• Innovation: How innovation is applied in the business (e.g., the technology associated with the product/service, how a product/service is marketed etc.).
• Market opportunity: The size of the market, the ability of the company to capture market share and generate profit out of the market share.
• Competitive advantage: What allows the company to compete successfully in the market place (e.g., Value Proposition, IP strategy).
• Leadership Team: The quality, breadth and experience of the team (management, advisory board, etc.).
Videos
We encourage you to view past competition videos to see the winning pitches. In the left menu, click on past years to find the video files.
WPI Venture Forum Showcases New Technology Companies (Telegram & Gazette)
| Contest Timeline | ||
|---|---|---|
| Process | Date | Who |
Entry deadline. | April 29, 2011 | Technology-based entrepreneurs |
First-round screening | May 2-6, 2011 | All entrants |
Finals notification | May 11, 2011 | Selected finalists |
Mentoring | May 16-June 3 | Finalists |
Pitch contest. Open to public. | June 14, 2011 | Finalists |
Last modified: October 27, 2011 14:55:56