Elevator Pitch Competition

Wells Fargo Business Plan Reception and Elevator Pitch Competition

On Friday, April 26, 2013 the college hosted a reception and “elevator pitch” competition based on the structure of the November 15, 2012 elevator pitch. This elevator pitch is required of all students competing in the Business Plan Competition and those enrolled in Business 414.

Congratulations to BioCement ($1000) Big Head Hats ($600) and On-Site Furniture ($400) for their winnings in the Spring 2013 Elevator Pitch.

What is an Elevator Pitch Competition?

An elevator pitch is named because sometimes your most important pitch is not the formal business plan presentation you make to investors but short, opportunistic pitches when you share an elevator ride, a cab, or bump into someone at a reception.  Your pitch is an overview of an idea for a product, service, or project. The name reflects the fact that an elevator pitch should be possible to deliver in the time span of an elevator ride. While a typical elevator pitch is at least 1 minute, a reception pitch will likely be a bit longer, and might be more interactive.  The term is typically used in the context of an entrepreneur pitching an idea to a venture capitalist or angel investor to receive funding. Venture capitalists often judge the quality of an idea and team on the basis of the quality of its elevator pitch, and will ask entrepreneurs for their elevator pitches to weed out bad ideas and weak teams. If interested they will exchange contact information and ask for more information or give the team an opportunity for a longer, more formal presentation.  In addition to entrepreneurs a variety of other individuals such as project managers, salespeople, policy-makers, and job seekers use an elevator pitch to get their point across quickly.

Students competing in the Business Plan Competition should pitch their business plan.  Students in Bus 414 that are not competing in the Business Plan Competition may pitch any idea.  The judges who will be judging are outside entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, alumni, and friends and supporters of VIEW.  Further, some judges will be from within the university community.  Total prize money for the elevator pitch of $2,000 is available.