The 2015 New Venture Competition
On Friday, March 27, 2015 from 8am-8pm, the New Venture Competition took place at the EHS Building and McGuirk Arena at Central Michigan University. The daytime events took place at the EHS Building whereas the Awards Ceremony took place at the McGuirk Arena. The competition is in its fifth year. According to cmich.edu, CMU's New Venture Competition has provided education and opportunity for hundreds of aspiring entrepreneurs, many of whom have gone on to run successful businesses in Michigan. The New Venture Competition is a forum for learning, identifying, nurturing and showcasing emerging entrepreneurs and their businesses. This is done while supporting students in the process of creating and evaluating new business and social impact ventures. According to the Central Michigan University website, the New Venture Competition has resulted in over 30 businesses operating successfully now. The competition is led by the College of Business Administration’s Isabella Bank Institute for Entrepreneurship. The Keynote Speaker for the competition was featured at the Awards Ceremony and it was Enrico Digirolamo, who is the CEO of Covisint. Before further describing the competition, it is important to understand how the competition was divided. The NVC for 2015 was divided in three sections. Round One took place from 9:30-11am in the EHS Building. Round Two took place from 1:15-2pm. The final round took place from 3:45-5pm. In between those three sections was the panel discussion where current and successful entrepreneurs shared their struggles and successes. The panel discussion features successful venture capitalist and entrepreneurs such as the following: Steve Arwood, Lindsay Aspegren, John Bartos, Ron Beebe, Cindy Fitzgerald, Travis Johnson, Ken Kousky, Mike O’Donnell, and Ken Rogers. This took place from 11:15am-1:15pm. Before the final round took place, a Two-Minute Competition took place from 2:30-3:30pm.
More than $75,000 was awarded in start-up capital and entrepreneurship services to the winning teams through a number of categories: the Best Overall, $30,000, was awarded to Episcura. The Best Social Venture for $10,000 was awarded to Humble Abode Tiny Homes, the best technology venture for $10,000 was awarded to HydroGuide, the highest growth potential venture for $10,000 to Beergo, the most impact in Michigan venture for $10,000 to Revolve Replication, best lifestyle for $5,000 to 3T, spirit of entrepreneurship venture to Mwage, best pitch venture for $1,000 to Mwage, first runner-up pitch for $500 to OddJobs, second runner-up pitch for $500 to Black Friday and Audience choice of $250 to Mwage (Twiddy). According to Executive Director for the Isabella bank institute for entrepreneurship, Debra Zellinger, the judges look for “A combination of winning factors based on experience. They check to see if the students made an investable business idea and look for a prototype of customer validation. They also look to see if the students have done more work than just thinking of the idea” (Twiddy). According to the Dean of College of Business Administration, Charles Cresp, “Many of the judges judge on two or three criteria, protecting intellectual property, if the preposition is unique, and often they will judge not so much on the business technique but the personal as well. Competitors have to demonstrate enthusiasm and a passion and fire for their business idea. Often you bet as much on the person as you do the business idea” (Twiddy).
Although only the three following teams made it to the final round, Beergo, Episcura, and HydroGuide, Chairperson for the Department of Entrepreneurship, Kenneth Sanney, had the following advice for all that competed: “I think the competition has gone excellently. We’ve had some teams that didn’t make it to the finals that have connected with the entrepreneurs from across the state that will help their businesses grow. This isn’t about one team winning, but the opportunity for a lot of teams to network” (Twiddy).
The fact of the matter is that no competition walked out the competition as a loser. Every competitor walked out the competition with more insight on how to out-perform fellow competitors in the upcoming years, better networking skills, and the confidence to perform and present in front of many successful entrepreneurs. The Dean of College of Business Administration, Charles Crespy, further stated, “The competition was an improvement from previous years as it gets a little better every year. The quality of competitors is only expected to increase in the years ahead” (Twiddy).
Competing teams should always remember the following and take this given advice to heart. "Making a mistake now is better then making the right decision three months from now," said Co-founder and Chief Executive Chief of foodjunky Travis Johnson (Twiddy).
On a personal level, I enjoyed attending the New Venture Competition immensely because I was given the privilege to interact with the competitors and work on my networking capabilities. I enjoyed volunteering for my fraternity, Epsilon Nu Tau, and being a timer in two out of the many competing rooms in the EHS Building. The two-minute pitch was especially enjoyable because since most of the competing teams were divided into designated rooms between the three rounds, I did not get the opportunity to see and hear all the various teams. The two-minute pitch was perfect as it allowed me to hear the rest of the 24 teams (the other 3 competing teams were the ones selected to progress to the Final Round--that was Beergo, HydroGuide, and Episcura) and their entrepreneurial ideas in the EHS Auditorium. I was given the privilege to be in charge of the social media promotion for the CBA Twitter account thanks to my friend, Kevin Keeley (who ended being a participant in the New Venture Competition), and I really enjoyed doing that.
Being in charge of the social media promotion for the CBA Twitter account was great because it allowed me to stay up to date with the tweets coming in from the two shifts for BIS 315. I believe that the two shifts did a great job at tweeting about the whole competition and throughout the many breaks at the competition. The stayed engaged with what was going throughout the day and it was obvious through the content that they posted on Twitter. I also tried to use my own professional business Twitter account, and my Facebook and Instagram accounts in order to better publicize the New Venture Competition. I wanted to publicize the event to the best of my capabilities so that the competition got all the recognition that it deserved. Many people put a lot of time and effort into making sure that the events of the competition ran as smoothly as possible so the least that the two shifts from our class and myself could have done is promote the competition in a professional manner.
Source:
Twiddy, Brianne. New Venture Competition awards more than $75k to student businesses. CM Life, 27 Mar. 2015. Web. 28 Mar. 2015. <http://www.cm-life.com/article/2015/03/new-venture-final>.