Competition Aims To Find, Nurture New Business Ideas At Penn State

UNIVERSITY PARK, PA (December 3, 2007) – Penn State students, faculty, and staff who have an idea for a viable business venture are invited to enter a new competition that will equip them with the tools, skills, and resources necessary to successfully pitch their ideas to investors, while providing exposure to potential backers.

The Penn State Idea Pitch Competition is a two-round contest that will award cash prizes of $1,000, $500, and $250 to the best three business ideas, as judged by a team of venture capitalists, angel investors, and innovation experts. The competition is sponsored by the Farrell Center for Corporate Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Penn State's Smeal College of Business and Ben Franklin Technology Partners.

"The competition gives the Penn State community the opportunity to work together to learn how to effectively formulate and communicate the value of innovative ideas and turn them into real opportunities," said Anthony Warren, director of the Farrell Center and Farrell Clinical Professor of Entrepreneurship at Smeal. "Every participant will learn how to communicate their ideas effectively and receive expert feedback on their ideas and their pitches. For the winners, there will be resources available to take their ideas further, should they so wish.

"This initiative is just one of several that we are undertaking at Penn State to encourage entrepreneurial thinking and cross-disciplinary teaming in order to create an enriched learning environment and uncover and develop new opportunities from our rich intellectual foundations," Warren said.

Budding entrepreneurs must register online at ideapitch.smeal.psu.edu by Jan. 31. Individuals who are interested in participating but lack an idea may also sign up to put their skills to work for an existing team. Each team must have at least one Penn State student, faculty, or staff member, but other team members may come from outside the University.

Teams will have access to counsel and online tools to help them craft and finesse their pitches. To ensure all contestants are on a level playing field, teaching materials and examples will be made available on the Web so that teams may learn while competing.

In the first round of competition, teams will be required to submit a detailed proposal explaining their ideas by March 31. The proposal must include a description of the product or service itself, its market and potential competitors, and its customers. Teams must also include a business model to tell investors how much it will cost and how long it will take to get their idea into the marketplace and generating revenue. Finally, the business proposal should include a description of the firm's management team, gaps in leadership, a financial account of where the firm now stands, and details describing how backers can expect to get a return on their investment.

A proposal template can be found on the competition's Web site, describing in great detail each requirement.

Upon reviewing the submitted proposals, the judges will select eight finalists to move on to the second round of the competition, which will be held on April 30.

During the second round, the eight remaining teams will present their ideas to a panel of venture capitalists. The teams must defend their proposals and answer questions and concerns from the potential investors on the panel.

At the conclusion of the second round, the judges will announce the winners. The winning team will be eligible to participate in the Garber Practicum and potentially receive funding from the $5 million Garber Venture Capital Fund, a venture fund managed by Smeal MBA students. If patenting is necessary for the winning pitch to move toward fruition, initial legal fees or advice will be provided to the winning team. Additionally, if a Penn State undergraduate is a member of the winning team, the team will be eligible for office space and assistance from Lion Launch Pad, a new business accelerator exclusively for Penn State undergrads.

For more complete details on the Penn State Idea Pitch Competition, visit ideapitch.smeal.psu.edu. For questions not answered on the Web site, contact Anthony Warren at twarren@psu.edu.