Elevator Pitch Competition

2011

Creating an effective Elevator Pitch addressing the three key factors – What is the problem? How do you solve it? What do you need to make it happen? - is a great way for student entrepreneurs to vet their business ideas quickly and effectively. The first-ever YCP Elevator Pitch Competition placed students and their ideas in front of a qualified panel of judges made up of entrepreneurs, investors and people who can help make it happen. In addition to judging the competition, the panel gave immediate feedback on the ideas and presentations.

Winners

1st Place: Kara Snyder, Zach Claybaugh - $1,000 prize

The Pitch: A golf tournament for disabled children, called the United Disability Junior Golf Tour (UDJGT).

Additional Info: The UDJGT would be a nonprofit organization, dedicated to giving junior golfers with intellectual or physical disabilities the opportunity to compete, learn and interact with others through the game of golf. As of now, the Special Olympics hosts a one-day tournament every year, but that is the lone opportunity that this seemingly forgotten group of youth has to play golf. Compared to other sports, a disabled person can easily adapt to the game of golf.

What’s Next: The next steps for Kara and Zach are to use the prize money to file for status as a 501(c)(3) to officially be a nonprofit organization, establish a strategic plan to gain sponsorships, create relationships with golf courses and determine the logistics to make it all possible.

2nd Place: Abby Rohrbach - $500 prize

The Pitch: A tailgate tent that attaches to the bed of a truck, allowing tailgaters to enjoy the festivities from the comfort of their truck bed. 

Additional Info: It is particularly useful for inclement weather, and it eliminates the need to walk around in the mud or snow.

What’s Next: The plan is to solidify and sketch several design ideas, as well as to research material costs to get an estimate of how much it will cost to make it. After that, Abby plans on speaking to various business-minded people locally and hopefully spur their interest.

3rd Place: Chris Mhley - $250 prize

The Pitch: A game company that uses its own software tools to make and edit games.

Additional Info: Instead of programming a game from scratch, Chris would develop software that gives the user a graphical interface to make games. This software would be a fast and efficient solution to making games because it allows for quick changes and powerful capabilities. It would be designed in such a way so that it can be used by anyone with any amount of programming experience. This would make it beneficial to the public because much of the software today isn't usable by non-programmers.

What’s Next: Developing software doesn’t take much money to do but rather a large amount of time. It would be able to be developed in a timely manner if given the right amount of programmers to assist on the project. After the software is complete, Chris would form a game company and use the software to make games, as well as sell the software to the public.