Register for the January 24th Pitch Friday
Want to earn some money for your startup? Pitch Fridays are an excellent opportunity for student startups to earn a little cash, pitch their ventures and receive valuable feedback. Pitch Fridays are open to all Tulane students across the university, both undergraduate and graduate. Ventures at all stages are welcome to apply.
The winner from each of the five rounds in series wins a $1,500 cash prize and will secure a spot in the final grand prize round in April. The winners of the Grand Prize will win $15,000 cash and $2,500 in pro bono legal services from Stone Pigman for 1st place, $5,000 cash for 2nd place and $2,500 in cash for 3rd place. The judges for Pitch Fridays Series are Tulane alumni, entrepreneurs, and professionals from a variety of industries. Pitch Friday Series is sponsored and funded by The Tulane Innovation Institute, the Lepage Center and the Tulane Alumni Business Association (TABA).
For more information on how to participate in future Pitch Fridays, please contact Timekia Mallery.
Each team must be able to address the following in order to be eligible to apply.
- What problem does your business solve for potential customers? How will you create value for your customers?
- How have you validated your value proposition (include findings from secondary research)?
- Based on secondary research, briefly outline the following for your venture (and how you got these numbers):
- Total Available Market
- Serviceable Available Market
- Serviceable Obtainable Market
- Describe your first customer segment and provide your rationale for how you determined this based off of secondary research.
- Describe your growth (ultimate) customer segment and your rational for how you determined this based off of secondary research.
- What actions have you taken to evaluate your product market fit?
- For what value are your customers willing to pay? For what do they currently pay?
- Outline how you would use the prize money.
Important Note:
Teams will only be considered twice to pitch in the series of competitions. No team will be allowed to pitch in back-to-back competitions.
Each team will have 10 minutes (5 Minutes Presentation/5 Minutes Q&A from the judges)
Judging Criteria
The judges for each competition will be Tulane Alumni, Local Professionals, Entrepreneurs, Mentors and other Stakeholders. Judging criteria will focus on how well each team used the business model canvas to assess novelty of the concept, value proposition, customers, and product market fit.
The judges will assess the following:
- Is the team solving a significant problem (defined in terms of money or impact)?
- Did the team clearly state their assumptions/hypotheses?
- Did the team design low cost, rapid, but reliable tests of these hypotheses?
- How will the funds be used?
Selected ventures will be notified no later than one week prior to each competition. Ventures will have the opportunity to have at least one pitch prep session with a member of the Lepage Team. Only Tulane founders will be allowed to pitch.
Contest Timeframe
- Friday, October 11, 2024 12-1:45pm (Application Deadline 10/6/24 by 5 pm)
- Friday, November 8, 2024 12:45-2:30pm (Application Deadline 11/1/24 5 pm)
- Friday, January 24, 2025 12-1:45pm (Application Deadline 1/17/25 by 5 pm)
- Friday, February 21, 2025 12-1:45pm (Application Deadline 2/14/25 by 5 pm)
- Friday, March 21, 2025 12-1:45pm – Last Chance Round (Application Deadline 3/14/25 by 5 pm)
- The Last Chance Round winner claims the final spot in the Grand Prize Round!
- Friday, April 18, 2025 2-4:30pm – The Grand Prize Round (winners from each round only)
Note: The Grand Prize Round will take place from 2-4:30 pm. There will be a celebration reception immediately following the competition.
