Howard J. Leonhardt Venture Pitch Competition
Student-teams at the University of Florida are invited to pitch their venture ideas to a judging panel consisting of entrepreneurs, investors, and service providers. Each team is allowed three minutes and three PowerPoint slides to deliver the critical differentiating elements of their venture opportunity (no questions will be allowed during or following the presentation.)
The winners in each of two overall categories, General Product/Services and Social/Environmental, will be selected based on: 1) pitch, 2) style, and 3) fundability. Each winning team will receive a scholarship award of $500 per team.
CEI will host an open networking reception after the event has been completed. Teams will have the opportunity to discuss their ideas with various members of the CEI Advisory Board. Winners will be announced at the networking reception.
The Venture Pitch Competition and the networking event are open to the public. We welcome you to join us!
Date and Location
Date: Friday, November 14, 2008
Location: Hilton UF Conference Center
Guidelines and Deadlines
Deadline for Submission of Registration Forms:
Noon, Friday, October 31, 2008
The form must be submitted by the above deadline.
Registration Opens:
Monday, October 16, 2008
Only 30 teams will be allowed to register (1st-come, 1st-served basis - priority registration will be granted to MS-Entrepreneurship students)!!
Note: The registration form will be available for download once registration is open.
Qualifications for Participation and Prizes:
- At least one member of each team must be a currently enrolled UF student in good standing.
- There is no limit on the number of students on a team. A student can be a member of more than one team, but cannot be the presenter of more than one of those pitches.
- Only one team member will be allowed to present or participate in the pitch in any way and this presenter MUST be a currently enrolled UF student - no exceptions.
- Prize money will be equally distributed amongst all currently enrolled UF student members on a winning team as listed on the registration.
Note:
The proposed business plan should not be in violation of any intellectual property rights and must not have received any form of venture capital financing prior to the competition.
Guidelines for Registration:
Maximum length of the completed form must be no more 2 pages - this includes all text on the form itself, which should not be changed from the original. Do not change the margins and use font type Comic Sans MS at size 10pt. Email the completed form to Katharine Burks in WORD FORMAT only, at .
Failure to meet qualifications or to comply with registration guidelines will disqualify your submission. The Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation reserves the right to refuse any registration it deems inappropriate for any reason.
Changes or additions to any contest rules can be made at any time at the discretion of the Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation.
Creating a Venture Pitch Presentation:
7:00pm-8:30pm, Wednesday, November 5, 2008, Stuzin Hall, Rm. 102
At least one team member is required to attend this session which will offer pertinent information and examples for creating an excellent venture pitch presentation as well as optimal use of slides. Since only one person on each team will be allowed to present the pitch, it is recommended that the presenter attend this session in addition to any others who will have significant input into the creation of the slides.
Deadline for submission of Presentation Slides:
Noon, November 12, 2008
- Length of each presentation - maximum 3 minutes, no exceptions
- Number of PowerPoint* Slides - maximum 3 slides (includes title slide)
* PowerPoint will be the only medium allowed. No videos of any kind may be utilized and access to the Internet will be prohibited. No prototypes or props may be utilized during the presentation. All demonstrations should be captured in the PowerPoint slides via photos or "web" screen shots.
Email slides to
Preliminary Agenda
1:30pm - 1:45pm: Welcome and Introduction
1:45pm - 2:45pm: Presentations
2:45pm - 3:00pm: BREAK
3:00pm - 4:00pm: Presentations
4:00pm - 5:00pm: Networking Reception and Awards Presentation
For more information on this competition, contact Katharine Burks at .
