January 25, 2016

January 25, 2016 — Two new opportunities are available for students to develop their skills in pitching and commercializing entrepreneurial ideas. The Idea Pitch Competition will take place during winter term, focusing on effective verbal presentation of the key elements of an idea. During a formal live pitch competition, participants will receive feedback and compete for prizes. In the spring term, the Commercialization Competition will focus on bringing ideas to the next level with a formal action plan. Both competitions, which are offered through Drexel’s Baiada Center, are open to undergraduate and graduate students. Key information session dates include February 10 (Idea Pitch Competition) and March 4 (Commercialization Competition).

Much more than a simple elevator pitch statement, the Idea Pitch Competition engages students in learning how to develop core pitch elements such as problem identification, market identification, target customer identification, innovation description, solution description and revenue model ideas.

The Commercialization Competition focuses on validating the idea with a written commercialization action plan. Leveraging the “lean startup model,” this is an immersive experience that puts the business plan at the end of the development process, rather than the beginning, and emphasizes customer development and assumptions validation. Students who participate in the complete process will be in a significantly stronger position to move forward with their startup than if only focusing on business plan development.

Both competitions include educational sessions followed by formal, judged presentations. Click here for registration and schedule information for both competitions.