The Eighteenth Annual Pace Pitch Contest
Presented by
The Entrepreneurship Lab
Application Date: Friday, March 25th 2022
Contest Date: Friday, April 14th 2022
Venue: Bianco Room, One Pace Plaza,
New York NY 10038
- 5:30 - 6:00 Registration and Networking
- 6:00 - 6:15 Welcome
- 6:15 - 7:15 Finalists make their Pitch
- 7:15 - 7:30 Break (Judging Panel selects the winning pitches in private)
- 7:30 - 8:30 Awards Ceremony and Networking
About the Contest
The Pace Pitch Contest is based on the Elevator Pitch concept, popular in the venture capital community. It is an extremely concise presentation of an entrepreneur's idea, business model, marketing strategy, competitive analysis, and financial plan, which is delivered to potential investors. The premise is that it could be made in a few minutes, should the entrepreneur spot a potential investor on an elevator and have the opportunity to pitch their idea during the brief ride.
Each Finalist will have exactly three minutes to pitch their new venture idea in a video to a distinguished panel of judges. In addition to broad participation at Pace, we have been pleased to welcome student competitors from a number of other universities, including Columbia, Harvard, MIT, NYU, Princeton, and Stanford.
Each individual/team will have 3 minutes to make a pitch and may use up to 5 PowerPoint® slides. The pitch must be an original concept, created by the presenter(s).
Here's How to Enter
1. At least one member of your team should meet one of the following two criteria:
- Full or part-time student currently enrolled in Pace University
- Recent Pace University graduate (graduated within the past 18 months)
AND if you have already launched the venture, it must have been in business for less than 2 years and received less than $100,000 in funding.
2.Register online. Each member of the team must complete the Registration Form through the online competition management system.
Deadline - 5:00 p.m. EST on Monday March 21, 2022
3.Submit a biography. Each biography (if competing as a team, each member must submit a biography) MUST be a minimum of 100 words and a maximum of 200 words. Please be sure to indicate your status as a student (college/university and school, degree, major, full or part-time status, and expected year of graduation) or as a recent graduate (college/university and school, degree, major, and date of graduation).*
Deadline: 5:00 p.m. EST on Monday March 21, 2022
4. Submit an Executive Summary. You should prepare a ONE PAGE Executive Summary to be used on the Pace Pitch Web site and in the printed program.*
Deadline: 5:00 p.m. EST on Monday March 21, 2022
5.Pre-selection Announcement. The names of the pre-selected students will be announced on Monday March 21, 2022
6.Pitch Clinic. If pre-selected, you must schedule an appointment with Professor Bruce Bachenheimer, Executive Director bbachenheimer@pace.edu between the dates Tuesday March 22, 2022 to Friday April 1, 2022. Based on the outcome of the pitch clinic the finalists/alternates will be announced.
7.Finalist Announcement. The names of the finalists will be announced on Monday April 6, 2022
8.Submit a photo. If selected as a Finalist or alternate, you must submit a digital photograph (approximately 100 KB - 1 MB in JPEG format) to be used on the Pace Pitch Web site and in the printed program.*
Deadline: 5:00 p.m. EST on Monday April 12, 2022
9.Submit a PowerPoint® presentation.If selected as a Finalist or alternate, you may submit up to 5 PowerPoint® slides to be used with your pitch (the 5 slide maximum includes a title slide and none of the slides may include external hyperlinks, embedded video, or transitions that 'effectively create' more than 5 distinct slide images). PowerPoint slides are not required and may not be used if not received by the deadline. Presentations in other formats will not be accepted.*
Deadline: 5:00 p.m. on Monday, April 12, 2022
10. Make Your Pitch! The finalist/alternate contestant must arrive at the One Pace Plaza, Bianco Room (formerly Multipurpose Room), New York, NY. 10038 by 5:00 pm EST on Thursday April 14, 2022
* All documents must be submitted online through the online competition management system
Click here to watch the video guide to the Competition Management System
Here's How the Pace Pitch Contest Works:
On Thursday, April 14, 2022, finalists will make their pitches to a panel of judges in front of an enthusiastic audience. There is a strict time limit of three minutes for all pitches. Contestants will present in alphabetical order. After each pitch, the judges may ask a number of questions. All answers must be kept to less than one minute. Immediately after the pitches have been made, the judging panel will decide on one winner from each category based on the Guidelines and Judging Criteria. The Pace Pitch Contest has proven to be an exciting, educational, and fun event. We hope you will enjoy the event and find it valuable.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Professor Bruce Bachenheimer, Executive Director, Entrepreneurship Lab, at bbachenheimer@pace.edu
Good luck!
The deadline to enter the Pace Pitch Contest is 5:00 p.m. on Monday, March 21, 2022
New Business Concepts Pitch Guidelines | Social Ventures Pitch Guidelines | Ten Questions That You Should Try To Answer
New Business Concepts Pitch Guidelines
New Business Concepts will be evaluated on the following judging criteria.
- 1. Business Description: Details of the venture and what it does.
- How well was the concept explained?
- How reasonable, sustainable, and scalable is the new concept?
- 2. Market Analysis: Characteristics of the market and description of its customers.
- Is there a genuine need for the product or service?
- How well was the target market defined?
- What is the size and growth of the market?
- What is the consumers' willingness to pay for the product/service?
- 3. Product or Service Analysis: The specifics of the product or service.
- Is the description clear?
- Is the product feasible?
- How easily it can be duplicated?
- Is there a presence of potential substitutes for the product?
- 4. Competition: Identify current and potential competitors.
- Have the current and potential competitors, competitive response, and analysis of strengths and weaknesses been adequately defined?
- 5. Marketing Strategy: How sales will be achieved.
- How realistically defined is the marketing plan?
- Does the plan adequately address price, product, place, and promotion?
- Are resources sufficiently allocated for marketing?
- 6. Operations: How the product or service will be produced and delivered.
- What is the likelihood of securing resources required for production?
- Is there an ability to operate competitively and grow?
- 7. Management: An assessment of the entrepreneur(s) and team.
- Does the team exhibit the experience and skills required for operation?
- What is the depth and breadth of the team's capabilities?
- Does the team demonstrate the ability to grow with the organization and attract new talent?
- 8. Finances: An overview of the required resources and economics of the venture.
- How compelling is the business model?
- Have the resources required for the venture been addressed?
- Has the team clearly and adequately presented a breakeven analysis?
- How reasonable are the financial projections?
- Are there prospects for long-term profitability?
- 9. Investment Proposal: The terms and conditions offered to investors.
- Did the entrepreneurial team explain funding?
- Were offerings to investors and anticipated returns clearly explained?
- Did the team calculate a realistic valuation?
- How feasible is the exit strategy?
- 10. Presentation: Overall effectiveness of the actual presentation.
- Did the presenter(s) engage the audience and hold their attention?
- Did the presenter(s) appear to speak with confidence authority?
- Were visual aids (i.e. PowerPoint® slides) clear and valuable?
- Was the pitch exciting and compelling?
- How efficiently did the team allot their time?
Social Venture Pitch Guidelines
Social Ventures will be evaluated on the following judging criteria.
- 1. Assessing the Need: An analysis of the social issue and its affected population.
- Does the proposed venture address a significant and critical social problem?
- 2. Well-defined Target: Characteristics of the market and targeted population.
- Does the proposed venture adequately describe the problem it hopes to address and have defined parameters within which it plans to operate?
- 3. Management: An assessment of the entrepreneur(s) and team.
- Does the entrepreneurial team possess the skills and experience required to translate the plan into action?
- Can they demonstrated the passion, commitment, and perseverance required to overcome inevitable obstacles?
- Is the team comprised of individuals committed to ethical standards?
- 4. Creativity: A demonstration that the proposed solution displays a unique approach.
- Does the proposal approach the social problem in an innovative, exciting, and dynamic way?
- 5. Feasibility: A demonstration that the venture can be successfully implemented.
- Does the initiative aspire towards clear, realistic and achievable goals, while thinking big?
- Can it be implemented effectively?
- 6. Planning: A clear and well-defined strategy to achieve objectives and goals.
- Are there clear and coherent schedules, milestones, objectives, and financial plans?
- 7. Operations: How the product or service will be physically produced and distributed.
- Has adequate attention been given to the way in which the product or service is to be produced and/or delivered?
- Do they have, or can likely secure, the resources required for production?
- Will they be able to operate competitively and grow?
- 8. Sustainability: Long-term prospects for viability and success.
- Does the proposed venture include adequate strategies for fundraising and income generation?
- Does it consider the different dimensions of financial and social sustainability in a conscientious manner?
- 9. Social Impact: The value that the new venture will bring to society.
- How will the implementation of this social venture benefit the community and the multiple stakeholders involved?
- Is there the potential for significant social impact and engagement of the broader community?
- 10. Presentation: Overall effectiveness of the actual presentation.
- Did the presenter(s) engage the audience and hold their attention?
- Did the presenter(s) appear to speak with confidence authority?
- Were visual aids (i.e. PowerPoint® slides) clear and valuable?
- Was the pitch exciting and compelling?
- How efficiently did the team allot their time?
* While there is some debate regarding the precise definition of a social venture, and what exactly differentiates it from a traditional for profit business, the Selection Committee and Judging Panel will use the following criteria:
- PRIMARY MISSION - is the organization's primary purpose to serve its owners (New Business Concept) or society (Social Venture)
- PRIMARY MEASURE OF SUCCESS - does the organization measure its success primarily by profitability (New Business Concept) or positive social change (Social Venture)
Ten Questions That You Should Try To Answer
Whether pitching a New Business Concept or a Social Venture, try to address the following ten big questions as completely as possible. Remember, you should not simply talk about a general idea (those are "a dime a dozen"), rather, try to present a concise concept with a cleareconomic model, convincing everyone that you can actually make it happen.
- 1. What's the PROBLEM?
- 2. What's your SOLUTION?
- 3. How large is the MARKET?
- 4. Who is the COMPETITION?
- 5. What makes you so SPECIAL?
- 6. What's your ECONOMIC MODEL?
- 7. How exactly will you achieve SALES?
- 8. Have you assembled a qualified TEAM?
- 9. How will you secure required RESOURCES?
- 10. What are you proposing for an INVESTMENT?
Suggested reading: The Art of the Start by Guy Kawasaki (Penguin 2004), especially Chapter 3, "The Art of Pitching"
First Prize
A $1,000 cash prize will be awarded to the winner.
Second Prize
A $500 cash prize will be awarded to the second place.
Third Prize
A $250 cash prize will be awarded to the third place.
Pace University reserves the right to disqualify, at its sole discretion, any individual or team from the competition at any time (before or after the Pitch Contest or the award of any prize) for any reason. Reasons for disqualification may include, but are not limited to, misrepresentations in the application process, plagiarism, infringement of the intellectual property of others, and any failure to comply with the rules of the competition. Disqualified individuals or teams shall forfeit any and all prizes awarded to them.
Previous Pitch Contests
Seventeenth Annual Pace Pitch Contest (April 23rd, 2021)
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For additional information, please contact:
Bruce Bachenheimer,
Clinical Professor of Management and Director, The Entrepreneurship Lab
Tel: (212) 618-6663
Fax: (212) 618-6664
E-mail: bbachenheimer@pace.edu
Web: webpage.pace.edu/bbachenheimer
Address: Pace University
Lubin School of Business
Department of Management, Room 342
163 William Street
New York, NY 10038
Jonathan Lee,
Associate Director, The Entrepreneurship Lab
Tel: (212) 618-6667
E-mail:jlee12@pace.edu
Address: Pace University
The Entrepreneurship Lab
163 William Street, 3rd Floor
New York, NY 10038
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