Quick Pitches Turn Into Real Dollars at Pitch Party
Each year, McCombs full-time MBA students test their entrepreneurial prowess
by competing in a game of mock business ventures at the MBA Plus Program’s
Annual Pitch Party. Conducted in cocktail party format, the event brings in
about 100 students for dinner and informal schmoozing. Here’s a look at the
2005 event.
Party Rules: Participants are divided into two groups: “pitchers” and
“investors.” The pitchers, mostly first-year MBA students, have 60 seconds
to present a business idea to investors—many being alumni and corporate
sponsors—who are each given $3.5 million in “McCombs dollars” to dole out to
the most promising entrepreneurs. After 30 minutes of pitching and
investing, the pitcher with the most investments wins.
Products: This year, students pitched a wide range of ideas, from Webcams in
day care centers, to laptop accessories, to highly specific inner-city
railway systems.
Obstacles: Partygoers pair off, with pitchers hurriedly explaining and
actively courting potential investors. Most students quickly move from one
conversation to another, while other unfortunate pitchers—like musical chair
losers—end one conversation only to spend precious minutes searching for an
open investor.
ROI: Though acquiring money is the goal, learning how to pitch quickly and
confidently is the most valuable result. “I learned that it is important to
be able to tell a good story in less than a minute and create a story that
your listener can identify with,” explains Amanda Yates, MBA ’07. “My idea,
the Fashion Genie, uses technology to help people become more fashionable.
Instead of boring ‘investors’ with the logistics of the technology, I
painted a scenario everyone could identify with: being caught in a fitting
room with a great top and having no clue what piece of clothing would match
with it.”
Capital Gains: Yates garnered more than $24 million in “McCombs dollars” for
her software product idea, and took home first prize—two American Airlines
ticket vouchers and $250 cash. “I asked for a lot of feedback before I
pitched the Fashion Genie,” she says. “My initial idea was a little
different than the final pitch, but I learned that it’s OK to modify your
original idea if it makes it better.” —Asher Garonzik
