Purdue's elevator pitch competition open to entrepreneurs
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Thirty-two entrepreneurs will put their best sales pitches to the test Friday (March 28) at the second annual Purdue University Elevator Pitch Competition.
Sponsored by Purdue's Certificate in Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program, the competition gives participants two minutes to describe their entrepreneurial business ventures to a panel of judges.
(Media-Newswire.com) - WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Thirty-two entrepreneurs will put their best sales pitches to the test Friday ( March 28 ) at the second annual Purdue University Elevator Pitch Competition. Sponsored by Purdue's Certificate in Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program, the competition gives participants two minutes to describe their entrepreneurial business ventures to a panel of judges.
The event, scheduled for 2-5 p.m. in Discovery Park's Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship, is open to students, faculty and entrepreneurs from the Purdue Research Park. Registration for the competition is closed, but the public is invited to watch the pitches.
"This event is growing in popularity at Purdue as the wave of entrepreneurship sweeps across U.S. and international college campuses," said Nathalie Duval-Couetil, director of Purdue's entrepreneurship and innovation program. "This is a stellar group of students and faculty."
Participants must quickly describe their product or service, its market and size, how they plan to make money, their leadership team and their competitors, said Duval-Couetil, also associate director of the Burton Morgan Center, where the certificate program is based.
There are two divisions: one for certificate program students and another for faculty entrepreneurs, or representatives from Purdue Research Park companies. Twenty participants are undergraduate students from as far away as Hong Kong and Florida to as close as West Lafayette and Carmel. The other dozen are faculty or entrepreneurs affiliated with the Purdue Research Park.
"These types of competitions also help students hone their communication skills – whether they're in the business setting or simply needing to deliver important information when time is of the essence," Duval-Couetil said. "This also becomes a competitive advantage upon graduation."
Winners in each category will receive prizes of $1,000 for first place, $500 for second and $250 for third. The competition is sponsored by Otis Elevator Co. and the law firm Bose McKinney and Evans. More information is available online at http://www.purdue.edu/dp/elevator.
Purdue's Burton Morgan Center is a platform to launch technology-based enterprises based on university research, working closely with faculty, students and Indiana entrepreneurs to bring research and technology to market.
Purdue is in the first full year of a $1.5 million grant from the Kauffman Foundation to make entrepreneurship education an accessible campuswide opportunity for all college students. The grant to Purdue and the Burton Morgan Center is part of a $200 million effort by the Kansas City, Mo.-based foundation to transform the way entrepreneurship education is taught at the nation's colleges and universities.
Note to Journalists: For the list of 32 participants, including the 20 Purdue students and their hometowns, for this year's Purdue University Elevator Pitch Competition, contact Dave Kitchell, ( 765 ) 496-9711, dkitchell@purdue.edu, or Phillip Fiorini, ( 765 ) 496-3133, pfiorini@purdue.edu
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