The Pitch Competition is a business idea competition organized by David Price, associate professor of marketing business. The competition is comprised of three rounds. The knockouts and semi-finals will happen Oct. 18, 2023 and the final round will happen Nov. 1, 2023.
The Memorial Union at Washburn University hosted the knockout round and semi-finals. The first phase is referred to as the Knockout Round, during which students have a maximum of three minutes to present their business ideas directly to a panel of outside judges (no use of technology is permitted). There were four rooms featuring presentations from contestants, each with a different judging panel. For a total of 12 semi-finalist qualifiers, the top three teams and/or individuals in each room will advance to the semi-final round.
The judges’ top five teams and/or individuals will advance to the championship round. In the final round, submissions that make it to this stage of the competition must elaborate on their concepts and provide more information about their prospective work within a time limit of seven minutes. It is acceptable to use technology, and a PowerPoint presentation should be used. Following the presentation, there will be a maximum of five minutes for questions from the judges.
Peyton Price, the 2021 champion of the Pitch Competition, shared her story about her experience in the competition.
“The first time I won was insane for me. I was a freshman, and I had only been in college for about 2 months. I was 18 years old, and I was competing against juniors and seniors who had all done it before, as well as the past winners,” Peyton said. “It was really nerve-racking and I had never gotten up and spoken on stage before, and I really was just hoping to not get last, which is what I wanted.”
In the final round, she could not believe that she was named the champion of the Pitch Competition that year. Peyton said it was an unforgettable day in her life.
“I can’t believe this; it was like the best night ever. I’d worked really hard on it, and I had so much nervous energy that I hadn’t eaten the whole day until the end of the final round, although the organizer served a really nice dinner. I just didn’t think I would get it, and I tried my best without expecting anything until it became real. I’ll remember this memory forever,” Peyton said
Professor David Price, organizer of the Pitch Competition, shared the first time he held this academic competition.
“I created the competition because, in 2013, we created a new major in the school of business and innovation, so that was the first new major we had in the school of business for 30 years, and the Pitch Competition was a natural supplement to that so the students would go through their entrepreneurship and innovation degree,” David said.
Price shared the purpose of creating this competition because of the academic requirement and also as an opportunity for Washburn students to develop their business ideas.
“We wanted them to have some real life applications. I mean, it’s as close to real life as you could get, so that means coming up with a business idea and then pitching it as much as possible with the department, so that you could be an investor’s partner or a potential employee. You have to get used to pitching or selling your idea to all stakeholders. So for the pitch competition, we talked to our partner about going to Topeka; they called, and they want them to start their businesses,” David said
The Pitch Competition is a business idea competition that Washburn students can apply for to expand their networks and opportunities. Especially many competitions like this can help the Washburn students.
Edited by Morgan Albrecht and Jeremy Ford
