What do potential investors want to know about a new business idea?
A few key things, said Chris Barbin 鈥�93, a 乐播传媒 trustee and one of three judges for the annual Bobcat Ventures student pitch competition, held this year on March 24.
鈥淚s it a product or a service? Is it sold to a consumer or to a business? Can you define the market? Then you get into the question I ask every person: How do you make money?鈥�
鈥淭hat should roll off the tongue in 90 seconds,鈥� Barbin told the 14 student competitors.
In his own 90-second pitch, Ben Nussbaum 鈥�19 of Ridgefield, Conn., hit all the marks. His business, Floor, provided a service: It made physical space available to online retailers who sell things people might want to try on before buying. The market would be small apparel and accessory brands in New England. He鈥檇 make money by renting out space in a storefront in Portland, Maine.
During the Bobcat Ventures pitch competition on March 24, Ben Nussbaum ’19 proposed renting out a storefront at 492 Congress St. in Portland, Maine, to small online retailers. (Courtesy of Ben Nussbaum)
鈥淭his serves as an easy expansion platform for these brands,鈥� Nussbaum told the three alumni judges, all entrepreneurs: Barbin, CEO of IT firm Appirio Inc.; Jennifer Guckel Porter 鈥�88, managing partner of The Boda Group; and Ben Schippers 鈥�04, co-founder of web and mobile app developer HappyFun Corp.
The pitch won Nussbaum first prize in the competition, with an award of $9,000. Barbin praised Nussbaum鈥檚 concept, clarity of thought, and detailed business model.
鈥淲hat I loved about this was the big problem and the creative way of addressing the problem,鈥� Barbin said of Nussbaum鈥檚 proposal. 鈥淭he pitch went from big concept to detailed financials.鈥�
Bobcat Ventures winner Ben Nussbaum ’19 (second from left) poses with judges Jennifer Guckel Porter ’88, Ben Schippers ’04, and Chris Barbin ’93 following the pitch competition on March 24. (Durotimi Akinkugbe/乐播传媒 College)
The competition is the centerpiece event for Bobcat Ventures, a student-run organization that promotes entrepreneurship. Now in its fourth year, a record 14 individuals or groups made pitches, vying for prize money totaling $15,000.
With the help of the Purposeful Work initiative, Bobcat Ventures also hosts workshops on business and entrepreneurship, run by people ranging from 乐播传媒 alumni to Senior Lecturer in Theater Kati Vecsey, who taught the competitors about presentation.
鈥淵ou get the fundraising skills,鈥� said Ned Moreland 鈥�19, a leader of Bobcat Ventures along with El Khansaa Kaddioui 鈥�20, Cris Thompson 鈥�19, and Shanina van Gent 鈥�18.
鈥淵ou get the verbal communication skills. You get to look at business models a lot, you get to look at the ways startups work, and you also figure out what doesn鈥檛 work.鈥�
The skill-building and networking have been helpful for Nussbaum, who鈥檚 been going to Bobcat Ventures events since his first year and has participated in the pitch competition twice 鈥� last year, he took home third place for an app for used-car e-commerce.
He said that since he started developing business ideas, competing through Bobcat Ventures, and talking to other entrepreneurs in Maine, he鈥檚 learned that ideas need to be feasible and focused (he got the idea for Floor after reading research about online retail trends), and that talking to potential customers is crucial.
鈥淲ith any idea, you think it鈥檚 whittled down perfectly,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut the second you start talking with the people actually paying for your product, it changes. You tweak it with their feedback.鈥� Floor, he said, 鈥渕orphed right when I started talking to brands, and I added things and took a lot of things away.鈥� 聽
His shoe-leather work showed during the pitch competition. Nussbaum had ready answers to the judges鈥� questions about pricing, overhead costs, and the types of retailers he was targeting 鈥� mostly accessories, some apparel, all New England-based, with less than $1 million in revenue.
Ben Nussbaum ’19 told the pitch competition judges that in his Portland, Maine, store, online retailers could rent out booth-like spaces of various sizes. (Courtesy of Ben Nussbaum)
鈥淵ou narrowed down the scope to get to a viable business, and you had a working prototype going with a physical store in Portland,鈥� Barbin told him. 鈥淭he complexity and problem statement was big, and you brought it down to something real.鈥�
Nussbaum shared the total prize money with two other ventures. Swing Tips Pro, created by Nick Lynch 鈥�19 of Westford, Mass., facilitates golf lessons via video; it won the $4,000 second prize. ReHarvest, a group of students who are creating an app that helps 鈥済leaners鈥� access farm crops that are left unharvested and get them to local food banks, won the $2,000 third prize.
Clarity, focus, and viability distinguished all the good pitches, Barbin said. But the very best ventures he saw were those that seemed to give the venturers purpose.
鈥淎nyone can pitch a business,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou can tell after time if there鈥檚 real passion through the Q&A, when you鈥檙e asking the 鈥榳hy鈥� question. There were a few where you could tell it was meaningful. There was a reason why. It was in the blood, in the DNA.鈥� 聽
Categories Alumni Student Life
