Selection Criteria for e-Fest Events
Online Submissions Judging
During the initial online submission round, online Judges will review video and slides for a batch of up to 10 student team ventures. The judging rubric has eight criteria, each with a 5-point scale (from excellent to poor). The goal is to identify teams with the most compelling venture pitches and ideas, and which could compete most effectively if invited to the live presentation rounds.
Because judges may view submissions differently, the selection process for the Top 25 Finalists is a three-step process:
- Compute the average score for each submission
- Compute the average scores for each judge
- Adjust the raw submission averages based on the variation in judging scores
Each submission that went through judging will receive a Pitch Analytics report, emailed to the team members and advisor.
Finals and Championship Round Judging
Teams will compete in groups of 5 teams to present their business plans to a panel of judges. Presentation format: 15-minute presentation / 10-minute Q&A / 5-minute transition. Following the last pitch, judges will deliberate and rank teams from first to fifth place. The teams winning first place from each judging group will move on to the Championship Round.
Refer to the Schulze Entrepreneurship Rubric for guidance on how your presentation and pitch will be assessed by judges. The same rubric will be used for the finals and championship rounds of competitions.
Teams should be prepared to address the following elements of their business venture both in their pitch and during the question-and-answer period:
- Summarize your business venture
- Identify a customer need
- Describe your solution
- Provide details about your product, service, technology, etc..
- Offer a value proposition
- Highlight your competitive advantage
- Summarize the competitive landscape
- Provide evidence of market opportunity
- Describe your business model
- Detail your sales and marketing plan
- Explain your company management
Pitch Slam!
During the Pitch Slam! competition, each team selects one member to deliver a 90-second pitch of their business venture to the audience. Everyone in attendance, including: students, advisors, and guests will vote for the 3 venture teams they’d most want to meet with as a potential investor. Votes are tallied by e-Fest officials and the three teams receiving the most votes are announced as first, second, and third place winners that night.
Innovation Challenge
e-Fest officials will create new teams by mixing students from different schools together. The teams will be issued a challenge for which they must devise a business-based solution. A panel of judges (made up of team advisors) will review the devised solutions and award monetary prizes to the teams who have developed the most compelling value propositions. All advisors in attendance are eligible to vote for the teams that they would be most likely to invest in. Votes are tallied by e-Fest officials and the three teams receiving the most votes are announced as first, second, and third place winners that night.
