Tomorrow is going to be an important day: tomorrow is Demo Day.
Demo Day is basically my ENT 206 class final. As you may recall, this semester I enrolled in Enterprise Launch, or E-Launch, a great class that provides support to students as they work through the stages of (actually) launching a business. Of the 30+ ideas that were brought to the table at the beginning of class, 12 have been selected, and teams have been formed. Throughout the semester four teams dropped out, so now I am competing against 7 other great ideas.
One team in particular, which has created a dog-related product, has been very successful throughout the class. In fact, about every two weeks, each team had an opportunity to win $200 on pitch day. We had five pitch days, and each time we addressed an important part of launching the business. For instance, pitch one was about the Problem, the Solution, and the Team value. The second was about the Industry, the Intellectual Property, and the Competition. On the third speech, Isaac (my friend, and teammate) and I talked about our target market and out marketing strategy. Well, at that point Isaac dropped the class and let me all alone working on this project, which was pretty overwhelming… I spent so many hours at the UCSB library doing research, making slide presentations, and memorizing my scripts. Trimming and editing each speech to make it fit the 2-minute limit. Perfecting my initial value proposition…
For Pitch 4, I had to construct a prototype of our product, which is an online service, so I I did that by purchasing a domain, and designing a mock website through Wix. You can look it up at vivleo.com :) It doesn't really work that well yet, because I have no programming experience, but that’s what it is supposed to look like when we create a working prototype. I also had to take the prototype in front of my target market and take customer surveys, recording their reactions, feedback, and starting developing relationships with potential customers. Then, present everything in front of judges.
Pitch #5 had us analyze our financials, use of funds, and exit strategy. I had to come up with a budget, and with a projection of every expense that will be needed to launch and run the business for the first year. I also had to come up with an exit strategy, which is the way business owners can “get rid” of the business and cash in, usually done through an IPO or through a merger or acquisition, among other options.
Figuring all of this stuff out was very hard but now I am proud of my work. And later today, I will put myself to the test in front of 3 successful entrepreneurs and listen to their precious feedback. I put all my slides together, and added more about how to scale the business and why they should pick us. In fact, today’s competition winner will walk away $1,000 richer. Our professor organizes a whole event for Demo Day, which starts with pizza and beverages, before starting with the competition.
I just received an email from my professor with the order in which the teams are going to deliver pitches, and I am scheduled to go last. I don't know how to feel about this. On one hand, I will be nervous for the whole time, which is bad. I will also be tired, and the judges will probably be too. On the other hand, going last is good because the judges will remember me more easily, so it is critical that I do a great job. In addition, if they are tired, they might be easier on the after-pitch questions, which sometimes can get pretty tough to answer.
There are a lot of great products competing in this class, and even if I don't win the competition, the experience I gained through this class is invaluable.
I am very happy an super excited. Wish me good luck!
A presto,
- Fede
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