Premium ContentMouse over Home then click on Premium Content for information.Madison Gifford, Lincoln's Entrepreneurship Focus Program
>>Gifford won for her business, Belle of the Ball, an online application that helps young women choose gowns for prom and other special events.
TWO-YEAR COLLEGE
Ryan Cairns, of Southeast Community College
>> Cairns, who already owns and operates a Lincoln food cart business called Dogs and Spuds, pitched his plans for opening a specialty beer store and lounge called the Beer Emporium.
FOUR-YEAR UNIVERSITY
Jason Kruse, Raikes School of Computer Science and Management at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln
>> Kruse, of Overland Park, Kan., pitched MrDecals.com, which allows consumers to upload images and turn them into decals with no minimum order.
Kyle Powers, Raikes School of Computer Science and Management at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln
>> Powers, of Sioux Falls, S.D., pitched his Ignite Lights business, which develops event lighting that pulsates in-sync with music that's playing.
Beth Barmetler, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
>> Barmetler, of Omaha, won for her plan to open a specialty clinic for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals that would offer services including therapy, treatment and education.
A brief business pitch can be the difference between an entrepreneur's venture being funded or becoming a dud.
It can dictate whether your business becomes the next game-changing success story, or just a foundering idea.
In a competition this week, 47 college and high school students learned the reality of what it takes to deliver a concise, detailed presentation to spark interest in their business.
And five students walked away with $1,000 each to help launch their businesses.
Competing in the 3-2-1 Quick Pitch Competition, held at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Memorial Stadium luxury suites, students had three minutes to introduce their business ventures to panels of judges.
Some presentations fell flat, but others snagged the judges' attention.
After each presentation, judges had two minutes to fire questions at the contestants.
“What are your barriers to entry?” “Who are your competitors?” “What, exactly, is your idea?” Those were common responses from judges critiquing a group of 10 four-year college students competing from UNL and the University of Nebraska at Omaha.
Other schools represented were Omaha Central High School, Auburn High School, Centennial High School in Utica, Neb., Lincoln Southeast High School, Metropolitan Community College in Omaha and York College in York, Neb.
The business ideas from one group of four-year college students varied greatly.
Christopher Tuan, a student at UNL, delivered a pitch for a concrete that conducts electricity and melts away snow and ice.
Amber Li, also from UNL, introduced her idea for bringing tampons to China, her home country. “Ninety-nine percent of Chinese women have never used a tampon,” she said.
Taylor Pugh, an accounting student at UNL, outlined her vision for acquiring an existing accounting firm in Nebraska City after the current owner retires.
Ultimately, the winner of the group was Jason Kruse of Overland Park, Kan., a senior in the Raikes School of Computer Science and Management at UNL.
Kruse won for MrDecals.com, a site where he envisions users uploading high-resolution image files on their computer and turning them into high-quality vinyl stickers.
Judges for the group included Jay Wilkinson of the marketing firm Firespring and the Nebraska Angels, and Leon Castro and Jane Garrity of NUtech Ventures.
Other judges included a securities analyst, a financial adviser, a print magazine president and a marketing representative for a Lincoln-based software company. In all, 40 businesspeople participated as judges.
During deliberations and before giving each contestant constructive feedback, judges mulled which pitch should receive the $1,000 prize to put toward the business pitched.
Some of the pitches, judges said, were good, but not realistic because startup costs would be too high.
Other presentations were good ideas but were delivered poorly.
In the end, Kruse's online decal business got the nod. A big selling point for his venture, judges said, was that there would be no minimum order for how many decals you could purchase at a time.
That's something a few judges said they could use to promote their own businesses, since most existing decal companies require you to purchase thousands of stickers at a time.
Kruse also has a bit of sweat equity in his business. He has already purchased a decal printer and cutter, which he keeps in his dorm room, or “home office,” as he calls it.
Judges decided that Kruse's idea should win because he had a good idea and his business could benefit most from the $1,000 cash infusion — not because it has the potential to be a “million-dollar business.”
Kruse got the idea for MrDecals.com after he tried to purchase stickers for the UNL table tennis club last year. He shopped around online, but “the service didn't really exist,” he said. So Kruse, a computer programmer, decided to create the service himself.
“I was very surprised,” Kruse said after he found out he had won. “Everyone I've talked to about (the business) has been really excited about it, and I just want to ride the wave and see where it goes.”
Kruse joined other winners, including the high school division champ, Madison Gifford of Lincoln's Entrepreneurship Focus Program; two-year college winner Ryan Cairns of Southeast Community College; Kyle Powers, another UNL Raikes student; and Beth Barmetler, a UNL sophomore.
Kathleen Thornton, director of the Center for Entrepreneurship in UNL's College of Business Administration, which organized the competition and funded the prizes, said the event was more technology-driven compared with last year, its first. She also said the learning experience for students was the most important part of the event.
“It's important for us to get students thinking critically,” she said. “We are trying to say to young people: ‘Come up with the ideas that are going to make a difference.'
“The ideas have to start somewhere.”
Contact the writer:
402-444-1414, ross.boettcher@owh.com
twitter.com/rossboettcher
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