This spring at Bryant University’s 22nd Semi-annual E-Pitch Competition, the winning team was confident in both themselves and their product so much so that they called themselves, “The Winning Team.” On April 2nd, 64 teams enrolled in the Freshman Global Foundations for Organization Business class competed in the preliminary round. The 12 strongest teams were lucky enough to present in front of a crowd of more than 400 people! The idea behind the competition is for a team to present their new product or service to a group of angel investors for just 60 seconds, the amount of time they would have on an elevator ride. The teams were judged on the energy and enthusiasm of the pitch, the thoroughness of the answers to the questions, and the practicability of the idea. The Winning Team had the confidence, the determination and the idea to win over the judges and win a $500 cash prize! HerCampus got a chance to interview Montana Colburn on behalf of all her team which included Alicia Celone, Benjamin Gilkey, Jonathan Manheim, Thomas Viscariello, and Chistopher ViVenzio.
HC: Can you tell us a little bit about what your product is?
MC: Our product is a whiteboard laptop skin. Its purpose is to allow students to have a decorated laptop cover in which they can personalize. They can draw, keep calenders, write notes, and can easily erase all of these.
HC: How did your team come up with such a great idea?!
MC: Whenever I study for exams I always like to rewrite my notes or definitions to go over the class material. In the library, I found myself writing on the desks to copy down notes because I didn’t want to waste any paper. I thought of possibly making desks out of white board material in order to solve this issue. Tommy, one of my group members, came out with a better idea; a whiteboard laptop. This was exactly what we needed. This way people will carry their laptop whiteboards around and not have the whiteboard confined to a desk. People will be able to own a personal whiteboard that can be used for a variety of different things and on top of that differentiate their laptop from others.
HC: Any plans to continue to develop your product?
MC: We’re not exactly sure if we would like to just yet. Right now we are only freshman in college and starting up a business seems like a lot with the schedules we all have. However, it is a possibility.
HC: How did your team prepare?
MC: Lots of practice and research. My group researched prices and started figuring out some of the financials in order to ask for as specific of a loan as we could figure that early in the game. Once we had the prices down we made a script we were sure win and even developed a prototype to set us apart from the rest. From then on it was all practice with timing and memorization.
HC: How did you feel in those five minutes when you were told you were in the finals, you presented, and answered questions?
MC: I was pretty nervous, but I knew my lines and was confident in the product. Once we completed the pitch, answering questions was a breeze.
HC: What advice would you have for people giving a presentation in front of a large crowd?
MC: Don’t get worked up over the amount of people. Be confident in yourself and the presentation you’re giving. Look out in the crowd before you give your speech, and find one person you will look at whenever you get nervous. This will help you focus and relax you whenever need be. Most of all, have fun and enjoy yourself!