CENTRAL MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY New Venture COMPETITION ONLINE 2021 Welcome to the 2021 New Venture Online Competition It is our pleasure to welcome you to our 2nd New Venture Online Competition Different Entrepreneurial Pathways (NVOC). While the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the cancellation of in-person events, we are embracing the opportunity to extend our virtual The NVOC provides a real-world experience in developing an executive summary, projecting financial connections with the multitude of student entrepreneurs and members of the information, and creating either a two-minute video pitch or a ten-minute video presentation. Students entrepreneurial and business communities. from a variety of academic disciplines benefit from this transformational experience. Some of these WELCOME students and teams are ready to start their own companies. Founding a start-up is exciting! However, A notable change in our program this year is a new Director for the Isabella becoming an entrepreneur is not just about going out and starting your own company. Many of our CMU Bank Institute for Entrepreneurship, Julie Messing. Julie joins our team after graduates explore other entrepreneurial pathways – these paths include: 16 years at Kent State University where she led the development of the both college and university level entrepreneurship programs. She possesses a unique Julie Messing, Director • Being change agents at established organizations • Building franchises combination of experience in creating entrepreneurship academic programs Isabella Bank Institute for Entrepreneurship • Managing small businesses • Becoming independent inventors and in working with multiple stakeholders to develop collaborative relationships College of Business Administration and partnerships that improve the ability of a region’s entrepreneurial Central Michigan University Working as employees at new ventures • Finding self-employment niches • ecosystem to positively impact economic development, social well-being, and • Advancing social enterprises • Buying and running existing companies entrepreneurship education. Please join me in welcoming Julie to our team. Learn more about her experience on page 4. • Leading family businesses We have grown since a year ago when our team was faced with a critical decision to move our Spring 2020 event to a virtual setting and remain mindful We built our entrepreneurship courses and programs with these different pathways in mind. of the mission to support our students who work so hard to pursue their To learn more about these offerings, please call 989-774-3270 or visit cba.cmich.edu. dreams. For NVOC 2021 we moved our workshop series and mentoring sessions to a virtual platform that connected students with a variety of mentors, advisors and faculty. Students have spent countless hours formulating and refining their ideas, value propositions, and ventures. We are greatly appreciative of the supporting group of CMU alumni, faculty, and other members of our Chris Moberg, Dean entrepreneurial and business community who served as mentors and advisors College of Business Administration throughout this journey. Central Michigan University It is exciting to share that we have several students returning from the 2020 NVOC and we will be awarding two prizes specific to the returning student teams. Additionally, we will continue with both a 10-minute presentation track and 2-minute pitch track for students to compete. Once again, we also welcome student teams from Michigan Technological University (MTU) to compete in the 2021 NVOC. In total, we have 31 teams competing for $100,000 in prizes this Table of Contents spring. See page 3 for a breakdown of the prizes. We want to thank the many supporters and stakeholders who help make the NVC and NVOC possible. In addition to our generous sponsors, we also thank Judging Approach .......................................................................................................................... 2 our mentors, advisors, faculty, and judges. Your generous efforts have made a Awards ............................................................................................................................................... 3 true impact on our students and their success. Please keep an eye out for announcements and updates as we evolve from a Isabella Bank Institute for Entrepreneurship Team ............................................................. 4 purely virtual setting to a more widely connected marquee event as we exit the Mentors and Advisors ................................................................................................................... 5 depths of this pandemic. Judges ...............................................................................................................................................6 We are steadfast in our appreciation for all of our supporters’ commitment to the success of our next generation of Michigan entrepreneurs and to Central Competition Teams .......................................................................................................................15 Michigan University! Recognition ....................................................................................................................................78 Entrepreneurship at CMU ..........................................................................................................79 Julie Messing, Director Chris Moberg, Dean 1 Judging Approach Awards We are very fortunate to have so many experienced entrepreneurs, business leaders, and service Each NVOC track has its own awards and teams on both tracks are competing in the Student Gallery Showcase. These awards are as follows: providers who are willing to serve as judges for the NVOC. AWARDS These judges will use their discretion when evaluating the ventures. However, we have provided 10-Minute Presentations (2021) examples of questions judges can ask to help make their decisions: • 2021 David and Janice Underwood Best Overall Venture Award – $25,000 • Is the business concept convincing? • 2021 David and Susan Roberts Family Award for Best Social Venture – $10,000 • Is this a business you want to know more about? • Korson Family Highest Growth Potential Venture Award – $10,000 JUDGING APPROACH • Is this a team with the passion and capability of taking the business forward to the next milestone? 10-Minute Presentations (2020) • Did the team conduct testing of their concept with potential customers? Through the generous contribution of our sponsors, the teams that participated in the 2020 New • Is the video pitch/presentation believable and understandable? Venture Online Competition were able to compete for two awards this year to recognize their hard • Is their implementation plan reasonable? work that was disrupted by Covid-19. These awards include: • Did the team define their product/service and the problem it solves? • 2020 David and Janice Underwood Best Overall Venture Award – $25,000 • Do they have a minimum viable product (MVP)? • 2020 David and Susan Roberts Family Award for Best Social Venture – $10,000 • Does the team explain how they will make money and/or fund their venture? Up and Coming Ventures (for all 10-Minute Presentations) • Does the team know their points of differentiation? • Is there established validation of the team's competitive advantage? • First Place – $3,000 Sponsored by Dr. Elham Asgari, Gates Professor of Entrepreneurship, College of Business, MTU • Is the financing model viable and sustainable? • Second Place – $1,500 • What would they do with the earned capital? • Third Place – $500 We have two separate judging categories. One category will evaluate teams competing in the 2-minute video pitch track while the other will evaluate teams competing in the 10-minute 2-Minute Pitches video presentation track. Each judge will be asked to review the executive summaries, financial Sponsored by Michigan Technological University and Central Michigan University projections, and videos, for teams competing in the track that they are judging. • First Place – $5,000 Judges will also be able to see students in action, and ask questions, in the “LIVE” Student Gallery. • Second Place – $2,500 In prior years, judges and other NVC guests enjoyed visiting with students at their assigned tables as part of the NVC Competition Day. While this experience is difficult to replicate online, this year’s • Third Place – $1,000 NVOC is utilizing the Airmeet platform to have the Student Gallery function as a virtual trade show • Honorable Mentions (2) – $750 each of sorts. Thus, in addition to reviewing executive summaries, projections, and videos, judges (and other guests) have the opportunity to actively engage with students during the competition. Student Gallery Awards Ultimately, each judge will rank the teams they are evaluating. Those results will then be Sponsored by Isabella Bank aggregated in order to determine the award winners. • Up to 3 awards for a total of $5,000 While all judges have access to the Student Gallery to help evaluate their assigned ventures, a separate judging panel will also grant awards based on how ventures perform in the Student Gallery. 2 3 Isabella Bank Institute for Entrepreneurship Team Mentors & Advisors Julie Messing Honorary Mentor in Residence Director, Isabella Bank Institute for Entrepreneurship Faculty, Entrepreneurship Department, Campbell Fellow, College of Business Curt White PhD Dow Corning Corp. (Retired) CATEGORY Administration & ADVISORS