Lam Family College of Business (LFCoB) undergraduate and graduate students with an innovative business idea or a startup are invited to compete in the LFCoB Pitch Contest.
The top three pitches win cash prizes!
This is a great opportunity for LFCoB students to hear feedback about their sustainable innovative business ideas from industry experts and business faculty. Students can apply for the Innovation Pitch Competition with the same idea. We welcome any stage of entrepreneurial ideas from the ideation phase to ready for angels and seed!
- First place: $500, plus automatic acceptance to the SF State Innovation Pitch Competition to be scheduled in 2025.
- Second place: $300
- Third place: $200
Important Dates and Deadlines for 2025:
- Applications Open: Feb 14, 2025
- Applications Close: Feb 28, 2025, 5 pm
- Acceptance Notification: March 4, 2025
- Pitch Contest Day: March 7, 2025, 3-5 pm
Event Location
The Pitch Contest will be held in person in the Innovation HUB. Please register in advance by clicking this link (The link will be available in Feb).
To Enter the Pitch Contest
- Submit your application and pitch deck HERE (The link will be available in Feb).
- Applications will be reviewed, and finalists will be notified through email.
- Selected applicants are invited to present live in front of the judge panel.
- Winners will be announced at the closing ceremony of the LFCoB Pitch Contest.
Read the full terms and conditions for your application.
Entry and Evaluation Criteria
Requirements
One of the cofounders and the presenter must be a student currently enrolled at least part-time at the Lam Family College of Business. The pitch contest is open to business and entrepreneurial ideas and startups from all industries and at any stage in the startup cycle.
Judging
The preliminary round of judging focuses on finding a compelling and convincing innovation or entrepreneurial story, based on a 10 to 15 slide pitch deck (PDF and PowerPoint files accepted only).
The most successful entries typically demonstrate:
A clear value proposition for a clearly defined target market.
Who is the prototypical consumer of your innovation, and why would they pay for your solution? What problem of theirs does your innovation solve? What need(s) does your innovation fulfill?
A clear explanation of how you are able to solve the consumer’s problem.
How or why does your solution work? What enables your solution to fulfill customer needs better than anything/anyone else out there?
Traction in the marketplace.
Is there a demonstrated product-market fit? Do you have evidence that your idea or prototype is desirable to, adopted by, or sought after by a market?
A well-articulated revenue model.
How does this innovation generate revenue? What recurring revenue streams are created? Who’s paying, and how are they paying for your offering?
A founding team that is set up for success.
Does the founding team have the right technical expertise to execute the innovation? Is this something that the founders will continue to pursue after graduation?
Register to Watch the LFCoB Pitch Contest
All are welcome to join us to watch students pitch their ideas at the LFCoB Pitch Contest. Please register in advance.
Registration will be open in Feb.
Judges
Scouting Manager at State Farm Ventures
Digital & Data Project/Program Manager at Sephora
CEO at Netswitch Technology Management
Past LFCoB Pitch Contest Winners
- First Place and Voted Fan Favorite: WagWay – Nishtha Korde (B.S. in Business, Information Systems student)
- Second Place: OPTunity – Yoshitomo Mori (Certificate in International Business)
- Third Place : Worms Eco Solutions – Hossein Jamshidian (B.S. in Business Administration, Information Systems student), Founder
View the recording here
Passcode: Fp$pVi2+
- First Place: Green Solutions – Heven Kibreab (B.S. in Business Administration, International Business student), Founder
- Second Place: New Intern – Sean Matturano Sebers (B.S. in Business Administration, Marketing student), Founder
- Third Place and Voted Fan Favorite: BrewIT! – Santiago Escobedo (B.S. in Business Administration, Marketing student), Founder
View the recording here
- First Place: ReMind – Rellie Padilla (B.S. in Business Administration, Management student), Founder
- Second Place and Voted Fan Favorite: Baked! – Angelina Healy and Bianca Morales (both are M.S. in Accountancy students), Co-Founders
- Third Place: Ola – Maiyoom Huynh (M.S. in Business Analytics student), Founder
View the recording here