Harvard Pitch for Change 2010

Pitch for Change is an "elevator pitch" competition that is open to individuals and teams with an idea for a new social enterprise venture. Unlike traditional business plan competitions, participants do NOT need to submit a completed business plan; entrants need only submit a short proposal for initial consideration and be prepared to pitch their ideas to a large audience and panel of judges during the 2010 Harvard Social Enterprise Conference if selected as a semi-finalist!

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

The initial requirement is a written proposal of no more than 500 words and one exhibit. Entries must be submitted via online application by Saturday, January 30, 2010, 11:59pm.
Although Pitch for Change is not a business plan contest, entrants are encouraged to put concrete thought into submissions.

Entries will consist of two parts:

• 50 word summary of the idea which clearly identifies the social problem being addressed and succinctly describes the business model. Applicants who make it to the semi-final round will have the option of having their paragraph posted on www.pitchforchange.org to compete for a guaranteed spot in the Pitch for Change final round.

• 500 word description (plus one exhibit) to provide detail on the idea by addressing the following components of the plan:

• Product or Service Description: Describe the product or service your organization will provide, why it is unique, and what social problem it will address. What issue are you trying to solve and what are the levers of change?
• Market Size: Provide a rough calculation of the market size for this product and describe the target audience.
• Time to Market: Estimate the time frame to fully scale operations.
• Management Team: Describe the types of people you would recruit for your “dream management team”.
• Marketing Efforts: Describe how you will market your product or service.
• Financial Plan: Provide an estimate of initial cost and revenue projections.

Entrants must also submit the names of team members, graduate schools attended, and expected graduation date.

ELIGIBILITY

Entrants. The contest is open to both individuals and teams, and at least one member from each team must be a current graduate student.

Ideas. To be eligible for Pitch for Change, each submission must meet the following criteria:

• It must seek to create social value and impact in a significant and sustainable manner. The idea may involve a nonprofit, for-profit, or hybrid model venture, as long as social impact is central to its mission and operations.
• It must seek to advance an idea and organization at a very early phase. Operations should have commenced no earlier than February 1, 2009.
• Project must be a stand-alone effort operating independently of existing organizations (including, but not limited to, resources, governance, management, staff, and infrastructure).

AWARDS

Participants will compete for three top prizes awarded by a panel of judges from social entrepreneurship-related organizations. Prizes include cash and consulting hours from Root Cause consulting to further develop the ideas. The audience will also choose their favorite Pitch for Change finalist for an award of $500.

First Place: $6000 + 3 consulting hours provided by Root Cause consulting
Second Place: $4000 + 2 consulting hours
Third Place: $2000 + 1 consulting hour
Audience Choice: $500

Pitch for Change Deadline Tomorrow!

Sent by Tamara Heimur on 30 January 2010, 02:10AM

Contents

• Pitch for Change Applications
• Social Enterprise Conference Tickets

• Sarah Meharg wrote (9 months ago):

  Looking forward to hearing back from the group.

  • Reply

• Sarah Meharg wrote (9 months ago):

  Looking forward to hearing back from the group.

  • Reply

• Edmilson Nascimento Jr. wrote (1 year ago):

  I am looking for partners for the 2011 Pitch for change competition. I started a company in Brazil called Ahimsa (means non violence). We design social networks games (like farmville) but with a socially responsible theme (the microfinance game, the carbon credit game, etc.)

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• Tamara Heimur wrote (1 year ago):

  Please check our website www.pitchforchange.org on February 15th to see our semi-finalists. The public will have the opportunity to vote on their favorite and automatically put them in the final round!

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• Edmilson Nascimento Jr. wrote (1 year ago):

  What were the companies selected for the second round?

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