Pace Lubin

 

ANNOUNCING THE WINNERS OF THE 9th ANNUAL PACE PITCH CONTEST
 
[First Place]   [Second Place]  

First Place:
Nuque Tie New York
Christian Velez

 

Second Place:
B100 Production Facility Geordi Taylor

 

Third Place:
Nova Mobile Applications Javier Dutan

The Ninth Annual Pace Pitch Contest

Presented by

The Entrepreneurship Lab

 

Come watch six Finalists pitch their new business concepts

 


 

The Ninth Annual Pace Pitch Contest
Thursday, April 18, 2013
5:00 p.m.- 8:00 p.m.
Pace University
One Pace Plaza
Multipurpose Room
New York, NY 10038

 


  • 5:00 - 6:00 Registration and Networking
  • 6:00 – 7:15 Finalists make their Pitch
  • 7:15 - 7:30 Break (Judging Panel selects the winning pitches in private)
  • 7:30 - 8:00 Awards Ceremony and Networking

Each individual/team will have 3 minutes to make a pitch and may use up to 5 PowerPoint® slides. The pitch must be an original concept, created by the presenter(s).

Here's How to Enter

  • 1. At least one member of your team should meet one of the following two criteria:
    • Full or part-time student currently enrolled in Pace University
    • Recent Pace University graduate (graduated within the past 18 months)

    AND if you have already launched the venture, it must have been in business for less than 2 years and received less than $100,000 in funding.
     

  • 2. Register online. Each member of the team must complete the Intent to Compete Registration Form at the Ninth Annual Pace Pitch Contest Web site elab.nyc/pitch.
  •  
  • Deadline - 5:00 PM EST on Monday April 1, 2013
     
  • 3. Submit a biography. Each biography (if competing as a team, each member must submit a biography) MUST be a minimum of 100 words and a maximum of 200 words. Please be sure to indicate your status as a student (college/university and school, degree, major, full or part-time status, and expected year of graduation) or as a recent graduate (college/university and school, degree, major, and date of graduation).*
  •  
  • Deadline - 5:00 PM EST on Monday April 1, 2013
     
  • 4. Submit an Executive Summary. You should prepare a ONE PAGE Executive Summary to be used on the Pace Pitch Web site and in the printed program.*

    Deadline - 5:00 pm EST on Monday April 1, 2013.
     

  • 5. Finalist Announcement. The names of the finalists will be announced on Monday April 8, 2013.
  •  
  • 6. Submit a photo. If selected as a Finalist or alternate, you must submit a digital photograph (approximately 100 KB - 1 MB in JPEG format) to be used on the Pace Pitch Web site and in the printed program.*
  •  
  • Deadline - 5:00 pm EST on Friday April 12, 2013.
     
  • 7. Submit a PowerPoint® presentation. If selected as a Finalist or alternate, you may submit up to 5 PowerPoint® slides to be used with your pitch (the 5 slide maximum includes a title slide and none of the slides may include external hyperlinks, embedded video, or transitions that 'effectively create' more than 5 distinct slide images). PowerPoint slides are not required and may not be used if not received by the deadline. Presentations in other formats will not be accepted.*
  •  
  • Deadline - 5:00 pm EST on Monday April 15, 2013.
     
  • 8. Make Your Pitch! The finalist/alternate contestant must arrive at the One Pace Plaza, Multipurpose Room, New York, NY. 10038 by 5:00 pm EST on Thursday April 18, 2013.

 

* All documents must be sent by e-mail to Nikhil Kalyankar, Associate Director, The Entrepreneurship Lab, at nkalyankar@pace.edu

Here's How the Pace Pitch Contest Works:

On Thursday, April 18, 2013, finalists will make their pitches to a panel of judges in front of an enthusiastic audience. There is a strict time limit of three minutes for all pitches. Contestants will present in alphabetical order. After each pitch, the judges may ask a number of questions. All answers must be kept to less than one minute. Immediately after the pitches have been made, the judging panel will decide on one winner from each category based on the Guidelines and Judging Criteria. The Pace Pitch Contest has proven to be an exciting, educational, and fun event. We hope you will enjoy the event and find it valuable.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Professor Bruce Bachenheimer, Program Director of Entrepreneurship @ Lubin, at bbachenheimer@pace.edu or Nikhil Kalyankar, Associate Director, The Entrepreneurship Lab at nkalyankar@pace.edu.

Good luck!
 

The deadline to enter the Pace Pitch Contest is 5:00 p.m. on Monday, April 1, 2013
or until 250 applications have been completed.

New Business Concepts Pitch Guidelines | Social Ventures Pitch Guidelines | Ten Questions That You Should Try To Answer
 

New Business Concepts Pitch Guidelines

 

New Business Concepts will be evaluated on the following judging criteria.
 

  • 1. Business Description: Details of the venture and what it does.
    • How well was the concept explained?
    • How reasonable, sustainable, and scalable is the new concept?
  • 2. Market Analysis: Characteristics of the market and description of its customers.
    • Is there a genuine need for the product or service?
    • How well was the target market defined?
    • What is the size and growth of the market?
    • What is the consumers' willingness to pay for the product/service?
  • 3. Product or Service Analysis: The specifics of the product or service.
    • Is the description clear?
    • Is the product feasible?
    • How easily it can be duplicated?
    • Is there a presence of potential substitutes for the product?
  • 4. Competition: Identify current and potential competitors.
    • Have the current and potential competitors, competitive response, and analysis of strengths and weaknesses been adequately defined?
  • 5. Marketing Strategy: How sales will be achieved.
    • How realistically defined is the marketing plan?
    • Does the plan adequately address price, product, place, and promotion?
    • Are resources sufficiently allocated for marketing?
  • 6. Operations: How the product or service will be produced and delivered.
    • What is the likelihood of securing resources required for production?
    • Is there an ability to operate competitively and grow?
  • 7. Management: An assessment of the entrepreneur(s) and team.
    • Does the team exhibit the experience and skills required for operation?
    • What is the depth and breadth of the team's capabilities?
    • Does the team demonstrate the ability to grow with the organization and attract new talent?
  • 8. Finances: An overview of the required resources and economics of the venture.
    • How compelling is the business model?
    • Have the resources required for the venture been addressed?
    • Has the team clearly and adequately presented a breakeven analysis?
    • How reasonable are the financial projections?
    • Are there prospects for long-term profitability?
  • 9. Investment Proposal: The terms and conditions offered to investors.
    • Did the entrepreneurial team explain funding?
    • Were offerings to investors and anticipated returns clearly explained?
    • Did the team calculate a realistic valuation?
    • How feasible is the exit strategy?
  • 10. Presentation: Overall effectiveness of the actual presentation.
    • Did the presenter(s) engage the audience and hold their attention?
    • Did the presenter(s) appear to speak with confidence authority?
    • Were visual aids (i.e. PowerPoint® slides) clear and valuable?
    • Was the pitch exciting and compelling?
    • How efficiently did the team allot their time?

 

Social Venture Pitch Guidelines

 

Social Ventures will be evaluated on the following judging criteria.
 

  • 1. Assessing the Need: An analysis of the social issue and its affected population.
    • Does the proposed venture address a significant and critical social problem?
  • 2. Well-defined Target: Characteristics of the market and targeted population.
    • Does the proposed venture adequately describe the problem it hopes to address and have defined parameters within which it plans to operate?
  • 3. Management: An assessment of the entrepreneur(s) and team.
    • Does the entrepreneurial team possess the skills and experience required to translate the plan into action?
    • Can they demonstrated the passion, commitment, and perseverance required to overcome inevitable obstacles?
    • Is the team comprised of individuals committed to ethical standards?
  • 4. Creativity: A demonstration that the proposed solution displays a unique approach.
    • Does the proposal approach the social problem in an innovative, exciting, and dynamic way?
  • 5. Feasibility: A demonstration that the venture can be successfully implemented.
    • Does the initiative aspire towards clear, realistic and achievable goals, while thinking big?
    • Can it be implemented effectively?
  • 6. Planning: A clear and well-defined strategy to achieve objectives and goals.
    • Are there clear and coherent schedules, milestones, objectives, and financial plans?
  • 7. Operations: How the product or service will be physically produced and distributed.
    • Has adequate attention been given to the way in which the product or service is to be produced and/or delivered?
    • Do they have, or can likely secure, the resources required for production?
    • Will they be able to operate competitively and grow?
  • 8. Sustainability: Long-term prospects for viability and success.
    • Does the proposed venture include adequate strategies for fundraising and income generation?
    • Does it consider the different dimensions of financial and social sustainability in a conscientious manner?
  • 9. Social Impact: The value that the new venture will bring to society.
    • How will the implementation of this social venture benefit the community and the multiple stakeholders involved?
    • Is there the potential for significant social impact and engagement of the broader community?
  • 10. Presentation: Overall effectiveness of the actual presentation.
    • Did the presenter(s) engage the audience and hold their attention?
    • Did the presenter(s) appear to speak with confidence authority?
    • Were visual aids (i.e. PowerPoint® slides) clear and valuable?
    • Was the pitch exciting and compelling?
    • How efficiently did the team allot their time?

* While there is some debate regarding the precise definition of a social venture, and what exactly differentiates it from a traditional for profit business, the Selection Committee and Judging Panel will use the following criteria:

  • PRIMARY MISSION - is the organization's primary purpose to serve its owners (New Business Concept) or society (Social Venture)
  • PRIMARY MEASURE OF SUCCESS - does the organization measure its success primarily by profitability (New Business Concept) or positive social change (Social Venture)

 

Ten Questions That You Should Try To Answer

 

Whether pitching a New Business Concept or a Social Venture, try to address the following ten big questions as completely as possible. Remember, you should not simply talk about a general idea (those are "a dime a dozen"), rather, try to present a concise concept with a cleareconomic model, convincing everyone that you can actually make it happen.

  • 1. What's the PROBLEM?
  • 2. What's your SOLUTION?
  • 3. How large is the MARKET?
  • 4. Who is the COMPETITION?
  • 5. What makes you so SPECIAL?
  • 6. What's your ECONOMIC MODEL?
  • 7. How exactly will you achieve SALES?
  • 8. Have you assembled a qualified TEAM?
  • 9. How will you secure required RESOURCES?
  • 10. What are you proposing for an INVESTMENT?

Suggested reading: The Art of the Start by Guy Kawasaki (Penguin 2004), especially Chapter 3, "The Art of Pitching"

Mark A. Herschberg, CTO, MadisonLogic
Educated at MIT (with degrees in physics, EE/CS, and a masters in cryptography) Mark has spent his career launching and fixing new ventures at startups, Fortune 100s, and academia.  Mark has worked at and consulted to number startups typically taking on roles in general management, operations, and technology.  He has been involved from inception and fundraising through growth and sale of the company.  These startup companies have included a wireless application platform, online advertising, lead generation, OLAP, and new language development.  Mark was instrumental in launching ServiceLive.com Sears online home services labor market; he also helped fix NBCs online video marketplace (now Hulu.com).  In academia Mark spent a year at HBS working with two finance professors to create the upTick system now used to teach finance at many of the top business schools. At MIT Mark helped to start the Undergraduate Practice Opportunities Program at which he teaches annually along with his teaching at SUNY Levin Institute. Currently Mark is the CTO of MadisonLogic. In his spare time Mark works with numerous non-profits and was one of the top ranked ballroom dancers in the country.

 

 

Charlie O’Donnell, Partner, Brooklyn Bridge Ventures
Charlie O’Donnell has been an active member of the NYC venture capital and startup community for ten years in roles ranging from institutional fund investor to venture capitalist to entrepreneur--with a little product management in between.  He has venture experience at two of the top venture capital firms in the country, Union Square Ventures and First Round Capital, and sourced First Round's Investment in GroupMe, which sold to Skype in 2011. The investments he sourced at First Round Capital also include Refinery29, chloe + isabel,Backupify, SinglePlatform, Salescrunch and Docracy. He also teaches entrepreneurship and the business of technology at Fordham University, his alma mater.

 

 

Stephen Sokoler, President & CEO, Altrum Honors
Stephen Sokoler is Founder, President & CEO of Altrum Honors, a global leader in the recognition industry. Stephen’s career in the recognition industry began in 2002 at The Award Group.  In October 2007, Stephen purchased the division he built at the Award Group and created a new company called Icon Recognition.  In the midst of the financial crisis Stephen spearheaded the acquisition of two rival firms, The Gifted Portfolio and Don McDonald, creating Altrum Honors.  From 2009 to 2011, Stephen continued to expand Altrum Honors, opening offices in London, Montreal, and Hong Kong. In late 2011 Stephen moved to Sydney to open Altrum’s office in Australia.  Altrum Honors operates across the globe with a mission to inspire people worldwide. 

Stephen is an entrepreneur whose business ventures began at a young age. He ran several successful companies throughout high school and college and in 2006 Stephen opened and operated a restaurant and bar in New York City’s Greenwich Village. Stephen holds a degree in Finance and International Business from New York University’s Stern School of Business, where he studied in Madrid and was a Founder’s Scholar. Stephen enjoys travel, reading, exercise, and basketball. He grew up in Douglaston, New York and currently lives in the West Village in New York City.

 

Michael Vesey, CFO, Majesco
Michael Vesey is Chief Financial Officer of Majesco Entertainment Company, a NASDAQ listed publisher and developer of video games and interactive entertainment products. Michael has spent his career working with companies in their formative stages in growth industries. Prior to joining Majesco Michael was Chief financial Officer of venture funded companies in the wireless data applications and nutritional beverage industries.  Prior to that, he was with wireless communications provider Mobilemedia Communications in several positions including Vice President Corporate Development, as the company was spun-out from SBC corporation in a leveraged buyout, grown through acquisition, and brought public. Michael received his BBA from Pace University in 1984 and is a CPA in the state of New Jersey.

 


 

B100 Production Facility
Nova Software
Nuque Tie New York
SAI
Trendytres
Wrangle Sports


B100 Production Facility

Executive Summary

After studying the viability and cost basis for several alternative energy projects in Jamaica W.I, it became clear that the most practicable option to pursue is a biodiesel manufacturing facility. Biodiesel is a type of biofuel that is created from a reaction between vegetable or waste vegetable oil (WVO) and methanol while in the presence of a catalyst; this process is known as transesterification. During transesterification, the fat in vegetable oil is separated from the glycerin and what is left is a fuel that can be used in any petroleum-diesel engine, without the need for any modifications.

Research into the technical aspects of biodiesel and its numerous production methods is conducted on a continuous basis. However, a considerable amount of research has been conducted to understand the regulations that deal with manufacturing in Jamaica and the incentive programs available from the government of Jamaica. In addition, quotes for methanol, waste vegetable oil, and potassium hydroxide quantities available have been gathered from producers in the Caribbean.

As for market analysis, businesses in Jamaica that operate in a variety of industries were surveyed to gauge the demand for diesel fuel. It was derived that the demand from five of these businesses on a weekly basis could be filled on a very profitable basis. Also, a considerable portion of the government’s facilities are currently operated using high-cost diesel fuel. For a such a relatively complex venture, the overhead costs sum up to a total that will fall between $500,000-$1,000,000 USD depending on the type of equipment selected, initial output levels, and the quantity and the exact amount of methanol and potassium hydroxide used in the initial output cycle.    

A major advantage to this venture is that there are currently no other firms in Jamaica that produce biodiesel. The country currently relies heavily on imported petroleum from oil exporting nations that has proven to be costly. Also, the attitude of the Jamaican government is to attempt to reduce their carbon footprint and lower costs since the nation’s economy has struggled for the past few decades.

Biography

Geordi Taylor is an undergraduate Economics Major who is currently utilizing the tools of the entrepreneurship lab at Pace University to construct a business plan and for a biodiesel production facility in his home-country of Jamaica. Geordi hopes to provide Jamaican businesses and citizens with a cheaper alternative to high-priced petroleum diesel by producing B100 (100% biodiesel) while providing a means for them to reduce their carbon footprint on the environment and our atmosphere.

 

 

 


Nova Mobile Applications

Executive Summary

Nova is a new company that will provide point of sale systems and software to small and medium sized businesses. Nova will specifically target the food and beverage industry and expand afterwards. The company will have a majority ownership by Javier Dutan with other investors or employees owning small percentages of shares.

Nova will focus its core business on software that will be distributed through the Microsoft Windows Store. Nova will also sell point of sale systems as a compliment to the software. The software will be subscription based with month to month rates with full year subscription offers at a reduced price. The overall target of Nova software is to create an easier and more efficient check out process for restaurants. The back end of the software will hold advanced features for those who want to utilize them. The overall emphasis is pointed towards ease of use and efficiency, as the point of sale system will monitor the establishment’s finances and track how well the business is doing. 

The prototype software and point of sale system will be tested in third party restaurants. We have partnered with Castillo Restaurant, Inc. to test out our prototype software and point of sale system. Their interest in Nova software is to acquire a cheaper and easier to use point of sale system and service.  Feedback will be collected from waiters, kitchen operators, and managers on the overall ability and usefulness of Nova software and point of sale system. With the feedback gathered changes will be made to the software and point of sale system to increase its ease of use and overall efficiency in a food and beverage establishment.

Nova will target the U.S. food and beverage industry. Nova will begin its marketing push in New York City. New York City has 22,000 food and beverage establishments that are potential customers. A sizeable team of traveling salesmen will be hired to pitch the software and point of sale systems to business throughout the city. The salesmen will travel through the 5 boroughs and attempt to get as many customers to buy the Nova system or the software package. Each sale of software and/or system will bring in a generous commission reward.

Our goal is to have the software available in the general market by the 6 month mark of the company being created. Nova has set a goal of 5,000 subscribers for the software by the end of the 1st year with a goal of 15,000 by the end of the 2nd. Conservative estimates of $199 per subscriber will put our revenue at $1,000,000 in revenue for the first year and $3,000,000 the second year.

To create Nova’s software we will have to create a team of 10 developers, 2 designers, and 2 website developers. The initial length of time to create the applications will take 4 months with an estimated cost of $550,000 in cost for salaries, rent, and startup expenses. Financing of Nova will be done through initial investment of Javier Dutan by 50% or more of the costs. Additional investments will be sought from venture capital, angel investors, and private funding. If no additional funding can be secured, Nova will request a private bank loan over a 48 month term.

Biography

My name is Javier Dutan, I am a Junior in the Lubin School of Business at Pace University. My major is Management with a concentration in Entrepreneurship with an expected graduation date of May 2014. I have experience in many different fields ranging from Photography, Web Design, Marketing, and Financial Analytics.

I have worked in startups such as Applico Inc. that is now the market leader in its mobile development field. I have worked in financial analytics with Cians Analytics and have learned a great deal of business to business communication as well as managing a team overseas.  My marketing experience with business to consumer has come from working with Apple and its award winning marketing team. My ambition to target an obstacle in the restaurant industry stems from my experience with restaurants. I grew up with restaurants as part of my childhood. I have seen my parent’s small restaurant slowly evolve through market changes, expansion, and innovation. I inherited my parents drive to succeed and as a result I would like to create my own success through an entrepreneurial endeavor.

 


 

Nuque Tie New York

Executive Summary

Nuque Tie was founded in 2012 and is a company designed to change the dress of businessmen and the fashion conscious alike.  Our ties are handmade and distributed from Yonkers, New York.

Product
Nuque Tie makes reversible ties that revolutionize the way you plan your day.  One side for the boardroom, the reverse for a night on the town.  Nuque Ties come in three variations; the Wall Street, the Park Avenue, and the Broadway, each with their unique color ways that reflect the aesthetic of these iconic New York streets.  Presently, our ties are in the introductory stage.  It competes primarily based on limited competition.  The tie’s versatility is a resolution for those who never sleep.  Our future plans include developing new lines based on other cities both domestic and international within 18 to 24 months.

The Market
We define our market as men and women’s fashion accessories. The total market size was approximately $20 billion in 2012 and is expected to grow by 25% by 2015.  In our startup year we have sold over $2000 by word of mouth.  With formal advertising and a functional website we project to make over $ 10,000 in 2013.  Some of our most notable customers include The Martinez Brothers of whom are world renowned House DJs.

Competition
We compete directly with top tie companies such as Thomas Pink, BOSS, and Duchamp.  We have no alternatives as the ties are unique and stand alone in the market. Our product is unique/superior because no other reversible ties exist.  We anticipate new companies to enter this market yet our unique feel is what sets us apart.

Risk/Opportunity
The greatest risks associated with our business today are duplications. We feel we can overcome this risks because of our quality combined with the unique ties to New York. Our biggest recognized opportunities include a website under construction, and to increase capacity to keep up with demand. 

Management Team
The management team is led by founder/ President Christian Velez (founded 2012) with over 7 years of high end retail and management experience.
The CFO is Robert Rodriguez, previously a financial analyst for Proforma Practice management services.
The Director of sales and marketing is Nathaniel Moore.  Colombia University Alumni, economics major. 

Operations
We have one manufacturing location in Yonkers, New York.  We currently perform design, construction, and sales in house.  Our total full time staff is 4 people and our products are distributed by online sales via UPS. 

Capital Requirements
We are seeking $20,000 which will enable us to advertise and up our production in order to capitalize on an expanding market to become a staple of every professional and casual outfit.  Money will be invested in production machinery, advertisement, company growth.

Biography

My name is Christian Anthony Velez, a current full-time Junior and Sociology/Anthropology major at Pace University’s Dyson College of Arts and Sciences on the New York City campus. My expected graduation is 2014.  I have extensive background in retail sales, visuals, and management.  Have worked for Thomas Pink, Bloomingdale’s, Lacoste, and Converse, realizing there is an opportunity in the market, I have decided to startup a business of my own based on the concept of business to casual accessories.  Living my entire life in and around New York I applied the study of people and society to a fashion concept that will change the way people plan their day.

 

 


 

SAI

Executive Summary

Most investor’s only consider the financial health of a company when making an investment decision. They usually do not look at how people are reacting to a company because there is no way to measure human reaction towards specific companies. In order to make a stable investment decision, an investor must be able to analyze both the financial health and the emotional health of a company. SAI is the software developed just for that. It analyzes every type of information online relating to a specific publicly owned company and offer tools to help analyze all those information. With well-constructed algorithms, SAI will be able to fully analyze what people are saying about a specific company, look for potential trends for increase/decrease in stock price, predict the success/failure of a new product, help stop over/under production, and also improve resource allocation. With social media and online data rapidly expanding today, now is the perfect time to apply this software to help investors and also companies comprehend opinions to gain an advantage.

SAI will have the similar revenue model as the Bloomberg Terminal. It will go by a subscription based pricing. $250/month per subscriber; I came to the number $250 as it is 1/6th the price of the Bloomberg Terminal ($1500). This software purpose is NOT to compete with Bloomberg Terminal; its purpose is to be served as an addition to the Bloomberg Terminal. The Bloomberg Terminal currently have 315,000 subscribers worldwide generating about $472.5 million a month and $5.67 billion a year. Assuming we manage to get its 315,000 subscribers to subscribe to our software, we will be making about $78.8 million a month or $945 million a year.

According to IDC, in 2012 the business analytics software market hit around $33 billion. The market has an annual growth rate of 9.8% and is forecast to reaching $50.7 billion in 2016.

Financing for SAI will be through venture capital because of the real-time data mining technologies which is very costly. I plan on going through Union Square Venture to seek an investment of about $250,000 for testing and developing the concept.

There are many large companies who have some sort of sentiment analysis software such as SAI however, there are only a very few who fully concentrate on sentiment analysis. One of my competitors is StockSonar. StockSonar have got lots of exposure online however their algorithms that they use are very basic and not accurate. SAI have more complicated algorithm with much more tools that will be offered.

Biography

My name is Kumesh Aroomoogan. I am currently a full-time junior accounting major (5 year CPA Track) at Pace University, expecting to be graduating in 2015. In the past I have completed several internships: Securities Industry and Financial Market Association (3 months), Citigroup (3 months), and Ford Foundation (12 months). In the past I also created a variety of companies within the field of design, fitness, international trade and entertainment. I had a lot of failures and some success. Each failure taught me life lessons which I could not have learned without failing. My previous startups are as follow: KA Design (6 months), XFitness (5 months), Citizen Minute (5 months), Import/Export on EBay (4 months), and Auxral (11 months). My most successful venture was Auxral (www.auxral.com). It’s a web design company which I co-founded with a friend. We both had the skills needed and we were both in need of cash. So we used our skills in design and went door to door getting clients. Our profit margins were 90%. It solved our cash problem but we learned that we did not like web designing. I learned from my mistakes and now my newest company is my passion – Business Intelligence.

 


 

Trendytres

Executive Summary

 “Trendytres” is a fashion discovery online platform that recommends matching clothing items, accessories, makeup combinations and hairstyles based on user’s interests and personal selections. A team of experts and fashion enthusiasts will have carefully curated every “recommended” item beforehand. The concept for the platform lies on the problems people face when creating clothing attires, not to mention combining those effectively with appropriate makeup and hairstyle combinations.

“Trendytres” targets young women in the 16 – 40 age range in good socioeconomic conditions. We are looking for women that already know how to dress and would like to discover new trendy products to add to their collection; however we also place a big emphasis on women who ‘struggle’ when it comes to fashion and beauty. Part of our mission is to educate women on how to improve their personal image through adequate combination of fashion, and cosmetics.

Even though there is currently no clear substitute for my proposed service, there is however the possibility of combining several services that could result in similar experiences. Nevertheless, integration could be troublesome due to differences in terms of target audiences and platform features. My proposed service on the other hand would provide a simple and yet effective way of solving the issue of combining beauty products and clothing.

Current and potential competitors we have identified include:

- Boutine (fusion between Etsy meets Polyvore)

- Polyvore (brand discovery and social component provided by ‘collage’ feature)

- Birchbox (discovery subscription service)

- Shoptiques (boutique shopping online)

Revenue lines include:

-The main service provided is fashion discovery and stylish matching. Every item displayed by the platform is available for purchase in the designer’s website. “Trendytres” will get paid a commission on every item purchased by our users on the retailer’s website.

-The second revenue line will come from a subscription service that will offer tailored matching solutions for the particular customer. Subscribers will have the option to supply their own articles for us to find suitable matching complements. Subscription charges will amount to $10 per month.

(Special partnerships could be arranged by means of which the partner’s products would be “pushed” more aggressively within the platform when creating beauty combinations.)

The “Trendytres” team is composed of Marcelo Zimmler and Carolina Zimmler (current Marketing Manager at Unilever Argentina).

Biography

My name is Marcelo Zimmler. Originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina, I am a recent graduate from Pace University. I attended Pace from September 2008 until May 2012 when I graduated with a double major in Computer Science and Mathematics and a minor in Economics. During my last semester I travelled abroad to London, UK and studied Business Economics at Regent’s College. During my time in the UK I teamed up with two classmates and prepared a business plan for a new restaurant concept entitled “One2Up”. The plan was pitched at the Angels Den podium during The Business Show 2012. After the completion of my degree I returned to New York and became Managing Director at Mariscotti Art, LLC, an art company based in New York City with the purpose of marketing and promoting the work of Abstract artist Osvaldo Mariscotti. Since January 2013 I have been working at the Seidenberg School of CSIS at Pace as a Part-time Web Developer.

 

 


 

Wrangle Sports

Executive Summary

Wrangle Sportsis a mobile phone and tablet application targeting sports fanatics of all major league sports.  It allows individuals to debate about their favorite sports teams using statics with friends, family, co-workers and a community of sports fans. Those long hours of trying to prove your point in that your Sport Team reigns supreme are over. The application will hold an interface that allows users to chat using sports stats. This will allow for an actual debate to spark between users in the community. Users get to defend their sports teams without anyone worrying about false stats and wins accumulated in a certain season. Which gets any sports fanatic upset. Debate today biggest sports stories get your opinion heard. It will be made assessable for Android users as well as iPhone users in App store & Market place.

Competitive Advantage and Business Model

Wrangle Sports creates a different dynamic to the app platform. Many of the established applications that allow users to interact among each other solely relating to sports are Sports Yapper, Bleacher report and ESPN. All of these platforms allow users to comment or talk in a community of users without any stats. Speaking about sports without stats is amateur and real sports fans want stats at their fingertips.

Wrangle Sports will have a different dynamic by bringing stats to the conversation to users. Also using other social media for instance Instagram for users to not only debate but also boast their love of their favorite sports team by creating a community to upload fan picks. 

The Sports market is dominated major companies such as Turner Sports, ESPN, Yahoo Sports and Bleacher Report.

Wrangler plans to target a range of people mainly ages 15-35 a bigger pollution being male about 65%.  Viewership for all major-league sports has gone up in recent years and the addition of viewing the games on phones and tablets have increases as well.

The cost of download will be free Wrangle Sports will create money from advertisement from app and Website.  Promotion will come by teaming with companies in the sports world ranging from sports companies like Nike, to companies associated with major league sports teams like State farm, Old Spice to name a few.  Development costs will range from 15,000-25,000. Wrangle’s breakeven is between six to ten months.

The application will grow in stages, every couple of months a new version will come out with updates to keep users excited and interested and to stay on top of any competition. 

The opportunity to made revenue is very high the only expense is Marketing and Creating the Application.  

Simply, promoting on social media sites can cut Wranglers Sports marketing expenses. 

Following the model set by other platforms that made money off of viewership and downloads. Wrangler Sports will be constructed to direct sports fans through all leading sports companies like ESPN, Bleacher Report, Yahoo Sports this allows for quicker users in a short period of time.  (e.g Bleacher report app & website 91 million monthly views.)

Growth contributed to worldwide use of apps annual rise upper 40%.

Future of Wrangle Sports to not only include U.S major league Sports but International sports as well as most notably Soccer and Euro Basketball leagues.

Biography

Darren Alphonse is currently a student at Pace University’s Lubin School of Business and Seidenberg School Computer Science and Information Systems.  Currently pursuing a undergraduate degree in Global Marketing with a minor in Computer Science.  Darren’s holds a knack for whipping up new ideas for technology with the creativity of marketing those ideas to match.  Darren has been honing his skills by learning how to create apps and finding what goes in the back-end and front-end of operations.  Most Recently Darren has contributed efforts to a startup company called Macias PR engaging in a little Public Relations, Marketing, Journalism, and web design.

 

 

 


 

First Prize

A $1,000 cash prize will be awarded to the winner. The prize money must be used to help build the Business presented at the Ninth Annual Pace Pitch Contest.

Second Prize

A $500 cash prize will be awarded to the second place. The prize money must be used to help build the Business presented at the Ninth Annual Pace Pitch Contest.

Third Prize

A $250 cash prize will be awarded to the third place. The prize money must be used to help build the Business presented at the Ninth Annual Pace Pitch Contest.

Additional prizes will be announced later.

Pace University reserves the right to disqualify, at its sole discretion, any individual or team from the competition at any time (before or after the Pitch Contest or the award of any prize) for any reason. Reasons for disqualification may include, but are not limited to, misrepresentations in the application process, plagiarism, infringement of the intellectual property of others, and any failure to comply with the rules of the competition. Disqualified individuals or teams shall forfeit any and all prizes awarded to them.


Previous Pitch Contests

Inaugural Pace Pitch Contest (December 3rd, 2004).
Second Annual Pace Pitch Contest (December 9th, 2005).
Third Annual Pace Pitch Contest (November 17th, 2006).
Fourth Annual Pace Pitch Contest (December 6th, 2007).
Fifth Annual Pace Pitch Contest (December 4th, 2008).
Sixth Annual Pace Pitch Contest (December 3rd, 2009).
Seventh Annual Pace Pitch Contest (April 11th, 2011).
Eighth Annual Pace Pitch Contest (April 19th, 2012).
[Pitch Contest Brochure]
Click to download the full Official Program for the Ninth Annual Pace Pitch Contest (PDF).


About the Contest

The Pace Pitch Contest is based on the Elevator Pitch concept, popular in the venture capital community. It is an extremely concise presentation of an entrepreneur's idea, business model, marketing strategy, competitive analysis, and financial plan, which is delivered to potential investors. The premise is that it could be made in a few minutes, should the entrepreneur spot a potential investor on an elevator and have the opportunity to pitch their idea during the brief ride.

Each Finalist will have exactly three minutes to pitch their new venture idea to a distinguished panel of judges and an enthusiastic audience. In addition to broad participation at Pace, we have been pleased to welcome student competitors from a number of other universities, including Columbia, Harvard, MIT, NYU, Princeton, and Stanford.

 

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For additional information, please contact:

Bruce Bachenheimer,
Clinical Professor of Management and Director, The Entrepreneurship Lab
Tel: (212) 618-6663
Fax: (212) 618-6664
E-mail: bbachenheimer@pace.edu
Web: webpage.pace.edu/bbachenheimer
Address: Pace University
Lubin School of Business
Department of Management, Room 342
163 William Street
New York, NY 10038
 

Nikhil Kalyankar,
Associate Director, The Entrepreneurship Lab
Tel: (212) 618-6667
E-mail: nkalyankar@pace.edu
Address: Pace University
The Entrepreneurship Lab
163 William Street, 3rd Floor
New York, NY 10038
 

[Pace Pitch Contest]