Did you ever think life would be easier if there were a tracking device for your iPhone and digital camera, shuttle services providing transportation to Fish Co. on Wednesday nights, "sexy period" stain-preventing underwear or a remote control that forces TV-addicted kids to solve math problems before changing channels?
It's rare to come across such a range of creative business ideas as that found at this fall's Elevator Pitch Competition, which offers a total of $2,000 to the three entries it deems most feasible, creative and well-delivered. Held Saturday in MacMillan 115 and sponsored by the Entrepreneurship Program, the event drew a full room of entrants and audience members.
The premise of the contest is that "you're in an elevator with Bill Gates and you have 45 seconds to get across to Bill Gates an idea that you want him to finance," said Drew Janes '09, co-president of EP. "If you can't explain it in 45 seconds, it's probably not a very good idea - or you don't understand it," he added.
EP sponsors two business competitions per year: the $2,000 Elevator Pitch Competition in the fall and the $50,000 Business Plan Competition in the spring. This is the tenth year of the Elevator Pitch Competition, whose purpose is to "highlight (EP) and get on people's maps in regard to the Business Plan Competition," Janes said.
Proposals included an electronic business card exchange system, a student "nap center," a collection of SAT prep videos and a device to identify and keep track of songs heard on the radio.
EP co-president Ian Spector '09 said the competition is fun because "you can pitch ideas that are kind of grandiose that you wouldn't really be able to execute." Still, some students said they are determined to carry out their plans.
Mollie West '09, who won second prize for her proposal - a project to provide small loans for various Providence entrepreneurs - said she and a group of Brown students are already enacting their plan. They worked on the proposal over the summer and have already received several grants, even though the ink is not yet dry on the business plan they're writing in class this fall, according to West.
Second runner-up was Abhishek Pruisken '10, who already sells homemade Dutch waffle cookies around campus.
Darren Howerton '09, who proposed a GPS system with laser detection and radar, won first place.
Those who didn't win weren't neglected - EP offered to put competitors in touch with business mentors such as Steve Maslow, a former Bear Stearns investment banker who works with Professor-at-Large Shirley Heath to support students for social enterprise.
"When I was young, people were very helpful to me in building my career, and I think it's time to give back," Maslow said.
Among the students Maslow has mentored are David Poritz '11, who is taking next semester off to work on creating a fair trade energy company and Tyler Gage '08.5, who plans to market an all-natural, low-calorie energy drink made from a caffeine-dense plant in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Portiz's proposed company, Gaia Energy, is aimed at allowing people to "live the golden rule in a green way," he said in his 45-second presentation. "I've been working with communities affected by contamination ... and I recognize the need for a new model that would target the weak spots of the industry."
Gage, whose idea was inspired by an Ecuadorian family he hosted in May 2007, said he thought the Elevator Pitch Competition was "a great opportunity to have to be concise with your words and for students to come together and share with each other and build community."
Gaurab Chakrabarti '10, who delivered a proposal for a Web site that provides college students with study material relevant to specific exams, said concentrating in neuroscience helped him to use "the intuition of the brain" in his proposal.
"Entrepreneurship is something that isn't specific to any field of study," said Spector, a cognitive neuroscience concentrator. Janes agreed, saying that business "can be found in media. It can be found in medicine. It can be found in anything you can possibly think of."
