Oct. 10, 2006
Students Pitch Big Ideas at Plus Event
Second-year MBA student Purvi Shah took first place at the Fifth Annual Pitch Party hosted by the MBA Plus Program and the MBA Entrepreneurial Society on Oct. 5.
General Electric sponsored the two-hour event, which allowed
students to test their entrepreneurial prowess, product ideas and
networking abilities. The event centered around a 30-minute session in
which 45
student pitchers made quick introductions of their products to
pseudo-investors over cocktails.
 Allison Rhodes, MBA ’08, (left) pitching her product idea to Tyler Croft, MBA ’05, of General Electric at the 2006 Pitch Party hosted by the MBA Plus Program. |
The judges were armed with three bills in the amounts of $2 million, $1 million and $500,000, and each investor had to invest in three ideas—they could not put all their money into one business pitch. At the end of the half-hour, the money given to each pitcher was counted. Shah received four investments of $2 million each, making her the winner.
Shah pitched a hypothetical business called “EZ Park,” which would enable drivers to locate available metered parking, and pay for it using global positioning systems and wireless technology. Her prize was a 27-inch LCD television and two round-trip American Airlines tickets.
“The Pitch Party is an experience like none other," Shah said.
"It allows you to bring out your entrepreneurial side and forces you
to think on your feet to sell an idea in under 60 seconds.”
Second place went to second-year MBA student Kevin Lee who pitched “Art
of Love,” which would turn photos into artwork such as oil paintings.
Third place was awarded to first-year MBA student Elizabeth Quintanilla
for “Self-Correcting Satellites,” a newly-developed sensor package that
impacts satellite operations.
For information on specific programs at the McCombs School, consult our contacts page. For media information, contact the Communications Director by phone at 512-471-3314 or by email at CommunicationsDirector@mccombs.utexas.edu.
