October 27, 2003
Students, Faculty and Alums Hit Feverish Pitch During
Plus Finale
By Allison Anderson
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First-year MBA students closing out the McCombs School’s two-week Plus professional development program on Friday didn’t go quietly. After fueling up at tables laden with fancy hors d’oeuvres and petit desserts they hungrily sought support for their original business ideas at the second annual “Pitch Party.”
Second-year MBA students and alumni grasping fistfuls of paper money played the role of “investors” during the game. During a thirty-minute interlude in the party, first-year “pitchers” had a maximum of one minute to approach and impress individual investors.
“I think it’s a great idea,” professor Britt Freund said of the game’s real-world simulation. “We call it the 30-second elevator pitch,” he said. “If you don’t catch people’s attention, you’re done.”
Winner Christopher Griffin tapped into some high-level intelligence in more ways than one. His software program is a “commercial application of a novel business intelligence application currently in use by the department of defense.”
Uh, OK. In other words, it’s software that has something to do with preventing terrorism, among other functions.
Griffin said he’s on the private equity finance track at McCombs, and that he hopes to make a career out of investing other people’s money. He got off to a good start during the Pitch Party, beginning with a zero bank balance and raising $121 million in fictional investor capitol in a mere half-hour. The reward for his hustle was two actual plane tickets from American Airlines.
The primary, or angel, investors at the party—played by McCombs alumni and faculty—had their own incentives for investing in the best pitch. The primary investors each had $10 million to back their favorite proposals. Alumnus David Gordon, who was the first to sink the most cash into the winning idea, will be indulging in a sumptuous dinner at Jeffrey’s restaurant and a night at Austin’s historic Driskill Hotel.
Second-year MBA students, who played secondary or venture investors, each had $5 million to play with. Lucky Lawson Brice, the first “secondary investor” on board with Griffin, won a $360 full-day personal pampering package at Lake Austin Spa Resort.
Before the competition began, second-year student Sharon Cutcher revealed how she would assess the viability of a first-year student’s pitch. “Does it solve a real customer pain?” she asked. “It’s what we learned in (professor) Doggett’s opportunity identification class.”
In other words, does the world need a better mousetrap? Maybe not, but how about a better alarm clock? That was Jon Booth’s champion idea at last year’s Pitch Party. He thinks an alarm that uses a heart monitor to avoid waking you during REM sleep is just the ticket to tackle the day instead of downing a pot of coffee. He said at this year’s party that he hopes someday to actually develop such a device.
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.
