Pacific Pitch

Pacific Pitch

What is Pacific Pitch?

Pacific Pitch is a shark-tank style competition that will take place as part of the Pacific Innovation and Entrepreneurship Summit. Entrants will deliver a 5-minute pitch describing their new product, service, or business to a panel of experts, who will determine the winning teams. The Pacific Pitch semi-finals will take place on April 9^th with five teams selected for the Pacific Pitch Finals. The Pacific Pitch Finals will be on April 14^th in the University Center Ballroom and will take place from 6:45 pm to 7:40 pm.

What are the prizes?

The winners of the Pacific Pitch competition received a combination of cash and in-kind prizes designed to help them in their entrepreneurial endeavors. The in-kind portion will include “professional services” such as legal, accounting, and consulting help designed to take their business to the next level. In addition, the first-place winner will receive a booth at the Impact Global Venture Summit, which will take place at the Golden1 Arena in Sacramento on June. The Impact Global Venture Summit is an event that involves thousands of entrepreneurs, investors, and policymakers, and is a fantastic opportunity for networking. Prizes are as follows:

• First Place: $1,000 in cash + in-kind services + booth at Global Impact Venture Summit
• Second Place: $700 in cash + in-kind services
• Third Place: $300 in cash + in-kind services

Who can enter?

Any individual team with a Pacific affiliation (student, staff, alumni, faculty, supporter) who submits the Pacific Pitch online entry form can enter the competition.

When and how to enter?

• April 1: Interested individuals and teams should send an email to  entrepreneurship@PACIFIC.EDU no later than April 1. 
• April 9: Pacific Pitch Semi-finals will take place on the Stockton Campus.  
• April 9: Finalists will be announced.
• April 13: Finalists will deliver their PowerPoint for upload by April 13
• April 14: Finalists should arrive at the University Commons Ballroom no later than 4:00 to test their presentation and prepare for the finals.

What should the PowerPoint pitch slides include?

The pitch is a maximum of 5 minutes in length and should include the following:

1. Name and Mission of the Company: Don’t leave the audience guessing. The first slide should clearly state the name and the mission of the company. The mission statement should be concise (1 or 2 sentences) and state what product or service you provide and for who.
2. The Problem, Need or Opportunity: What is the problem, need or opportunity that your product, service, or business addresses? Who experiences the problem or need? What proof is there that the problem or need is significant for them? Providing a qualitative or quantitative data point (e.g. a quote or a statistic) can help the audience “get” the problem.
3. The solution (product/service and value proposition): What is the product or service that will solve the problem? You should emphasize not only the features but the “value” it delivers in addressing the need identified above.
4. How the solution works: A depiction, prototype or sample can be used to give the audience a more concrete sense of how the product or service would work. For example, showing a user interface for an app or a drawing, sketch or sample for a product will help viewers get a tangible sense of the solution.
5. Competitive Advantage: What other products, services, or businesses are there in the market that try to solve the same problem or need, and what will give you a competitive advantage over them? This can be shown visually using a table that compares features across products.
6. Market Size and Target Market: You should clearly express how big the overall market is (in terms of dollars), as well as the serviceable market that you can reach within five years. The serviceable market should be based on clear statement of (a) what segment of the overall market you are targeting and (b) what channels you are using to reach them.
7. Go-to-Market Strategy: The go-to-market strategy slide should explain your beachhead market (i.e. where and to whom will you first reach out to begin selling to customers) and why it makes sense as the place for you to start. It should then explain where and how you plan to expand over the next five years. What is the sequence of markets you will enter, and how you plan to enter them (e.g. channels, partnerships, etc that you plan to use)?
8. How will you make money (Per Unit Economics): Show how the product, service or business will make money by showing (a) what your price per customer or product will be, (b) what your variable costs (the costs that depend on the volume or products) will be and (c) what your fixed costs are (the costs that don’t vary depending on volume). This is typically best explained on a per-customer basis.
9. Revenue Projections: This slide should project revenue (and customers) for the next five years, and should be linked to the logic of your go-to-market strategy.
10. Need/Ask: You should clearly state what you need at this point in the development of the venture. Most teams state a need for some amount of capital but consider also expressing needs for key hires or co-founders (to build out the team), partners (to gain access to suppliers or customers), or advisors. The need should be specific to what you want to accomplish in the next 6 to 12 months.
11. Milestones: The milestones make clear what you will accomplish over the next 6 to 12 months if you get the resources you’re asking for. This might include things like completing a prototype, launching the business, or striking key partnerships. You should also provide a timeline for milestones that will follow in the next 5 years.
12. Thank you: Don’t forget to end the presentation so that the audience knows when you’re done! The easiest way to do this is to have a “Thank you” slide and to say those words, along with a sentence or two inviting interested parties to follow up with you and meet you afterward.

How to be successful in the Pacific Pitch

Keep in mind that in five minutes, you’re being judged in a number of different ways. Part of it is the logic and soundness of your product, service or business, and how well it has been thought out and researched. But that’s only part of it. Judges will also evaluate you based on:

• how understandable you are (you can’t win if they don’t “get” what you’re doing);
• how the visual aspects of the pitch support what you’re saying (visually clean and attractive slides that are not cluttered with too many words is crucial for their comprehension);
• how appealing you are as a potential partner to work with;
• the emotional tug and relevance of the concept (is this something the world really needs and is this team actually passionate about it). So keep all these aspects in mind as you prepare.