Competition Guidelines

Overview

This 1-week program is designed for people that want to be entrepreneurs, but may not have their own idea to start with. The Cybersecurity Entrepreneur Challenge will help you get started by presenting problems that you will propose solutions to in the form of a new venture.

Participants work closely with the Venture College team and a community of mentors to refine their solutions into ventures through research, customer discovery, and idea validation.


Venture College will host lessons, brainstorming sessions with industry leaders, practice pitches with mentors, and one-on-one meetings to help teams prepare. Participants will need to attend daily check-in’s to give themselves the best chance for success.


CEC 2021 will culminate with a pitch to industry experts, entrepreneurs, and investors. Judges will determine the top four finalists to pitch for cash prizes during this year’s Boise Entrepreneur Week.



Registration

Applications are open now and close at 5 pm MT on Sunday, October 10, 2021.

If you are an active college student in Idaho, please register using this link: https://mailchi.mp/8bb614373a29/cec2021


Prize Money

$30,000 in cash prizes:

  • Micron Cybersecurity Entrepreneur Challenge Award (1st Place): $12,000

  • President’s Award: $8,000

  • Venture College Award: $5,000

  • Institute for Pervasive Cybersecurity Award: $5,000

Pitch Guidelines

Pitch Outline

The Cybersecurity Entrepreneur Challenge will culminate in a pitch competition. Entrepreneurs will have 4 minutes to present their business solution using a slide deck template that includes the following topics:

  • What is the problem?

  • What is your solution?

  • What progress did you make during the competition?

  • Who really needs your solution now? (Target Market)

  • How would you make money? (Revenue Model)

  • What would be your next steps?

After their pitch, entrepreneurs will have 3-5 minutes to answer questions from the judging panel. After all teams have pitched, judges will determine which teams (4 in total) will pitch in the final round for cash prizes.

Scoring Rubric:

The pitch competition will be the only scoring event during the two-week competition. Judges will be using the following criteria to score:

  • How well does the solution solve the problem?

  • Likelihood of adoption by industry professionals?

  • Likelihood of the entrep team executing the idea?

  • How much progress did the team make during the competition?

Pitch Help & Resources

Help During the Competition

During our daily lessons, Venture College will review each slide required in the pitch deck template. This will include best practices on what to mention, what to display, and what judges will be looking for. The last day of the daily lessons will be dedicated to pitch practice - where you will pitch in front of mentors and business leaders for feedback and impressions.

In addition to lesson content, Venture College will arrange one-on-one pitch practice time. This will help you and your team be amply prepared for the competition.

Overall Best Practices for Pitching:

Best Practices - Problem Slides:

Best Practices - Solution Slides:

Best Practices - Business Model Slides:

Best Practices - Business Model Slides: