Competition Guidelines
Overview
This 2-week program is designed for people that want to be entrepreneurs, but may not have their own idea to start with. Hacking for Homebuilding 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.
Hacking for Homebuilding will culminate with a pitch to industry experts, entrepreneurs, and investors. Judges will determine the top three teams from each track to pitch for cash prizes during this year’s Boise Entrepreneur Week.
Registration
Applications are open now and closes at 5 pm MT on Sunday, September 26, 2021.
If you are an active college student in Idaho, please register using this link: https://mailchi.mp/dc1d65926562/h4h2021
All non-Idaho collegiate students should apply in the Public Track, using this link: https://mailchi.mp/6f2f7c32bc71/h4h2021public
Prize Money
$20,000 in cash prizes for the student track:
1st Place: $10,000
2nd Place: $7,000
3rd Place: $3,000
$20,000 in cash prizes for the public track:
1st Place: $10,000
2nd Place: $7,000
3rd Place: $3,000
Pitch Guidelines
Pitch Outline
Hacking for Homebuilding 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 (3 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 judges will be looking for. Two of the last 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:
(Video) The SECRET Ingredient to The PERFECT PITCH: How to tell a compelling STORY
(Video) Startup Pitch Video: How to Create a Pitch Deck for Investors
Best Practices - Problem Slides:
(Article) Problem Slide - How to Guide
(Video) DoorDash at YC Summer 2013 Demo Day (What’s the problem?)
(Video) Unbird Techstars Boulder 2019 Demo Day Pitch (See if you can find the problem)
Best Practices - Solution Slides:
(Article) Solution Slide - How to Guide
(Video) Quilt at Y Combinator Demo Day (How is Quilt better than the status quo?)
(Video) GetAccept - YC W'16 Demo Day (What’s the benefit of using Get Accept?)
(Video)YC Demo Day Pitch (vote.org) - (Notice how she leads with the solution first)
Best Practices - Business Model Slides:
(Article) Business Model Slide - How to Guide
(Article) Pitch Deck Pointers Part 7: The Business Model Slide
(Video) YC Demo Day Pitch (Official) -- Goodybag (He knows the numbers around his average customers)
(Video) Shiru Y Combinator Demo Day pitch (She doesn’t share a lot of financial numbers - but do you understand how she makes money?)
Best Practices - Business Model Slides:
(Article) What Your Opportunity Slide is Missing – Make Investors Believe
(Article) Market Slide - How to Guide
(Video) GiveMeTap Demo Day Pitch -- Are you convinced there is a market opportunity?
(Video) Unbabel Demo Day YC W14 --- (What market did they start in? Where are they going?)
(Video) How To Calculate Your Startup’s Total Addressable Market (TAM) The Right Way