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Bull City Pitch: Durham High School Students Can Pitch Innovative Ideas To Win $1000 Prize

Phyllis Coley @phyllis_coley

Do you have a business idea? Have you been thinking of a creative way to solve a social issue?

Bull City: Pitch is a competition for high school thinkers and dreamers to explore idea generation, entrepreneurship and collaboration.

Test out your entrepreneurial know-how and compete for a chance to win cash prizes (up to $1,000)! You’ll also get a chance to learn about personal finance and basic business finance concepts. And we’ll connect students participating in the final round with professional s to serve as pitch advisors/mentors.

The competition is open to high school students enrolled in Durham County Public Schools. Teams are made up of 2 to 4 students, and must have an adult advisor.

HOW IT WORKS

MARCH 23 | ROUND 1: SUBMIT YOUR PITCH!

Submit a brief video presentation (3 minutes max), plus an executive summary (2 pages max), for your idea. You can choose either for-profit or social enterprise. Five teams from each group will be selected to advance to the final round.

The video should be creative, fast moving, concise and clearly describe your new business idea. At least one person from the team must be visible in the video. Participants may use PowerPoint, Prezi or other visual aids to make the video more compelling.

Pitches and executive summaries should answer the following questions:

  • What problem does your product or service solve?
  • How do you propose making money?
  • Who are your customers and why will they buy your product or service?
  • Who is your competition and how are you going to be better than the competition

MARCH 30 | FINALISTS NOTIFIED

Teams selected to advance to the Final Round will be notified by March 30. We’ll also provide a list of advisors to connect with to perfect your pitch!

NEXT STEPS | PERFECT YOUR PITCH

Final Round teams will be required to make contact with their advisors at least twice during the pitch preparation process.

APRIL 24 | SHOWTIME AT 5:30PM!

Finalists will present 5-minute pitches in person at the American Underground on Main Street in Downtown Durham. A panel of judges will review the pitches. Two winners from each group (for profit and social enterprise) will be selected. Prizes: 1st Place $1,000 / 2nd Place $500.

What’s included? We’ll provide dinner, and you’ll also get to learn about personal and business finance concepts.

Click here to learn more and sign up! You can also visit the following link to apply: https://square1bank.wufoo.com/forms/bull-city-pitch-2018/.

NEED HELP?

Feel free to contact us with any questions about the process or competition.

Dee McDougal

SVP, Diversity + Inclusion  dmcdougal@pacificwesternbank.com

Edmund P. Lewis, Jr.

Manager: My Brother’s Keeper Durham  eplewis@dconc.gov