Thursday, October 25, 2012

Ninety Seconds to Business Success

Greetings from the first Semi-Final Pitch Night of the Innovation ACT competition at the Australian National University in Canberra. Teams are competing with ninety second pitches of business ideas to expert venture capital judges. It is a fun night with an audience throwing questions at the competitors. There is then a later phase for assessment of business plans.

Ideas pitched were from the areas of entertainment, education, transport and tourism. Many are web based e-commerce intermediates, providing a connection between the retail customer and supplier. Also there is much mention of the use of social media. Many are offering products to university students, which is not surprising as the competitors are students (and it turns out that students are a good market).

Some ideas are for not-for-profit ventures for community benefit. These are allowed under the rules of the competition, but the judges from for-profit venture capital companies appear a little uncomfortable with the idea.

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