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The BusinessMakers present a special episode recorded live during the 2010 Rice University Business Plan Competition held on the Rice University campus the week of April 17. In this segment, Burke kicks off the competition with a few statistics.
Russ: This is the BusinessMakers Show heard here and online at thebusinessmakers.com, and this is that show that features those that most positively affect our lives, the innovators and the entrepreneurs, and this is a very special edition of the BusinessMakers Show because I'm in front of a live audience, a large live audience, of innovators and entrepreneurs. I'm on the campus of Rice University for the 2010 Rice Business Plan Contest, also known as the richest business plan contest on the planet. And my guest is Brad Burke, the managing director of the Rice Alliance, the organization that hosts this very cool event and, Brad, welcome to the BusinessMakers Show and thanks for having me.
Brad: Thanks, Russ. It's great to be here.
Russ: All right, let's get going. Let's start by you describing the 2010 Rice Business Plan Contest.
Brad: All right. So the 2010 Business Plan Competition has the most prize money in the history of the competition, over a million dollars. We've selected 42 teams out of 420 applicants, again the most ever applicants to compete on campus live and in person for the million dollars.
Russ: All right. I bet you there's a bunch of winners here that aren't even gonna win the contest but are gonna win out there in the free enterprise system. You think so?
Brad: Well, you know, history has it that over 80 or 90 percent of the teams that compete here go on to successfully launch their companies, so I'm staring in the faces of a lotta people that are gonna go on to great success whether or not they take home the grand prize.
Russ: Okay, real cool. But we're here right now for the very important elevator pitch contest, so tell us about that.
Brad: All right, so we're about to begin the elevator pitch competition. Each team will have 60 seconds, and 60 seconds only, to present their elevator pitch. The only difference from a real elevator pitch is instead of presenting to one person in an elevator, you're presenting to 500 people in the auditorium.
Russ: All right, all right, sounds real cool and it sounds like the pressure is on, and I think we're ready to get started. Don't you think?
Brad: All right, I think we're ready.
Russ: Okay. Brad, I really appreciate you having us here for sure and for our listeners, I would like to let you know that right after this break we're gonna feature our favorite elevator pitches and then go to thebusinessmakers.com and you can check all of them out. You're listening to the BusinessMakers Show heard here and online at thebusinessmakers.com.
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