Last week, ThirdFloor Productions placed third in Bucknell University’s first annual venture plan competition!  All of the judges were very successful entrepreneurs and/or investors, and one of them was Dr. Richard E. Caruso, the 2006 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year!  He gave a very inspiring keynote during the opening ceremony.

The competition was intense.  In order to enter the competition each team had to submit a 25-page venture plan, which we struggled on because we’ve never written one before.  Nine teams attended, and only four moved onto the final round.  In the first two rounds, each team gave a 15-minute presentation about their venture to the judges followed by a 15-minute Q&A session.  We did a superb job presenting and received a lot of positive feedback from the judges –”excellent presentation,” “you guys have something,” “you guys have great chemistry,” “this will become a successful venture.”

Successfully proceeding to the final round, which consisted of a 30-minute Q&A session, we were tested on how well we understood our product and how we plan to address any potential problems.  We definitely proved that we know our product and that we are confident in ourselves.

All of the participating teams were exceptional, so we are very proud and pleased to have placed third in the competition.  The second-place team was from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania; they designed and patented a new racing boat technology.

The best part of the competition, however, is that a couple of judges approached us afterwards and expressed interest in investing in us!

We are super excited about our new venture and plan to release our new service by July 2009!  Please visit www.discovervogue.com to subscribe to our mailing list.