Making a Pitch in the Imagine Cup

Today was pitch day. But before Team X got to strut their stuff we had a talk from Andrea Blakersley from Mudhut. She did a session to help the teams how to make their pitches stand out and how to structure their presentations for maximum impact. This was excellent. I don't know how much Mudhut were being paid for the session today. But I do know that the session and the support that was given was worth it. First class stuff.

I've been presenting for a while (although I've never given a venture capital pitch) and Andrea managed to come up with some insights on the process that gave me cause to think about what I do. Wonderful stuff, and just what the competitors needed at this point. I don't think that many of the students at the session actually realize how lucky they were to get tuition at this level, but I do, and you were big winners today folks.

Dave from Rare (industrial mentor) and Anthony, Johno and Jon from Team X

Team X went through the rehearsal, got some feedback, incorporated it into their material and then sallied forth for the big pitch. They were excellent. These are first year students, who joined us in September. They have not even finished my programming course yet. But the way that they sharpened up during the day, and their professional approach to the competition bodes really well for these people. Whether they win the cup or not. The other three teams from Hull were also working away during the day (to my eternal shame I forgot to take pictures of you all - for that I apologise).  I think they all got a great deal out of the event, and thanks to Microsoft for setting it up.

Just before the big pitch....

The next phase is to work up an entry and get some code running, ready for the next part of the competition.