Spring & Summer 2020

HCC Shark Tank IDEAS Pitch Competition - Spring & Summer 2020

 

UPDATE: HCC Shark Tank IDEAS Pitch competition and award the HCC Foundation scholarship of $3500 to five students

Students dreaming of running their own business competed virtually for scholarship awards, with a passionate response. The global pandemic could not stop the Houston Community College (HCC) from hosting its bi-annual Student Pitch Competition, IDEAS Pitch Competition.  In the care of social distancing and for student safety, the competition took place online for the first time in its five years of history.
 
This semester's competition included many new initiatives, including a unique collaboration between the HCC Entrepreneurial Initiatives office, HCC Speech and Communications Department, and the HCC Foundation. 
 
The office of HCC Entrepreneurial Initiatives office provided training and operational support; the Speech and Communication Department, led by Chair Dr. Danielle Stagg, provided direction and outreach to HCC students, while Professor Ruth Salisbury and Dr. Angela Anderson included the program in the teaching curriculum. Lastly, HCC Foundation's Jeanne Purdue, Chair of Special Projects, provided the $3500 in Student Scholarships and up to $1500 in HCC branded school apparel.
 
A total of eight budding entrepreneurs, selected by a committee of two faculty members and two college administrators, presented four distinguished judges via WebEX Event center on Saturday, July 18.  The program host by TV Personality Mr. Todd Duplatis, who is also the  Director for HCCTV.  This semester's judges were Dr. Amy Tan - HCC Dean of English, Dr. Maya Durnovo - HCC Chief Entrepreneurial Officer, Ms. Jeanne Purdue, HCC Foundation Board Member & Special Projects Chair, and Mr. William Hubbard, Owner of Total Willpower Fitness from the business community.
 
With HCC Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship Director's guidance, Mr. Ravi Brahmbhatt students honed their pitches and presentation skills in presentation for judging.  Mr. Brahmbhatt offered students two training sessions, one on methodologies on Design Thinking, facilitated by Ms. Summer Reeves, Accenture's Houston Innovation Director, and second on Pitch Presentations, facilitated by Mr. David Regenbaum, HCC Foundation's Board Chairman and HCC's Entrepreneur-in-residence.  Both trainings are available on YouTube under the HCC Innovation Lab YouTube Channel.
 
The judging criteria for all students included social impact, economic impact, environmental impact, completeness of the pitch, and originality. Five student entrepreneurs with the highest ratings received grants totaling to $3,500 to assist with college tuition and classroom supplies, making it easier for them to continue their schooling and pursue their entrepreneurial journey on the side. All finalist students received a branded HCC laptop travel bag.
 
Winners included Luisa Nadarajah, Fashion Student, who took the $1500 1st place scholarship award with her original sustainable COVID collection, including a bright-colored multipurpose mask that also works as headbands post-COVID.   The bands include special pockets for added air filtration and made from high-quality materials sourced from Peru.
In pitching for the competition, she created an online store and fashion brand on www.luisanadarajah.com. Luisa put to use her fashion program skills to create a product line to raise awareness, solve a customer need, and jump-start her entrepreneurial journey! "I appreciate the community of students entrepreneurs who pitch alongside but now regularly talking with one another on support each other's ideas.  I understand the exposure and promotion of my business, and I thank HCC for that," said Luisa on an HCC TV show highlighting her accomplishment from the competition about a week later.
 
"We're thrilled that we could continue the competition in a new, virtual format. This student pitch competition tradition lets our students show off their speaking skills, sharpen their powers of persuasion, and showcase their imagination," said Dr. Angela Anderson, Speech and Communications Faculty.
 
"We congratulate our finalists and winners and, as a next step, will offer them mentoring, guidance, and support assistance to help them make their ideas into small businesses," said Ravi Brahmbhatt, HCC Director of Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
 
The semesterly competition is just one of five entrepreneurial services administered by HCC's Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program housed in the HCC SW Center for Entrepreneurship, which assists students with the resources, knowledge, and skills necessary to test and launch their ideas.  The SW Center leverages college and community resources to help students explore and share ideas, develop networks and community, build an entrepreneurial mindset, and learn digital and making skills.
 
"We are thankful to the HCC Foundation sponsors for supporting our next generation of entrepreneurs," said Dr. Maya Durnovo, Chief Entrepreneurial Officer at Houston Community College. Beyond the HCC competition, students are looking forward to competing at the University of St. Thomas McNair Center for Free Enterprise and Entrepreneurship's Annual Bold IDEAS pitch competition. That competition will take place live via WebEx virtually on September 12
 

 

 

 

 

The Shark Tank IDEAS Pitch competition (Virtual Competition) is designed for students to share their creative ideas and social innovations. Individuals or teams can compete in the competition by delivering a pitch to a team of judges. Students should pitch a product or service that explores innovative approaches to answering pressing sustainability and societal needs.

The competition is open to HCC students.

All IDEAS welcome!


The Shark Tank IDEAS Pitch Competition for Spring 2020 is a platform for any current HCC student to share their creative ideas and social innovations.

  • First Prize: $1500.00
  • Second Prize: $1000.00
  • Third Prize: $500.00
  • 2 honorable mentions, $250 ea.

Equaling up to $3,500 for cash prizes sponsored by HCC Foundation. 

 

Social Innovation Track:

The competition is designed to explore innovative approaches to answering pressing societal needs and to spark an atmosphere of social dialogue and community. Students must complete a simple application regarding their idea that addresses one of the categories listed below:

Categories

  1. Education & Skills: investing in the sustainable workforce for today and tomorrow.
  2. Alleviating Poverty: issues related to improving income inequity and cost of living.
  3. Economic Advancement: job creation, entrepreneurship, and financial literacy.
  4. Community Wellbeing: access to parks, transportation, health, and nutrition.
  5. Technology: new tools and applications to help resolve a pressing issue.

HCC Shark Tank Pitch Competition opens March 1st, 2020. Competition to be closed on June 30th July 5th, by 5 PM.

 

Competition Finalist Presentation and Awards Ceremony will be held at VIRTUALLY on Microsoft TEAMS on July 18th, 2020

The goal of the Shark Thank IDEAS Pitch Competition is to provide financial and institutional support for students who want to make an impact on the world. HCC is eager to harness the creativity and passion of Houston's student body to catalyze social change.

WATCH FINALIST PRESENTATIONS & AWARD VIRTUALLY ON SATURDAY, JULY 18th at 1PM  on YouTube Live
(https://bit.ly/HCC-Pitch)

 

Program Information

About the Competition

The Shark Tank IDEAS Pitch Competition – Virtual Edition - is designed for students to share their creative ideas and social innovations. Individuals or teams can compete in the competition by delivering a pitch to a team of distinguished judges. Students pitch a product or service that explores innovative approaches to answering pressing sustainability and societal needs.

The Spring & Summer 2020 competition is a platform for current HCC student to share their creative ideas and social innovations. The goal of the Pitch Competition is to provide financial and institutional support for students who want to make an impact on the world. HCC is eager to harness the creativity and passion of Houston's student body to catalyze change.

  • First Prize: $1500.00
  • Second Prize: $1000.00
  • Third Prize: $500.00
  • 2 honorable mentions, $250 ea.

Equaling up to $3,500 for scholarship prizes sponsored by HCC Foundation

Date: Saturday, July 18th, 2020
Time: 1pm - 3 pm CST 

Welcome (10 Minutes) by event moderated by Todd Duplantis, Director, HCCTV

Introductions

  • Shark Tank IDEAS Committee – A collaboration of the HCC Speech & Communications department, HCC Entrepreneurial Initiatives, and HCC Foundation.
  • Shark Tank IDEAS Judges – A distinguished panel of judges from HCC and the Houston community.

Pitch Competition (80 minutes)

  1. “Covid Collection” by Luisa Nadarajah
  2. “Musical Instruments Rentals” by Dozie Agada
  3. “Birth Box” by Kanisha Ffriend
  4. “ServUS” by Edward Carpenter
  5. “Air-BedPan” by Joshua Porter
  6. “Accent Genius” by Vitalis Essala
  7. “Petite Estates” by Macquelince (Mac) Woods
  8. “Natural Soy Wax Candle” by Davis Alford

The Networking Break (15 minutes)

Awards Announcements (15 minutes)

Shark Tank IDEAS Judges:

  • Dr. Amy Tan – Dean, English and Communications, Houston Community College
  • Mr. Arlan Potts – Banker & Manager, BB&T
  • Dr. Maya Durnovo – Chief Entrepreneurial Officer, Houston Community College
  • Ms. Jeanne Purdue – Board Member, Houston Community College Foundation
  • Mr. Willard Hubbard – Owner, Willpower Total Fitness

Shark Tank IDEAS Team:

  • Angela Anderson, Professor, Speech & Communications, HCC
  • Danielle Stagg, Faculty Division Chair, Speech & Communications, HCC
  • Ravi Brahmbhatt, Director, Student Innovation & Entrepreneurship, HCC
  • Ruth Salisbury, Professor, Speech & Communications, HCC
  • Todd Duplantis, Director, HCCTV

Finalist Students:

  • Davis Alford, Real Estate, Southwest College
  • Dozie Agada, Audio Recording Tech., Northwest College
  • Edward Carpenter, Undeclared, Northwest College
  • Joshua Porter, Petroleum Engineering Tech., Southwest College
  • Kanisha Ffriend, Undeclared, Central College
  • Luisa Nadarajah, Fashion, Central College
  • Macqueline Woods, Construction Tech. Northwest College
  • Vitalis Essala, Biology, Southwest College

Thank you

More about the competition

General information

The Shark Tank IDEAS Pitch competition is designed for students to share their creative ideas and social innovations. Individuals or teams can compete in the competition by delivering a pitch to a team of judges. Students should pitch a product or service that explores innovative approaches to answering pressing sustainability and societal needs.

The competition is open to HCC students.

All the IDEAS are welcome.

 

Schedule of Workshops/Training events

Training Sessions:

IDEATION Training by Accenture's Innovation Director, Summer Reeves! 

Learn:

  • Sources of information and research
  • Process for coming up with great ideas
  • Learn about Design Thinking

 

When: Wednesday, March 4th, 2020 - HCC West Loop Campus, Room C108, from 1 pm to 3 pm (Watch Youtube Live Recording)

About Speaker: Summer Reeves is the Innovation Center Director for Accenture’s Houston Innovation Hub. Her teams work with clients every day to identify their challenges, provide industry thought leadership and to visualize how cutting-edge technology is being applied, enabling organizations to accelerate their innovation and transformation agendas. Summer has over 13 years of experience in digital product design with a heavy focus on design thinking methods and user experience practices.

PRESENTATION Training by HCC Foundation's Board President, David Regenbaum!

Learn:

  • What is a Pitch?
  • Tips and Suggestions on Pitching an Idea
  • Example of great pitches

When: Thursday, April 16th, 2020 - HCC West Loop Campus, Room C108, from 2 pm to 2:30 pm (Watch Youtube Live Recording)

About Speaker: David Regenbaum serves as the Entrepreneur in Residence for Houston Community College’s Center for Entrepreneurship and is the Vice President of the Houston Community College Foundation.  He is also a member of the Board of Directors of Silver Fox Advisors and is the Managing Member of AMI Institute, LLC.   He was previously the CEO and Co-Founder (with his wife) of Association Management, Inc. (AMI), a successful community association management company which he sold in 2014, and prior to that practiced as an attorney in South Africa until his immigration to the USA in 1979.

 

 

 

Judging Criteria

The criteria are based on solving the societal need that has high impact (affects many), sustainable (Eco-friendly/Green), creates value or fills a gap, and can (or has) be prototyped, tested, or validated.

Ideas will be judged on the following primary criteria:

  • Social Impact (Number of people impacted or lives affected)
  • Economic Impact (value creation)
  • Environmental Impact (Sustainability/Green Footprint)
  • Completeness/Delivery(Presentation/Team)
  • The originality of Idea (Ownership/IP by the student(s))

 

Student requirements

1. Provide a Pitch Presentation. 
(Download a sample template)

2. Provide a Visual Concept of the idea, if applicable

  • Photo/Drawing/Other
  • 3d Printed Sample or design

 3. Develop a short video* pitch (Optional - but recommended)

  • Post it on YouTube as a public video or an unlisted video

*Need help recording your pitch?

(Please note, during COVID-19 campus shutdown, this service from Libraries will not be available)

Visit the HCC One Button Studio at any of the following campus libraries:

  • HCC Spring Branch Campus
  • HCC Central Campus Library
  • HCC Alief Hayes - West Houston Insititute Learning Commons

 

Hear from former contestants: