Entrepreneurs, we are often told—by venture capitalists, by mentors, by incubators—need experience. One of the key factors that goes into making a new venture viable is the founder's know-how, familiarity with their market, and business skill set.
So what do you do if you're 15 or 16 years old and have a great idea, but haven't had a chance to develop that kind of experience? One option: enter the Province of Ontario's second annual
Make Your Pitch contest. It's open to Canadian citizens and landed immigrants who are full-time high school students, and returning to the school in the fall. You can enter as an individual or a team (of up to four), and your goal is to create a two minute video explaining your entrepreneurial idea.
Make Your Pitch is looking specifically for innovative ideas that fall into one of the following categories: technology, environment, social enterprise, retail, service, or arts and culture. Video pitches can be whatever inspires you—live, animated, slideshows—and the deadline for submitting them is Friday, March 28.
Videos will be judged both by an expert panel and by members of the public—that'll whittle the list to 18 finalists, all of whom will receive admission to the
Ontario Centre's of Excellence Discovery conference in May, some networking opportunities, and a bit of mentorship advice. At the conference, those finalists will make pitches in-person; six ultimate winners will be chosen. In store for those winners: help developing a business plan, additional mentorship, a grant of up to $3,000 to start the business, and reserved entry in the province's
Summer Company program, another initiative that helps support small student businesses.
Writer: Hamutal Dotan
Source: Ministry of Economic Development, Trade and Employment