Join us on Nov. 16 for the finals of the Big Idea Competition (formerly “Business” Idea Competition), UT Dallas’ largest startup pitch competition, presented this year by title sponsor, Interlock Partners. Students from all disciplines, both graduate and undergraduate, compete for $40,000 in cash and scholarship prizes in the finals. Over the past month, two rounds of judging have occurred, arriving at six finalists with the chance to pitch their “big ideas” in front of their peers and a panel of esteemed judges who know an innovative idea when they see it.
The finals will be held Thursday, Nov. 16, from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Edith O’Donnell Arts and Technology Building Lecture Hall (directions|map) on the UT Dallas campus. Doors open at 6 p.m.
One of the judges, Guy Kawasaki, is a renowned entrepreneur, venture capitalist and author who popularized the term “brand evangelist.” He was the chief evangelist at Apple when, in 1984, the company launched the Macintosh line, the first mass market personal computer. He now holds the same title at Canva, an online graphic design tool. In addition to his judging duties, Kawasaki, a popular, dynamic speaker who gives more than 50 keynotes every year, will share his top 10 tips on “The Art of Innovation.”
He will join a panel of esteemed judges who include:
- Courtney Caldwell MBA’06: a co-founder of ShearShare, a mobile app that connects stylists with salons and vice-versa.
- Bob Metcalfe: an electrical engineer, professor of Innovation and Murchison Fellow of Free Enterprise in The University of Texas at Austin’s Cockrell School of Engineering, and Ethernet co-founder who formulated Metcalfe’s law, which states that the value of a telecommunications network is proportional to the square of the number of connected users of the system.
- Julie Nickols: an intellectual property attorney and partner at Haynes and Boone LLP, a law firm that provides legal services in technology, financial services, energy and private equity.
- Jeff Williams BS’87: a partner at Interlock Partners, an early-stage venture capital firm based out of Texas and New York.
Many, if not all, of Kawasaki’s innovation tips will be on display as the student competitors pitch their ideas before an expected audience of 1,200. Competitors will be judged on many criteria, including:
- Do they offer a clear value proposition?
- Is there is a market opportunity for their idea?
- Do team members have the skills necessary to execute the idea?
- Is the presentation logical and persuasive?
- Did they present an idea that would attract investors and customers?
The six teams that will pitch their ideas at the finals are:
- AltaAir: an unmanned aerial system that allows municipal governments a cost-effective solution to monitor, pinpoint and decrease air pollution in their cities.
- CThrough: a mobile application that provides visitors at Texas attractions such as zoos, aquariums, museums and theme parks with an interactive augmented reality experience to help them navigate and explore their surroundings.
- Dynamic Dance: a mobile app that helps beginning and intermediate students learn how to dance in a variety of styles.
- Enhanced Robotics: a wearable, lower-limb exoskeletal robot that helps people with knee injuries recover their mobility and accelerate their independence.
- FoodList: a web portal that allows food buyers to connect directly with food suppliers.
- NeuroRehab VR: cognitive and physical therapy VR/AR games employing the concepts of neuroplasticity for patients with stroke, spinal cord injury, TBI and neurodegenerative diseases.
Prize categories for the student finalists include:
- First place ($15,000)
- Second place ($10,000)
- Third place ($5,000)
Additional special prize categories are open to the entire pool of competitors, including students, faculty, staff and alumni. A select committee of judges from the Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (IIE) and the Jindal School of Management MS in Innovation and Entrepreneurship program will select the winning teams, with each team receiving a $2,500 grant, for the following categories:
- Biggest Idea/Most Innovative (Haynes & Boone)
- Best Social Enterprise (G6 Holdings)
- Best Undergraduate Team (DFW Excellerator)
- Best Diversity/Inclusion Team (On-point Leadership)
The Big Idea Competition will include a special announcement regarding the launch of a new engineering-oriented awards competition that is a collaboration between the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science and the IIE. Prize money totals $40,000.
Other sponsors and community partners of the Big Idea Competition include Tolleson Wealth Management, Capital Factory, the Dallas Entrepreneur Center, the Dallas chapter of TiE and Mass Challenge-Texas.
Tickets
General admission tickets are $10. Click here to purchase general admission tickets. To skip the line, you can reserve orchestra seating for $45. Included with this package is a signed copy of Kawasaki’s book, The Art of the Start 2.0. Click here to purchase reserved tickets.
Schedule
- 6 p.m.: Doors Open
- 6:30 p.m.: Final Presentations Begin
- 7:30 p.m.: Awards Begin
- 7:45 p.m.: Guy Kawasaki Keynote Address
- 8 p.m.: Private Reception (Invitation Only)
- 8:30 p.m.: Event Ends
To learn more about the Big Idea Competition, visit utdbigideacompetition.com.
