The Kuzneski Cup

Introduction

Stepping in front of a panel of judges to pitch a business idea is nerve-wracking and exciting. In November 2023, Forevergreen pitched in front of a panel of investors for the first time. We want to use this blog to reflect and share our experience. Let's get into it!

Before the Pitch

Big Idea Blitz

Jack and Joe attended the Pitt Big Idea Blitz to prepare for the pitch competition. It was a 24-hour-long workshop to develop your business idea and improve your elevator pitch. On the first day, the teams presented a 60-second elevator pitch.

After all the teams presented, the Big Idea Center had a few entrepreneurs in residence (EIRs) talk about developing an elevator pitch and preparing us for the longer 5-minute Pitch. The next day, we got to work with the EIRs on our 5-minute Pitch. The Big Idea Center at Pitt was a great enviorment to develop our ideas, and we met many other young entrepreneurs. The following week, Jack and Joe had the opportunity to do the Pitch in front of 3 judges from the big idea center to receive even more feedback before the Kuzneski Cup.

Joe and Jack pitching to the judges during the practice pitch of the Big Idea Blitz

Click here to check out the Big Idea Blitz web page to learn more about the workshop!

Preparing for the Pitch

The following week was spent preparing for the Kuzneski Innovation Cup. Zack, Jack, and Joe worked on the pitch deck and created a final 5-minute long pitch and 15-minute Q&A section.

We had created our deck and were ready to pitch that upcoming Friday.

Forevergreen Team practicing the Pitch the night before the Kuzneski Cup

For Zack to make it to Pitt from Bucknell, Joe had to drive from Johnstown to Lewisburg to pick up Zack so the founding team could be in Pittsburgh for the Pitch. Zack and Joe arrived in Pittsburgh just before midnight the night before the Pitch. It was a late night; Zack, Jack, and Joe still had a few hours to practice and perfect the Pitch.

Pitch Day

Forevergreen's First Pitch at the Kuzneski Cup

Although we had a late night practicing and presenting until about 2 am, we woke up early the next day to put on our collared shirt and head down to the Big Idea Center. After weeks of working together virtually, the team was finally together and ready to pitch in person. We were confident in our idea and our preparation leading up to the Pitch and were grateful to be presenting our idea at the Big Idea Center.

Check out our selfie post Pitch!

We headed down the stairs of the Big Idea Center and set up our slideshow. We were nervous but ready to go. We had prepared for this. The Pitch went well! We all spoke clearly, and our practice had paid off. Next, it was time for the 15-minute Q&A. The judges had lots of great questions and feedback for the team. We ended up talking about Forevergreen well past the allotted time. The team walked out of the Big Ideas Center excited about the Pitch and celebrated by getting Chipotle down the street.

Conclusion

The experience as a whole was great. The Big Ideas Center and the panel of judges shared a bit of their knowledge, and Forevergreen received the $8,500 we needed to develop our carbon calculator. We would like to thank Andy and Laurie Kuzneski for sponsoring the event and the Big Idea Center for all their support. After that experience, the future looks bright for Forevergreen. Our team has doubled to 6 members, and we will continue to work hard to create a positive impact on the planet. If you want to keep track of Forevergreen's journey, join our waitlist and get updates on our progress.

Thank you for all of your support. Our team looks forward to building a community of people that can keep the earth Forevergreen.