Welcome to Pitch It!

"Pitch It!" is the unique business plan competition hosted by LSE Entrepreneurs in conjunction with the Venture@LSE Careers, dedicated to the bright young minds of all LSE students and all Alumni who have graduated after year 2004, awarding participants for their effort and hard work with cash prizes. Combining serious business with fun, it gives the budding entrepreneurs a chance to develop their business ideas, no matter how ridiculous they sound, and give them a spring board to fulfill their ambition of setting up a successful business. It is regarded one of the most exciting, challenging and enjoyable experiences amongst the student scene in the UK.

News & Announcements

Jan 7 2008

Public Summaries of the finalists' winning plan are now updated on our website.

Dec 14 2007

Congratulations to the following teams for being selected to enter the Pitch It! 2008 final:
General Category
Balagun — Evan Castle
UniMaid — William Riordan
Juggernault — Dan Corkum

Social Category
Dane Pflueger — The Green Bag Project
Dual Focus — Suzanne Henfrey

Dec 11 2007

Dear Pitch it! Applicant,
Please note that a few people have asked for a final extension of the deadline. We have therefore moved the final deadline to tomorrow:

Wednesday, 12th December, 5pm

If you would like to use this extra day to work on your submission, you are welcome to re-submit. If you choose to do so, please write in the subject line of your email "Update + name of your team".

A big Thank You goes to everyone who submitted on time. If you have any questions please contact a.kreideweiss@lse.ac.uk.

Best,
The Pitch it! Team

Nov 27 2007

Pitch It! Phase I Campaign has started! Find us on Houghton Street from Friday 30th of November to Friday 7 the of December.

Dec 5 2007

The deadline for submitting executive summary is extended to 12 noon, Tuesday December 11 2007.

Upcoming Events

Pitch It! Phase II Event Series

Entrepreneurship Coaching Session I: Assessing your market Speaker: Alan Gleeson, Managing Director of Palo Alto Software
Time: 11:00-12:00 noon, Wednesday, Jan 23rd
Venue: H102

One of the most challenging areas of Business Planning is trying to forecast the demand for your new product or service. A lot hinges on producing an accurate estimate and then delivering the numbers. This speech will teach you how to estimate the likely demand for your idea, why it is important and lessons you can learn from the web. Ultimately it will help you produce a winning business plan.

This event would be followed by a few private coaching sessions from 12:00-1:00pm and light refreshment at G11 from 13:00-14:00.

Space for the private coaching sessions are very limited. Please contact J.Niu@lse.ac.uk ASAP if you would like to sign up.

Entrepreneurship Coaching Session II: How to Pitch for Investment and Business

Speaker: Deniz Hassan, Marketing Manager of Society Media
Time: 2:00-3:00pm, Wednesday, Jan 23rd
Venue: G108

This event would be followed by a few private coaching sessions from 3:00-4:00pm and light refreshment at G11 from 4:00-5:00pm.

Space for the private coaching sessions are very limited. Please contact J.Niu@lse.ac.uk ASAP if you would like to sign up.

Entrepreneurship Coaching Session II: How to presenting and communicating ideas

Speaker: Timothy Barnes, Executive Director of UCL Advances
Time: 12:00-12:50pm, Thursday, Jan 24th
Venue: S421

Private coaching sessions start from 12:50 and end at 13:30. Space for the private coaching sessions are very limited. Please contact J.Niu@lse.ac.uk ASAP if you would like to sign up.

Pitch It! Entrepreneurs Dinner & Networking

We are hosting a dinner at the wonderful Papageno Restaurant this coming Monday, in which 3 entrepreneurs would provide you a first-hand account on starting up your own e-businesses. The detail of the event is as the following:

Time: 6:00-8:30
Address: 29-31 Wellington Street, London WC2E 7DB
Cost: £15 per person for 3 course meal (originally £23.5 per person)
Format: 30 minutes introduction followed by 2 hours dinner and networking
Entrepreneurs:

1. Pat Philpott, the founder of www.visionpath.co.uk , a firm specializing in educational events, training and development
2. Walid Al Saqaff, the founder of trustedplaces.com, an interactive website that documents restaurant experiences in the UK
3. Sally Broom, founder of yoursafeplanet.co.uk, a company dedicated to bringing travellers together internationally

Due to the limited capacity we would like to ask you to confirm your interest for a space by emailing x.z.shi@lse.ac.uk as soon as possible with your full name, email address, and mobile phone number. Once your place is confirmed, further details will follow.

It is an excellent opportunity to learn about entrepreneurship and to meet some like-minded friends. You don't want to miss it!

Pitch It! Entrepreneurs Panel Discussion

We are proud to bring you our first Entrepreneurs Panel in a series of talks scheduled for the lent term. The talk will be informal in nature and touch on the unique experiences of our panel of entrepreneurs. There will also be plenty of time to ask probing questions. The panel of speakers are:

1) Raj Anand, founder of kwiqq.com. Raj is the winner of Europe's Young Entrepreneur 2007 by BusinessWeek and was one of the Top 6 Entrepreneurs in the UK at Cranfield University's Upstart Programme.

2) Saj Jetha, a former LSE alumni and founder of The Smarty Train, a recruitment consultancy catering to Accenture, Barclays Wealth, Ernst & Young, Citi, as well as LSE.

3) James Eder, founder of Student Beans, the UK's leading provider of student discounts, offers and deals.

Time : 1830 - 2000 on Tuesday, 15th of Jan
Venue: Room U8 (Tower 1)

Idea Surgeries

Ready to submit your Pitch It! executive summary? Need a last minute check to boost your chance of winning? Sign up for our private consultation sessions with Venture @ LSE Careers advisers today! There will be eight 15 minutes consultation appointments available during the designated time period below — space are highly limited and shall be allocated on a first come, first serve basis.

Idea Surgery Session I
Date: Monday, 10 Dec 2007
Venue: LSE Careers
Time: 13:00-14:00

Idea Surgery Session II
Date: Tuesday, 11 Dec 2007
Venue: LSE Careers
Time: 9:30-10:30

Please contact xuswin@googlemail.com to RSVP.


Pitch It! Phase I Event Series: Preparing for your Pitch It!
Speaker: Susie Lawrance Careers Adviser
Career Adviser, Venture @ LSE Careers
Time: 1-2pm, Wednesday 5th December
Venue: S75

Busy preparing for your Pitch It! Executive Summary Come and find out...

*This event is free and open to all with no ticket required. Entry is on a first come, first served basis. For more information, email s.rathinasabapathy@lse.ac.uk.


Pitch It! Phase I Event Series: How to Market Your Business Ideas?
Speaker: Peter Logsdon
Strategic Financial Management and Business Development Advisor
Time: 1-2pm, Tuesday 4th Dec
Venue: D202
*followed by reception

Want to be entrepreneurs? Com and find out...

And private consulting from Peter on your business ideas and executive summary!
*This event is free and open to all with no ticket required. Entry is on a first come, first served basis. For more information, email j.niu@lse.ac.uk.


Business Plan Writing Worskshop
Want to participate in Pitch it!? Not sure what a business plan needs to look like? Come to this last session of our entrepreneurship masterclass series and learn how to put together a business plan. The session is hosted by London Business Angels. Andrea Kreideweiss from the LSE Career Service will be at hand to answer your Pitch it! related questions.

Wednesday 28th of November 4-5pm. Book at My Career Service.

Features

Deadline Reminder

Full Business Plan — 12pm, Monday 14 January 2008
Please see the Rules & Procedures for details on submitting your Executive Summary.

Pitch IT! 2008 Final — 6:30pm Tuesday 29 January 2008 - Old Theatre