Spotlight

The New Venture Competition at UCSB is an eight-month educational experience, with activities and curriculum spanning the entire academic year. In the Fall Quarter, students brainstorm business ideas, form teams and learn how to formulate and recognize a compelling value proposition. In October of 2015, my sophomore year of college, I formed a team with Aidan Dansey and Kellen O'Connell based around our idea for a startup company that would improve the live music industry. Our company was called Spotlight. I invite you to explore the details of our project by reading the pamphlet below. 

After my team had formed and created our business idea, we took a New Venture Competition preparation course (TMP148) and a variety of topical seminars that provided a learning experience similar to that of a startup accelerator. The competition culminated with two Spring Quarter events: The New Venture Fair, where our team and other student teams presented our businesses to the public in a tradeshow-style format, and the New Venture Finals, where the finalist teams presented an investor pitch to a panel of judges for prize money. Local business executives and entrepreneurs mentored us throughout the NVC process, and provided valuable contacts that enabled us to validate our ideas and business models.

Spotlight was chosen out of a group of over 30 applicants to participate in the New Venture Fair, and our team was given an honorable mention at the Finals for being such an ambitious and successful team comprised of particularly young students.