The Martin J. Whitman School of Management will be opening applications for this fall’s annual Orange Tank business pitch competition. Thanks to the generosity of Whitman Advisory Council member and lifetime Syracuse University Trustee John Couri ’63 (A&S), a generous prize package will be awarded by a panel of accomplished judges. Orange Tank call for applications are expected to open the week of September 20, 2021 for both student and alumni. The competition is open only to teams with a Whitman founder or co-founder. Learn more here.
Key dates for Orange Tank 2021:
- 10/15: First round executive summaries due
- 10/21: Finalists notified, with the top four teams selected in student and alumni categories)
- 11/4: Final live event at Whitman, with the three teams in each division delivering an extended elevator pitch to finals judges with extended Q&A earlier in the day. Alumni can be virtual and student presentations will be live. Winners will be announced at a reception and networking event at Whitman that evening to announce the winners.
Judges will be looking for ideas with:
- Market potential
- Differentiation and economic feasibility
- Ability to protect intellectual property, technology
- Sound execution strategy
- Scalability of the business
- Proposed use of finances
- Expertise and abilities of the founder(s)
- Quality of pitch
Key dates for Panasci Business Plan Competition 2022:
The Panasci Business Plan Competition will be held April 8-9 , 2022. More info will be coming out in a few weeks. Watch for more details here.
The Panasci Business Plan Competition is a campus-wide student business plan competition, hosted by the Falcone Center for Entrepreneurship, and made possible by long-time Whitman supporter, the late Henry A. Panasci, founder of Fay’s Drugs.
The team leader must be a full-time or part-time matriculated student, undergraduate or graduate level, who is currently enrolled in and pursuing a degree program, and who is registered at Syracuse University or SUNY ESF. Other team members can be non-SU/ESF students or community members.
If the venture has already received funding from any outside sources (angel investors, other competitions, etc.), amounts, investors and dates of funding must be disclosed in the initial entry. Funds raised must not exceed $100,000.
Prize money is granted only to the business entity that the winning team forms, such as a corporation or LLC.