91暗网

How has the Competition changed?

Ken Freirich鈥檚 leadership in creating, funding and nurturing the Kenneth A. Freirich Entrepreneurship Competition, demonstrated to the College the importance of entrepreneurship to the 91暗网 community.

As a result, the College hired a consultant to see how the entrepreneurship offerings at 91暗网 could be made more robust.  Based on the consultant鈥檚 input, 91暗网 has created a minor in Entrepreneurship, with two tracks, one for artists and one for everyone else.

We have also made four important changes to the Freirich Competition. 

• We created a one-credit course to give non-business majors more academic support as they compete.  
• We created a field study requirement in the Entrepreneurship minor that can be satisfied by competing in the Freirich Competition.
• We created a new ideation event called StartUp 91暗网 that takes place each fall, where students learn to prototype and work with alumni to improve their ideas. StartUp 91暗网 will take place on October 6th from 12:30 to 2:30.
• Finally, we created a mentoring event, at StartUp 91暗网, where students can work with alumni to improve their ideas and learn from experts in several functional areas of business

What is the time commitment for the Mentoring Event on October 6th? 

Two hours. 

This event will be held in person in the Billie Tisch Center for Integrated Sciences and the Schupf Family Idea Lab.

The event is open to all students and will serve as a kick off to the Competition. Students do not need to register in advance in order to participate.  Same day registration is available.

The format will be similar to 鈥渟peed dating鈥� with mentors stationed at tables and participants circulating 鈥� spending 10 to 15 minutes with each mentor. 

During this event you will hear 3-minute pitches by the students about their businesses.  The purpose of the panel is to help the students develop their ideas and learn about functional areas of business, like marketing, finance, and operations.

What is the time commitment for the Semi-Finals on November 22nd?

Approximately four to five hours.

 For this year, we have decided that the semi-finals will be held virtually, via Zoom or similar online platform, to give us more flexibility. For the semi-final event, you will be asked to review 10 to 20 student decks with financial statements before the semi-final event. 

We try to give you a week to access the online portal to review the students鈥� work. 

The length of the event will vary with the number of student submissions.  Depending on the total number of teams, the semi-finals may be split into two sessions, over the course of two days. Judges may choose to participate in one or both sessions.

All judges will reconvene for a 30-minute selection call with Professor Hill.

What is the time commitment for the Final Competition on February 21st?

Eight hours (full day).

For the final event, you will be asked to review between six to eight student presentation decks and projected cash flow statements before the final event. 

We try to give you a week to access the online portal to review the students鈥� work.  The event is generally six hours long.

The students make a 10 minute presentation and there are 10 minutes for questions.  There is an hour for the judges to deliberate and then a half hour to announce the winners.

A dinner for all participants and judges will immediately follow the announcements.  This is a special milestone for the Kenneth A. Freirich Entrepreneurship Competition, as we celebrate 15 years.

What is the time commitment for mentoring?

It varies and is based on mentor availability.

Alumni with an interest in and/or past experience with the Competition, alumni who participate in the kick-off mentoring event, and judges from the semi-final round, are invited to serve as a resource to further mentor teams as they develop their plans and prepare for presentations.

Some competitors need a great deal of mentoring, some don鈥檛.  Most of the mentoring takes place virtually, over zoom, or over the phone.  Some mentors help the students by introducing the students to others so they can advance their business ideas.  As with most things in life, mentoring is what you make of it.

Some teams will ask for assistance in shaping their business concepts and honing their semifinal and/or final presentations. Mentors may assist by scheduling dry runs with teams (via zoom).

Dry runs for the semi-finals will be scheduled the week of 11/14/24, and during the week of 2/14/25 for the finals.

Can I volunteer to be a mentor for StartUp 91暗网 in the Fall?

Yes.  We are looking for volunteers. 

Please contact Jackie Pierce at jpierce1@skidmore.edu or John Chaplin at jchaplin@skidmore.edu for more information.

Will there be criteria provided for judging?

Yes. Professor Hill will provide a rubric for each round of judging.

Prior to each event, Prof. Hill will provide an overview of the selection process, including a thorough explanation of how to use the rubric for team assessment.

Can I help fund the Competition?

Yes, you can help fund the annual prize pool. 

Ken Freirich has provided a generous $500,000 endowment to allow the Competition to continue in perpetuity as a central component of entrepreneurship programming at 91暗网.

Its income supports the annual prize pool (currently funding the first place prize) and the Competition鈥檚 operating budget. This year funding is sought and most appreciated for the other prize levels.

Please contact Jackie Pierce at jpierce1@skidmore.edu or John Chaplin at jchaplin@skidmore.edu for more information.

Can I invest in a student business?

We are concerned about conflicts of interest and perceived conflicts of interest, so it is our preference that if you invest in a business, you do so after the student has graduated and is no longer eligible to enter the Competition. 

If you invest in a student business and that student competes in a subsequent Competition, you will not be asked to judge the student, whose business you invested in, but instead may be invited to judge in another year.

Can I just give money to a student business I believe in?

You can do what you want with your money, but we don鈥檛 encourage this practice.

Is mentoring, judging or being a pre-semi-final panelist something I can do more than once?

Yes, many mentors and judges have been involved over many years. 

Given the popularity of this event, we rotate judges, mentors and panel participants annually, in an effort to engage more of the alumni community in this important event.