VCIC is NOT a pitch competition!
It is an entirely unique event in which students emulate the life of VCs. The “VCIC Experience” is a WIN-WIN-WIN convergence of three elite groups: top students, visionary entrepreneurs and successful VCs, each of whom has much to learn from the others.
Students WIN
VCIC is designed first and foremost for the student experience, and the system has proven to be tremendously successful, based on the response at all top universities. 74% of students claim that VCIC was the best educational experience of their MBA careers. Each student team is playing the role of a venture capital firm that must go through the entire VC investment process in an extremely condensed time period.Students...
- Receive real startup pitch decks from entrepreneurs currently seeking VC funding
- Watch the live pitch at the event
- Sit down one-on-one with each entrepreneur
- Choose a deal (one venture to invest in)
- Sit down one-on-one with VCs for feedback
Startups WIN
Entrepreneurs are the life-blood of VCIC; they share their visions and dreams with the students. They also challenge students to identify the critical risks and milestones necessary to succeed in their vision. Years of painstaking effort are condensed into a written plan and a 10-minute pitch to be quickly digested by teamsStartups...
- Chance to make VCIC’s Most VC-Backable Startup list
- Be 1 of only 3 featured startups at event
- Practice pitch in front of audience of 75
- Conduct six due diligence sessions
- Have lunch with 10 investors
- Negotiate mock term sheets
- Receive copies of all team deliverables, including term sheets
VCs WIN
While students and entrepreneurs are participating in this simulated human drama, a panel of VCs is observing from the periphery. After the entrepreneurs depart, the tables are turned, and it is the students who must start pitching. They must convince their “partners”, the judges, that their investment decisions are sound, and more importantly, that they will provide a reasonable return for the risk taken.VCs...
In a session that can feel like a lifetime to students, VCs pepper them with questions, digging deep into the team’s decisions and cutting to the point in their reputed no-nonsense style. Finally, judges must choose a winner — the team they would most like to have as their VC partner, based on their evaluation of the teams’ assessment of risk, knowledge of the VC process, communication skills and teamwork.
What It’s Like for Students
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What It’s Like for Startups
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What It’s Like for VCs
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WIN-WIN-WIN
As you can see, all the players have skin in the game, and the dogs are eating the dog food! (If you don't know what that means, you haven't been to VCIC.) The convergence of these influential participants through this successful program produces a unique and powerful event, the VCIC Experience.