Entrepreneurs / Small Business  May 19, 2015

Last year’s winner among judges named as CSU Blue Ocean Enterprises Challenge nears

FORT COLLINS — Organizers of the second annual CSU Blue Ocean Enterprises Challenge have announced the panels of judges for each round of the $250,000 business pitch competition.

The judges – many of whom are successful entrepreneurs in their own right – will hear 28 companies pitch on stage before a live audience at Lory Student Center on the campus of Colorado State University.

The finals of both the Collegiate and Enterprise divisions will have a new format styled after college basketball’s March Madness, said Kurt Hoeven, chief executive of Blue Ocean Enterprises.

SPONSORED CONTENT

Business Cares: March 2024

WomenGive, a program of United Way of Larimer County, was started in Larimer County in 2006 as an opportunity for women in our community to come together to help other women.

“This year our final eight will compete head to head in a tournament-style bracket, where each winner moves on to the next round,” Hoeven said. “It should be fast moving, exciting, entertaining and – for the challengers – very rewarding.”

The Collegiate Competition, to be held May 27, will offer a $20,000 grand prize and other awards. Judges in the “seed round” will include last year’s Blue Ocean winner, Kyle Kirkpatrick of Decibullz, a Loveland-based company that makes headphones with do-it-yourself, custom-molded earpieces.

“The whole event last year was rewarding, not just the competition,” Kirkpatrick said. “The education sessions, the workshops, everything was really exciting, and we were just grateful to be a part. We didn’t think we were going to win at all, but we just wanted to take in the event.

“We were growing slowly and didn’t necessarily need the money,” he added, “but what the money allowed us to do was turbo-boost our growth. The mentorship from Blue Ocean that came along with the money really helped us build the foundation of the business that would support the rapid growth. We went from running the business in our basement to a warehouse in Loveland with three full-time employees and a couple of part-timers. You can now buy the headphones retail.”

Kirkpatrick warned the 2015 contestants that he’ll likely be a tough judge.

“I used to be an Olympic-level gymnastics coach,” he said, “so I tend to be on the tough side. I’m very detail oriented.”

Other judges in the division will be Gerry Caron of Otter Products; Christine Hudson of Rally Software Development Co.; Russ Kittell, retired from United Launch Alliance; Meade Malone of MWM Global Holdings Ltd.; David Tolson of Capital Value Advisors; and Robert Ward of Pricewaterhouse Coopers.

Judges for the Collegiate semifinal and final rounds will be Libby Cook of the Philanthropiece Foundation; Daniel Epstein of the Unreasonable Group; Lawrence Mandes of Galvanize; Sanjay Mehta of Trend Micro; and Alex Welch of Lasso Media.

Part of the Collegiate division will be a Trolley Pitch on May 29. U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo., will kick off the pitch by ringing the bell of Birney Car 21, the historic Fort Collins Municipal Railway trolley car. Companies have just the time it takes to travel to the next stop to pitch their business ideas to the judges on board: Tamara Kleinberg of The Shuuk; Lisa Tessarowicz of the  CALM Foundation; and Jose Vieitez of Boomtown Accelerator.

The trolley event is “our version of businesses promoting their elevator pitch, only we ask them to do that on the trolley in Fort Collins,” Hoeven said. “It shows off one of Fort Collins’ special landmarks, but it also creates a fun kind of chaotic experience for the competitors. There’s noise, noise and distractions that make it harder for them to make their pitches.

“A big part of what we’re trying to do is provide real-world experience, challenge them and make it hard enough that they improve,” Hoeven said. This forces them to be dynamic, passionate, and get their company’s story across.”

The Enterprise competition will take place May 29-30, during Fort Collins Startup Week, and will award a $250,000 grand prize and other prizes.

Judges for the seed round will be Scott Bergquist of Silicon Valley Bank; David Gold of Access Venture Partners; Kyle Hansen of Outward Hound; Bill Heuston of ViaWest; Sue Kunz of ThriveOn Group; Juan Velez of Aurora Organic Farms Inc.; and Jeff Wood of Hewlett-Packard.

Judges for the quarterfinal rounds will be venture capitalist and angel investor Gary Wayne Clark; AJ Dye of Delta Electronics Capital; Todd Lemley of ThriveOn Group; John Marotta of  Emerge Medical Inc.; and Ashok Reddy of Unreasonable Capital.

Judges for the semifinal and final rounds will be Kyle Cox of ATP Fund; Sue Heilbronner of  MergeLane; Jeff Hoffman of Priceline; Kate Shillo of Galvanize Ventures; and Peter Adams of  Rockies Venture Club. Hoffman will be the event’s keynote speaker on May 30.

All events in the 2015 CSU Blue Ocean Enterprises Challenge are free and open to the public, but online registration is required. The competition also is seeking volunteers to assist during the events. Visit www.blueoceanchallenge.com to register or to sign up to volunteer.

Information about Fort Collins Startup Week is available at www.ftcstartupweek.co/.

FORT COLLINS — Organizers of the second annual CSU Blue Ocean Enterprises Challenge have announced the panels of judges for each round of the $250,000 business pitch competition.

The judges – many of whom are successful entrepreneurs in their own right – will hear 28 companies pitch on stage before a live audience at Lory Student Center on the campus of Colorado State University.

The finals of both the Collegiate and Enterprise divisions will have a new format styled after college basketball’s March Madness, said Kurt Hoeven, chief executive of Blue Ocean Enterprises.

“This year our final eight will compete head to head…

Dallas Heltzell
With BizWest since 2012 and in Colorado since 1979, Dallas worked at the Longmont Times-Call, Colorado Springs Gazette, Denver Post and Public News Service. A Missouri native and Mizzou School of Journalism grad, Dallas started as a sports writer and outdoor columnist at the St. Charles (Mo.) Banner-News, then went to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch before fleeing the heat and humidity for the Rockies. He especially loves covering our mountain communities.
Sign up for BizWest Daily Alerts