{"id":844,"date":"2017-05-01T14:48:52","date_gmt":"2017-05-01T18:48:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.montclair.edu\/entrepreneur\/?p=844"},"modified":"2018-11-08T11:43:14","modified_gmt":"2018-11-08T16:43:14","slug":"from-nerves-to-euphoria-student-recalls-pitching-in-statewide-contest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/entrepreneur\/2017\/05\/01\/from-nerves-to-euphoria-student-recalls-pitching-in-statewide-contest\/","title":{"rendered":"From nerves to euphoria: student recalls pitching in statewide contest"},"content":{"rendered":"

The following is a student’s first-person account of participating in the second annual UPitchNJ collegiate entrepreneurship contest, held April 28 at Princeton University.<\/em><\/p>\n

By Kristen Martinelli<\/p>\n

I wasn\u2019t nervous until we walked into the auditorium style room at Princeton University.<\/p>\n

The pitched seating seemed huge. The room\u2019s layout and presentation placement forced us to rely on our memory when presenting. No assistance from a nearby laptop to see what was next. In between bites of pizza and notes from the tech operator, the nerves set in. My team, Elaion, would be competing for cash prizes against 12 other New Jersey universities in the second annual UPitchNJ contest.<\/p>\n

As the next team entered the auditorium to go over their presentation, we went back to our demonstration table. In between conversations we practiced our deck from memory. We knew our parts; that wasn\u2019t the issue. The scary part was facing the unknown. We always pitched to our classroom of peers, and here we were with several prestigious teams of strangers. Despite our smooth pitches in the car ride to Princeton, I was worried about clicking through the presentation at the wrong time.<\/p>\n

All too soon, we gathered into the first three rows of the auditorium. Montclair State was fourth in the pitch order and I could feel my heart pounding as each speaker discussed Princeton\u2019s entrepreneurship program.<\/p>\n

I went through my parts of the presentation over and over before the first team started. I flipped back through my notes to confirm my numbers and specific details. Yet, at some point as the teams began, I realized I had to trust that over the past 14 weeks we had practiced enough to give a great pitch. We had to believe in one another. I stopped pitching in my head and took a deep breath, we can do this<\/em>.<\/p>\n

View photos from the event.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

I listened to the judges\u2019 feedback for each team. Some teams ran out of time, others didn\u2019t clarify their product, and as always, the judges asked for validation.<\/p>\n

I started to relax. I knew we would pitch within the time requirements, and that we had over 100 interviews validating our product. Having our professor, Jason Frasca, in the audience helped make this pitch feel like the one we do every week.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not using a microphone,\u201d I told my teammates in between pitches. I worried that holding the clicker and a microphone would hinder my performance. (I\u2019m Italian after all, I talk with my hands).<\/p>\n

\u201cUs either,\u201d they agreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cMake sure you project,\u201d Professor Frasca reminded us.<\/p>\n

We transitioned to the front of the room as Professor Sharon Waters introduced our team. I don\u2019t remember anything anyone said, just the feeling of the rubber clicker in my right hand, my shaky knees, and the loop of: project, breathe, project, breathe <\/em>going through my mind.<\/p>\n

\u201cI almost had a panic attack, no lie,\u201d my teammate Alexis Johnson, a senior Fine Arts major,\u00a0recounted later, about waiting for our pitch to begin. \u201cMy heart was pounding. When we got up there, and you [Kristen] did your thing \u2013 it was fine. The intro eased my nerves.\u201d<\/p>\n

We didn\u2019t turn around and crane our necks to look at the slides. We had the audience\u2019s attention. We presented with the same flow that happens during successful MSU class pitches.<\/p>\n

\"3
From left: Alexis Johnson, Kristen Martinelli, Sophie Kunert<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We trusted each other, and we succeeded.<\/p>\n

After three minutes of questions with the judges, we took our seats and finished watching the presentations.<\/p>\n

The first person I looked to was Professor Frasca. His face would tell it all. I knew he was going to tell me not to hide behind the podium next time, but to be honest, my legs were shaking so bad, I was glad it was there!<\/p>\n

During the judges\u2019 deliberation and subsequent award announcements, we went over the competition.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho do you think is going to take first?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know\u2026How do we compare to the two groups that have been established for two years?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat about Pedul? She was the best speaker here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOr The Buzz, I like the idea of a holistic\/probiotic drink.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe signing school was great too. I love American Sign Language.\u201d<\/p>\n

We didn\u2019t know who would win what prize, but we knew we wanted to win something<\/em> \u2013 even if it was just the $100 Starbucks gift card for the Audience Choice Award!<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my heart, I thought we would win third place. Not because of Karuda [the Montclair State team that won third prize in the 2016 UPitchNJ contest]. But because Pedul and Buzz were really strong. So I thought they were good competitors. I thought we would be the last slot because I thought we were good too,\u201d Alexis explained.<\/p>\n

\"UpitchNJ
Alexis, Sophie and Kristen wait for the judges’ results.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As the judges filed out of the deliberation room, I thought we had a chance of winning some<\/em> award. We were one, if not the only, team who had traction and sales. The only other teams who had anything were teams who were around for 2+ years. We\u2019ve been around for three months.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought we had a shot at winning, but I was also nervous that we weren\u2019t going to win anything,\u201d teammate Sophie Kunert, a sophomore Illustration major,\u00a0added.<\/p>\n

The judges announced the winner of the Starbucks card to The Buzz. The second award was \u201cBest Early Stage Startup.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s gotta be us<\/em>, I thought.<\/p>\n

Sure enough, the judge reads, \u201cElaion.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI was speechless,\u201d Alexis recounted.<\/p>\n

We went to the front of the room and took pictures with the giant check. I smiled and smiled and smiled so much I felt like the joker. This can\u2019t be real, we won!<\/em> All of our hard work, late hours, and revisions paid off.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was in shock. I didn\u2019t feel anything in the moment. It was afterwards, after everything was processed,\u201d Sophie remembered.<\/p>\n

Other prizes went to Pedul at Rutgers ($1,500)\u00a0for their college tuition funding platform; SignSchool affiliated with Princeton University ($1,000)\u00a0for its online platform to learn American Sign Language; and Trend Pie at Seton Hall ($500) for its platform to encourage influencers to communicate with their social media followers. We lined across the front of the room and took pictures together.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis competition was very exciting. The whole atmosphere is motivating!\u201d Sophie reflected on the connections and networking we had throughout the day. People loved our idea and understood the product, even if they didn\u2019t have tattoos themselves.<\/p>\n

\"Team
Team Elaion with Prof. Jason Frasca<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Being recognized for our work with Elaion was only part of our enjoyment. What was better, is that Montclair and the Feliciano Center get bragging rights too.<\/p>\n

\u201cI honestly don\u2019t think we would\u2019ve gotten this far without [Professor Frasca] each week,\u201d Sophie said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wholeheartedly agree,\u201d Alexis added. \u201cFrasca really pushed us. When I first started the class, it was too much for me. But slowly I started to like it, and I appreciate the hard work. I know at some point, in the real world, this will help me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Professor Frasca really prepared us for the competition. He put time in and outside of class to give us feedback and push our ideas.<\/p>\n

You could see from our deck and presentation that he\u2019s a great teacher, and that the entrepreneurship program at MSU prepares us for the real world of entrepreneurship.<\/p>\n

Pitching and winning at Princeton University was a once in a lifetime experience.<\/p>\n

Kristen Martinelli is a senior English major pursuing a Certificate of Entrepreneurship, and a member of team Elaion.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The following is a student’s first-person account of participating in the second annual UPitchNJ collegiate entrepreneurship contest, held April 28 at Princeton University. By Kristen Martinelli I wasn\u2019t nervous until we walked into the auditorium style room at Princeton University. The pitched seating seemed huge. The room\u2019s layout and presentation placement forced us to rely […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":861,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,8],"tags":[64,112,145,158],"class_list":["post-844","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","category-women-entrepreneurs","tag-feliciano-center-for-entrepreneurship","tag-montclair-state","tag-student-entrepreneurs","tag-upitchnj"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/entrepreneur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/entrepreneur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/entrepreneur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/entrepreneur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/entrepreneur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=844"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/entrepreneur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":207836,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/entrepreneur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844\/revisions\/207836"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/entrepreneur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/861"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/entrepreneur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/entrepreneur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/entrepreneur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}