Competitions
University of Colorado Boulder | StartupTree
Bringing under one platform was a time saver for CU Boulder, making it easier to support their high impact competition.
The Challenge
The New Venture Challenge was managing multiple different platforms, spreadsheets, and documents to keep track of all of their ventures, students, mentors, competitions, and events. With the current system in place, improving competitions was a big feat to take on.
The Solution
When COVID hit, it became clear that juggling numerous platforms was inefficient, and in order to make everything virtually compatible, the NVC implemented StartupTree to consolidate platform management and run virtual competitions.
The Results
After a year of using StartupTree, the NVC has saved countless hours, and has expanded their competitions and judging features immensely. They now use 70% of the features on StartupTree.
ABOUT CU BOULDER'S NVC (NEW VENTURE CHALLENGE)
The New Venture Challenge, directed by Stanley Hickory, “gives aspiring entrepreneurs the chance to build a startup through entrepreneurial events and programming, community support, mentorship and ultimately, funding.”
With over 33,000 students, one of the main focuses of the campus wide program is to get as many students as possible to create innovative startups and then pitch them for competitions. In 2021, the NVC placed 15 in the Top 20 U.S. University Entrepreneurship Competitions list.
ABOUT STARTUPTREE
StartupTree is the leading platform used by top universities and organizations to unlock the potential of ecosystems through data and development of more robust networks.
Contact us: hello@startuptree.co
The Challenge
Managing Virtual Competitions
Before Stanley came to the NVC, they had been using a different platform or application to manage all aspects of the campus wide program. The process to get events out or deal with metrics for anything was a complicated and long process, especially for competitions, which was the main component that the NVC wanted to improve.
“We had been judging using Google Forms. Then we would create a spreadsheet, pull feedback from the spreadsheet, and manually put it in an email and send it out to all of the ventures.”
“With StartupTree, judges put in their feedback based on the rubric and I easily shoot that out to the ventures. It is so helpful. In the past, we struggled to capture all of this feedback and then route it to the right people within those ventures.
It was a virtual nightmare for us and logistically, this has been a huge win.”
It was a virtual nightmare for us and logistically, this has been a huge win.”
Stanley Hickory
Director, New Venture Challenge at University of Colorado Boulder
The Solution
How the NVC Drove their Competition Game to the Next Level During COVID
Virtual Competitions
A COVID-Safe Solution
With remote work came the real struggle of figuring out how to run competitions virtually, on top of managing several platforms. Competitions are a huge part of the NVC, so it was essential to employ software that would run smoothly and save time.
One Spot for all of Your Resources
Decreasing Manual Data Entry
With StartupTree, administrative manual work has decreased significantly and been simplified with centralized resources.
Venture Profiles
Easy to Manage with Increased Visibility
The NVC has supported over 1,000+ ventures. With this many founders and partners to keep track of, visibility into each venture is essential. StartupTree helped increase this visibility tremendously.
The Results
The Ease of Virtual Judging
Virtual judging for competitions has been a lifesaver. With one virtual training session, judges are equipped to virtually judge from home; they can read executive summaries, watch video pitches, and score and judge online. Judges don’t even have to get off the couch.
For their past large competition, the NVC had 48 virtual judges for the semi-final round, and 3 virtual judges for the final round.
“I love the ease at which I can invite people to the platform to be a judge. It's great how they don't have to create a profile, as that would limit the number of judges participating by a lot. The fact that I can customize the judging rubrics easily is nice too.”
Stanley Hickory
Director, NVC at University of Colorado Boulder
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