The McGinnis Venture Competition is open to all current Carnegie Mellon University undergraduate and graduate students who have created, managed and owned ventures.

A CMU student should be CEO, CTO or COO. Members of the student team should also own a significant majority of the equity allocated to all parties. Non-CMU students may be members of the venture’s management team and may participate; however, current CMU students should deliver the majority of the content in all of the rounds.

How to determine which track you are competing in:

• If you have all undergraduate students on your team you will be considered in the undergraduate track.
• If you have all graduate students on your team you will be considered in the graduate track.
• If your team is made up of both graduate and undergraduate students you will be considered in the graduate track. You will not be eligible to compete in the undergraduate track.

**Please note that you will upload your Executive Summary and Video Pitch on our online platform.**

Deliverable: Executive Summary and Video Pitch*

The Executive Summary must be 3-5 pages in length. Please use the Executive Summary/Mini-Business Plan [pdf] for guidance.

A 5-minute Video Pitch targeted to investors is also required. You should pretend you are pitching to real investors and include all pertinent information. Record your Video Pitch and insert a link on our online platform.

The Executive Summary and Video Pitch must be submitted on our online platform.

The application submission deadline is Tuesday, January 14, 2025 at 11:59 pm EST via our online platform.

*If you need to borrow video equipment to make your video, visit IDeATe Lending Collection & Office.

**Please note that you will upload your updated Executive Summary and Video Pitch on our online platform as you did in Round 1.**

Deliverables: Updated Executive Summary and Video Pitch*

Submit via our online platform an updated Executive Summary and Video Pitch. Use the feedback that you received from Round 1 to improve.

The Round 2 submission deadline is Tuesday, February 11, 2025 at 11:59 pm EST via our online platform.

*If you need to borrow video equipment to make your video, visit IDeATe Lending Collection & Office.

**Please note that you will upload your Mini Business Plan/Expanded Version of Executive Summary on our online platform as you did in Round 1 and 2.**

Deliverables: Mini Business Plan/Expanded Version of Executive Summary and Live Pitch

We suggest that you use the Executive Summary/Mini-Business Plan[pdf] as guidance when creating your business plan, which should be 5-10 pages. You can add additional information to your business plan.

The mini-business plan submission deadline is Tuesday, March 11, 2025 at 11:59 pm EST via our online platform.

The live presentations are varied based on the graduate and undergraduate tracks.  Graduate tracks are 6 minutes long followed by 5-minute Q&A from the judges, and undergraduate tracks are 5 minutes long followed by 5-minute Q&A from the judges. Time limits are strictly enforced. The live round will be held on Tuesday, March 18, 2025.

The authors of the executive summaries and mini business plans will retain all rights to the executive summaries and mini business plans regarding its use at all times prior to and following the competition except as stated below. Due to the nature of the competition, we will not ask judges, reviewers, staff or the audience to agree to or sign non-disclosure statements for any participant.

All public sessions of the competition, including, but not limited to, oral presentations and question/answer sessions, are open to the public at large. Any and all of these public sessions may be broadcast to interested persons through media that may include radio, television and the internet. Any data or information discussed or divulged in public sessions by entrants should be considered information that will likely enter the public realm, and entrants should not assume any right of confidentiality in any data or information discussed, divulged or presented in these sessions.

Carnegie Mellon University may make photocopies, photographs, videotapes and/or audiotapes of the presentations including the business plan and other documents, charts or material prepared for use in presentation at the McGinnis Venture Competition. Students retain all proprietary rights. The university may use the materials in any book or other printed materials and any videotape or other medium that it may produce, provided that any profits earned from the sale of such items is used by the university solely to defray the costs of future competitions. The university has non-exclusive world rights in all languages, and in all media, to use or to publish the materials in any book, other printed materials, videotapes or other medium, and to use the materials in future editions thereof and derivative products.

View our judging guidelines

View our coaching guidelines