Congratulations are in order for Goizueta One-Year MBA students: Matt Crowell, David Durant, Aubry Kessel, Philip Ruppel, and Adam Zhong, who won the Southeast Regional Venture Capital Investment Competition earlier this month. The win earns the team a chance to compete at the international finals, which will take place in April.
The regional competition spanned over two and a half days and involved intense review, research and presentation of business plans, which each team received the evening of the first day. Teams need an understanding of the marketplace and venture capital industry, along with the ability to effectively analyze business plans in order to successfully compete.
“Both in the local round at Emory as well as the regional round hosted at Georgetown, our team spent about a day and a half understanding the companies’ strategy, products and services, and market. The goal is to figure out what components affect value and drill down on pertinent issues to ask in diligence sessions,” says Philip Ruppel, 13MBA.
The competition places students in the role of the investor. Real entrepreneurs pitch to the teams and they ultimately choose a venture to invest in and negotiate terms with the chosen entrepreneur – all under the observation of actual venture capitalist, serving as judges. Next, the tables turn and teams must defend their decision in a round that allows the judges to ask questions regarding the chosen business plan and team decision.
Ruppel applauds his Goizueta experiences as a key factor in the team’s success. “The Goizueta Business School’s Venture Capital and Entrepreneurship club did a fantastic job organizing the local Emory competition and providing information that prepared our team very well for competing in the regional competition.”
