How to Make it as a MassChallenge Finalist
5 Steps to Boost Your Chances of Making it Through as a Finalist
How the competition works after the application deadline ends After the intial application deadline closes, you'll have a little over a month to get as much support for your startup as possible. It's your job to get endorsements and votes during this time to boost your chances of making it through. This is also your time to develop your presentation for the 2nd Round, as well as get feedback on your idea. The process is broken up into two parts and here's how it works: - Round 1- Your electronic application will be reviewed and scored based on your responses to questions and your profile. In 2010, there were 450 entrants who were reviewed in this round. Professional judges will decide if you should come in for an in person pitch (this can be done through Skype too). The point breakdown is below.
- Endorsement points - 10
- Judges Scoring - 80
- Profile votes - 10
- Round 2 - If you make it through (approximately 300 teams), you will have to do a round of pitching to judges in person. You will not find out who your judges are until you check in. You will go into a room, there will be a MassChallenge time keeper and a panel of 4-8 judges that you pitch to simultaneously in American-Idol fashion. You are allotted amount a specific amount of time (15 minutes in 2010 if I remember correctly) and you can break that up however you want. Rentabilities did a 5 minute presentation and 15 minutes of Q&A which worked well. At the end of the session, no one is allowed to talk and you leave the room. The breakdown of points is below.
- Endorsement points - 10
- Judges Scoring - 80
- Profile votes - 10
You can find the judging breakdowns here
1. Get Votes
If you look at the above criteria, votes play a big role in both rounds and can make or break your team. At Rentabilities we did some creative things to get as many votes as possible and lock in those 10 points. How to vote video - Our CEO, Alex, made a screen capture showing how to vote in the competition, and distributed it on YouTube to the world at large. It got almost 600 views and was retweeted quite a bit. The reason why we made the video was so that when we asked people to vote for us, we could send them a tutorial how to do it because the process was confusing. If you can decrease friction for your supporters, they'll be more likely to support you. Facebook event - We also made a Facebook event and shamelessly invited everyone we knew to help us. It amazed me how supportive everyone was and how many people took the time to help us out. In same cases, people voted who I haven't talked to in years and wished us luck. It was very inspiring, and helps us lock in points. Voting cards - Get some cheap business cards made that you can hand out with a link to your MassChallenge profile and a quick explanation of the voting process. Ask everyone you meet to support your cause and give you a vote.
2. Get Endorsements
Endorsements play another large part in Round 1 + 2. They are not hard to get if you are tenacious. In 2010, the only indicator of who had endorsement tickets was the supporters page. Our team randomly cold called each organization and fought our way up the ladder to pitch the person with an endorsement ticket. With some gusto, we were able to lock up the 10 endorsement points too. This year, MassChallenge has made it much easier to get endorsement tickets with this list. Be entrepreneurial and figure out how to get in contact with these people as soon as possible before their tickets are gone. If the endorser does agree to give you his or her ticket, make sure you stay on her until it is entered into the system. Remember, human inertia is one of your biggest enemy. The extra 10 endorsement points are in your control to get and again, could make or break you getting into the next round. It's also an amazing opportunity to network with advisors, investors, and service providers as well as hone your pitch. And it's also an opportunity to get free entrance into the competition with $50 off for Diamond endorsements. You can receive endorsements until the end of the 2nd round judging - May 18th, 2011
3. Tap the Alumni
The MassChallenge Alumni are all listed on the MassChallenge website and are a great resource for how the competition works and for insights on how to do well. I've never met so many thoughtful and helpful people in such a short time, and I'm sure almost every finalist would be willing to answer an email if you reach out and ask for advice. Go to the events and reach out to the alumni network. Another bonus is that every 2010 MassChallenge finalist has a Diamond endorsement ticket.
4. Prepare your Presentation
Just like your application, it's important to iterate your presentation. Keep it as simple as possible. Do not use a lot complicated text or graphics. Keep your message clear, succinct and to the point. Practice your presentation as much as you can before the big day comes and do not just wing it because it will show. There are thousands of resources online for how to give a great pitch presentation (one of my favorites).
5. Think like a Judge
The judges will have never seen you or thought about your idea before you start.Some of them may gloss over your application, and those precious few will come in with questions and not listen to your presentation at all. Assume your audience knows almost nothing, and give a short and simple presentation. It's best to stick to indisputable data about your company whenever possible because it generally cannot be questioned. It might even be great to listen to a few other applicants presentations and write down the questions you ask and the things that irked you so you can make sure to not make the same mistakes. Final thoughts: MassChallenge is a great opportunity, but it cannot be half assed. With some work and startup chutzpah, you can greatly incrase your chances of getting into the Accellerator.
The following post was written by Andy Cook, cofounder of Rentabilities and MassChallenge 2010 $50,000 winner. Having been through the MassChallenge before, Andy has provided his take on how to make it through the first two rounds of MassChallenge judging and get into the Accelerator as a MassChallenge Finalist.
