Be an Alumni Judge:

A powerful way to give back to Penn and Wharton.

As an alumni judge for the Startup Challenge, you enhance the entrepreneurial experience for today’s students and strengthen our entrepreneurial community. Judges provide quantitative scores and qualitative feedback to students at all levels (from freshmen to PhDs), from all Penn schools, and with any amount of entrepreneurial experience, as they work on their ventures.

Your journey through the entrepreneurial ecosystem has been an inspiring tale of perseverance and success. Now, there’s a unique opportunity to extend your legacy by guiding the next generation of trailblazers at Venture Lab. Your insights and expertise are invaluable assets to our aspiring student entrepreneurs. By signing up as a first-round judge, you not only contribute to shaping their futures but also continue to enrich your own journey with fresh perspectives and renewed purpose.

First-round judging will occur online using our SurveyMonkey Apply platform from early February. The top 8 teams will then compete in the Startup Challenge Finals on Friday, April 12, 2024.Judging includes:

● Reviewing pitch decks and short videos for 3 to 5 ventures.

● Providing quantitative scores and qualitative feedback for those 3 to 5 ventures.

● Being willing to view submissions for ventures of all types (for-profit, nonprofit, hybrid), with all funding needs (revenue-funded, bootstrapped, grant funded, requiring institutional funding) and founded by all levels of students (undergraduate through PhD).

Questions about judging for the Startup Challenge? Contact Rebecca Winkler at winklerr@wharton.upenn.edu

Judging Criteria

Idea

• Value proposition
• Originality, innovation and thoughtfulness
• Impact on big problem

Product/Service

• Differentiation from the existing competition
• User experience
• Identification and addressing of major relevant risks, and inclusion of contingency plans

Preparation For Launch

• Target market and customer identification and segmentation
• Pricing model
• Core revenue model and ancillary revenue streams
• Semifinalists and Finalists will be required to provide 3-5 year financial projections

Execution

• Marketing strategy
• Sales strategy
• Plan to scale

Progress/Traction

• Product development
• Traction-to-date (relationships with key market participants, sales, downloads, website traffic, etc.)
• Future measurable, achievable milestones

Team

• Expertise of founding team
• Commitment and motivation of founding team
• Strategy to attract additional key people