This Saturday, the College Entrepreneurʼs Organization (CEO) will be hosting the Elevator Pitch Competition at the Peters Educational Center in the Student Recreation Center at 9:30 a.m.

“The concept is like the movie ‘Pursuit of Happiness,’â€Â Bryce Majors, president of the Fresno chapter of CEO, said. “Poor guy with his business idea presents it to a rich CEO guy for his shot in his business.â€Â

Students will get the chance to talk about their business within the time that it would take to ride up an elevator, or about 90 seconds.

“I am hoping to see creative ideas that could lead to a business that are well articulated,â€Â Tim Stearns, faculty adviser of the Collegiate Entrepreneurʼs Organization, said.

This is the organization̢۪s third year of hosting an Elevator Pitch at Fresno State. Last year, the winner, Mark Uyemura, came in fourth place at the National CEO Conference and won $1500. They hope to have the same success this year.

Uyemura said he got thrown into the event last year by one of his professors. He also thought it would be a chance to learn how to give good speeches.

“An elevator pitch is designed to force the entrepreneur to express an opportunity to a potential investor,â€Â Stearns said. “Students have a great opportunity to hone their ideas, communicate the idea to someone who is hearing it for the ï¬Ârst time, and demonstrate the value they bring to the table.â€Â

The event is sponsored by the Lyles Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Students will present their business idea in front of a panel of judges. The judges have not yet been decided, but they will be local entrepreneurs and professors. This is the ï¬Ârst time the student organization is doing on its own.

“The money that the winner gets comes from the Coleman Foundation, which funds the National CEO Competition,â€Â Majors said.

They are allowing 20 to 25 entries to be sent in from the Web site students register on. The winner of the competition will win $1,000 and receive a trip to Chicago to compete in the National CEO Conference.

According to the Web site for registration, the vision statement explains, “The Collegiate Entrepreneursʼ Organization is the premier global entrepreneurship network which will serve 30,000 students, through 400 chapters and affiliated student organizations at colleges and universities.â€Â

Over 1,300 participants from around the world competed last year at the national conference. During the conference, many entrepreneurs were inducted into the CEO Hall of Fame. Peter Thomas of Century 21 Real Estate Canada and ABC Supply Company and Joshua James of Omniture to name a few.

“I had a different idea,â€Â Mark Uyemura, winner for last year’s pitch, said. “I came up with a pitch for a chain for a comic book store.â€Â

The National CEO Conference is Nov. 6 through Nov. 8. Sixty pitches are given and judged each day.
The ï¬Ânalists compete on the last day. Within those few days, the conference will consider topics such as crafting a small business, ï¬Ânancing, accounting, legal issues and starting and growing your own campus CEO organization.

“Overall it was a big learning experience,â€Â Uyemura said.