12 months after the launch of Facebook in Harvard University in 2004 over one million users flocked to use it. Eight years since its formation and today 955 million use it daily. The story of Facebook and the speed that a university played in catapulting it to celebrity is well known and here at the Faculty an annual competition is held to find a future Facebook.
60 Business and Economics students recently battled it out in a bid to prove that their online business plan could be the next big idea at the 2012 Internet Marketing Start-Up Competition. The competition aims to capitalise on the fertile ground Universities provide for start-ups like Facebook.
Facebook currently has a 93 ? 97% uptake rate by undergraduate students.
Finalists pitched to a panel of Australia?s most prominent industry experts and angel investors including Melbourne Angels? David Bennett, ?CEO?s Allan Dib of Voxcom and Andrew?Fiori-Dea of Future Capital Development Fund Ltd and government advisor Jim Landau. The modern entrepreneurs competed for a first prize of $4,000 in seeding capital.
Hybrid coupon-based dating site The Hitch was the overall winner. The Hitch proposed a dating website which integrated a coupon element, whereby couples could receive discounted goods and services or singles could organise a discount date with another person through the website.
?Our product aims to create a community by bringing couples from across Australia together to share their dating experiences, review services offered by the website and meet new people which we felt best fitted the Australian market? Evelyn Tan a member of the wining team said.
With such proximity to early adopters and idea generators, the competition gives students an opportunity to trial their idea in a highly receptive environment. The Faculty is furthering the recent global trend of giving support to innovative student start-ups while legitimising the entrepreneurial path.
Participant Kenneth Lew found the competition a ?breath of fresh air? who, as a part of the second placed team, The Droids, received a share in prizes valued at $550.
?I felt that entering this competition would be a great opportunity for me to explore my entrepreneurial side and think outside the box by developing creative solutions to unmet needs in the market? he said ?but the hardest part of the competition was selecting our final pitch from a huge range of ideas?.
Evelyn agrees, ?this competition was great exposure, as we have never developed a business plan or presented to venture capitalists before? she said ?it was challenging but opened our eyes as to what to expect in the real world and this felt rewarding?.
Dr Brent Coker, Internet Marketing lecturer, called the event a fantastic?success. ?This is the first time I have ever heard one of the venture?capitalist?judges say ?Who do I make the cheque out to?? after?listening?to a student presentation? he said ?the students really did make me feel proud?.
The Internet Marketing Competition is an annual event available to those enrolled in Dr Coker?s Internet Marketing class which is available at both undergraduate and postgraduate level.
Source: http://benews.unimelb.edu.au/2012/finding-the-next-facebook/
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