Union Hall was abuzz last Thursday as Refinery Ventures’ inaugural Create Your Future Investment Competition.
Teams from universities all over the area swarmed on downtown Cincinnati for the event. There was a group from Ohio State University, The University of Kentucky, Miami University, Xavier University and two teams from the University of Cincinnati. Participants were both undergraduate and graduate students alike.
The competition aimed to "educate and support Midwest talent in venture capital and startup/business evaluating,” with the hopes that participants can experience "a day in the life of a venture capitalist," a release on the event states. "There is a lack of opportunity in the Midwest, and here at Refinery Ventures, we are breaking the barrier by creating our future and yours.”
Refinery Ventures Partner Tim Schigel opened up the event. He spoke about working in venture capital and the myriad reasons he is passionate about his work. Chief among those reasons? He gets to meet a variety of brilliant and talented people, such as scientists and high-level business executives.
Schigel also noted that entrepreneurs operate in a tough world, where the drive to solve a problem overcomes the overwhelming risk failure.
“It’s like we’re living in the future," he said.
Next, early Apple investor, VC at Cleveland-based Morgenthaler Ventures and the event's keynote speaker Bob Pavey took to the stage, where he was interviewed by Refinery Ventures intern Noah Larson. Pavey noted that what made a career in venture capital worthwhile is the great people he surrounded himself with. He found that when investing, it’s better to like, respect and trust the people your investing with, even before a guaranteed “win.” He also said exercise is important to maintain a high-level of mental and physical strength.
After the speakers, the competition for "best VC assessment" began. It involved three different startups pitching for around 20 minutes to the teams of students, who acted as "venture capitalists." Schigel noted that the startups wouldn't receive any funds for attending and pitching, except for practice and good feedback.
The participating startups — Coterie, Unific and Mobile Agent Now — are all real-world, early-stage organizations, and after their pitches, the teams broke up and the students were able to spend time with each company and ask questions.
Afterwards, the students prepared their assessments on the startups, which were given to the judges. They, in turn, considered three elements of the "venture capitalists" insight:
- Due Diligence: How the students covered key metrics, market research, background on team, etc. in their assessment.
- Investment Decision: What reasons to/not to invest, valuation, investment size, fund fit, etc. were provided in the assessment.
- Partner Meeting: Whether the assessment demonstrated intensive VC knowledge, terms, exit strategy, etc.
Two of the Ohio State teams tied for the win. The first team was comprised of Jordan Brown, Jasmine Sharma, Andrew Rizkallah and Brandon Dornier, while the other team tied for first included Ben Spragg, Jeff Herr, Ram Vellanki and Mark McClain. A UC team was runner-up.
