MIT $100K Business Plan Contest

Last night I served as a "VC" judge for a bunch of contestants in the MIT $100K business plan contest in an event hosted by a local lawfirm.  As you’d expect there were some pretty innovative technologies, but I was really surprised at how little effort the teams spent explaining the market opportunity.  Admittedly a 10-minute-pitch format leaves little time for anything, but my advice to the students (and entrepreneurs in general) is to focus on articulating the market opportunity in your elevator pitch.  If you’ve only got a few minutes, use it to convey the "what" and "why" of your business (and not the "how").