Judges Named for GBTC MoshPit! Competition
BALTIMORE, MD (3/31/08) – The Greater Baltimore Technology Council (GBTC) announced the 2008 MoshPit judges and once again the list is impressive. Steve Walker, President of Walker Ventures; Barbara Dreyer, President of Connections Academy; and Dr. April Young, Mid-Atlantic Managing Director of CoMerica, will all make repeat appearances on the panel. Rounding out this distinguished panel is Larry Fiorino, Founder and CEO of G.1440. Finals for the MoshPit, dubbed “the worlds coolest business plan competition” will be held on Thursday, April 24th.
“I am honored to judge another MoshPit Final,” comments Steve Walker. “Year after year the students continue to impress me with their innovation, energy and creativity.” “Our distinguished panel of judges, made up of regional business leaders, will provide advice and guidance that will help the Finalists succeed long after MoshPit”, says GBTC Executive Director, Steve Kozak. “We are proud of the connections that MoshPit continues to establish between the business and academic communities.”
Created by the GBTC in 2002, MoshPit provides an opportunity for students from Maryland colleges and universities to experience every aspect of starting a business – from recruiting employees and advisors to writing a competitive business plan to pitching ideas to potential investors for funding. MoshPit is open to any Maryland college undergraduate student, who wants to test their business plan or simply be part of a team. The only stipulation is that technology needs to play a part in the plan, although it does not have to be the focus of the business.
The winner of this year’s MoshPit competition will walk away with $10,000 in prize money, two tickets to TechNite (the premier night out for the region’s business and technology community), and a full year of free office space at the ETC @ Johns Hopkins Eastern, donated by Baltimore City’s Emerging Technology Center. With this year’s prize money totaling $30,000, every team that makes the Finals will receive a cash prize.
To get to the Finals, teams have to go through several grueling rounds of competition. Over 100 ideas for starting a new business originally were submitted for MoshPit 2008. A panel of GBTC members was tasked with selecting only 40 to take part in “The Pit” held on March 26th.
Teams are now in the process of developing their business plans, which are due on April 9th. Up to seven teams will then be selected to compete in the MoshPit Finals. Finalists will be announced on April 15th.For the MoshPit Finals, each judge will have $5 million in MoshPit dollars to invest in any combination of teams. The team that garners the most investment dollars will be this year’s MoshPit winner.
Support for MoshPit is provided by our public sector partner, the Maryland Department of Business & Economic Development (DBED), and sponsors: Advertising.com, Baltimore County, DLA Piper, Jacoby, Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO), Mind Over Machines and The Columbia Bank.
