J Terrell Brown Venture Challenge

Jan. 12 | Application opens

Feb. 10 | Virtual Info Session | Noon-1 p.m. | Link coming soon.

Feb. 27 | Applications close at 11:59 p.m. 

March 6 | Semi-finalists will be notified by 11:59 p.m. 

March 27 | Semi-finalists must submit executive business plan summary by 11:59 p.m.

April 4 | Finalists will be notified by 11:59 p.m.

Week of April 13 | Final live pitch competition - date coming soon.

Round I: Application and video pitch submission. Submissions are generally accepted from late January through February.

Round II: Semi-finalists will submit a five-page executive business plan and pitch deck 

Round III: Three finalists will present live in-person pitches at the Business Education Complex, typically in April. Each finalist will receive a share of the $35,000 prize. The minimum prize is $2,500; the maximum prize is $25,000.

Competitors are required to meet all submission deadlines and guidelines.  

• Applicants must be current LSU-system students (undergraduate or graduate) or alumni who graduated within the last year.

• Entries must be on-campus students (not LSU Online); alumni must have completed an on-campus degree program.

• Individual or team submissions are welcome.

• Applicants cannot be part of multiple teams. 

• Competitors must be present during the entire competition and the final presentation. 

• LSU student(s) must represent at least 51% of company ownership.

• Ventures cannot exceed $150K in lifetime revenue and/or $250K in lifetime equity investment.

• Finalists must have an LLC for their venture before funds are dispersed from the final pitch competition.

• Prize funds will be awarded directly to the LLCs of the three finalists. Funds will not be issued to individuals. The Stephenson Entrepreneurship Institute does not provide guidance on the use/disbursement of these funds; these decisions are at the discretion of the founder(s). 

To complete the application you will need:

• Contact details and educational information for each founder

• Venture name (if applicable), stage, description, and industry

• Value proposition

• Statements of positioning and differentiation

• Video link

Attend the Feb. 10 info session to learn more.

Video pitch submissions are limited to two minutes. While you may creatively edit the final pitch, incorporating visual aids and other material to make it the most polished product, it must address these five key ideas: 

• The problem: clearly explain the “pain” for which your product or service will be the solution—listeners should know the exact problem that is being solved with your product or service (consider a story, making this memorable for the listener)   

• The solution: describe how your product or service addresses the pain or solves the customers’ problems.  

• The customer: describe the specific customers you are trying to reach in a very concrete way.

• The advantage: explain the benefits your product or service provides over other alternatives (i.e., how do you solve the problem better than others?) 

• The revenue model: describe your revenue model (i.e., how your business makes money) 

Watch this video for more on what makes a good submission.

Each of the key issues (problem, solution, customer, advantage, and revenue model) will be judged on a scale of 1 to 5. In addition, these criteria will also be used to judge the quality of your pitch video: 
 
Delivery:   

• Energy & confidence (natural, enthusiastic, positive flow, avoids reading a script)   

• Language clarity 

• Creativity in presentation (use of images and graphics that are relevant to the content)   

Technical Aspects:   

• Camera is stable   

• Sound is clear and understandable   

• Video is edited effectively and flows well   

• Pitch is completed within two-minute limit.

J Terrell Brown Venture Challenge Success Stories

• Mallard Bay, an online marketplace for hunting and fishing trips; last year, the company announced the closure of its $4.6 million funding round.
• Suds Laundry Service, an app that offers services for commercial and residential customers, won second place in 2019. Suds received $75,000 at the 2023 Demo Day, an event hosted by Pharrell Williams' nonprofit Black Ambition.
• FarmMind (formerly Farmsmarter.AI), the competition's 2024 winners, earned top prize in the Entrepreneurship Pelican Cup sponsored by the University of Louisiana at Monroe. The AI-powered tool for professional farming and recreational gardening communities also earned seventh spot in the Rice Business Plan Competition, the world’s largest student startup competition. In total, these wins yielded more than $150,000 in revenue. The team will soon compete in the 2026 Farm Bureau Ag Innovation Challenge.  
• Chckvet (formerly Chckup), a startup whose software makes veterinary practices more efficient, came in second in the 2022 competition. The company now has about 200 clients in the US and Canada, with a few in Australia. Read about their journey.