SYRACUSE, NY, April 18, 2008 – Brand-Yourself.com founders Pete Kistler, RJ Sherman and Trace Cohen were declared semi-finalists this week in the annual Panasci Business Plan Competition at Syracuse University. The competition, hosted by the Entrepreneurship and Emerging Enterprises program at the Whitman School of Management, drew over 100 entrants this year.
Brand-Yourself.com succeeded in the first two rounds, advanced to the semi-finals and was cut before the final round. The company’s business plan and presentation were "rock-solid,"
The Panasci Competition evaluates business plans based on innovativeness and quality. Judges assess a wide range of elements such as concept, market, economics, and management. The potential for growth – how well the company takes advantage of new markets and services – is the largest factor in deciding the winner.
Brand-Yourself.com is focused on a new market: students and recent graduates who are finding the old job-hunting tools to be incompatible with the changing professional and technological landscape. "80% of employers Google their job applicants,"
The Brand-Yourself.com team was required to submit a comprehensive business plan for Panasci, and give a convincing presentation to a live panel of judges. The judges were businessmen, founders, CEOs and presidents of successful companies.
Kistler, Sherman, and Cohen spent countless hours preparing and practicing.
“We prepared every day, for as many hours as we could, just writing and researching, talking to as many people as we could,” said Sherman.
“We interviewed marketing professors, lawyers, career service counselors, IT specialists, CPAs, bankers, human resources managers and entrepreneurs – basically everyone that could possibly help us succeed," added Kistler.
The team received much positive feedback from the judges. One of the judges told the group that next year, with some tweaking, Brand-Yourself.com has an excellent chance taking 1st place.
The 16 semi-finalists were broken into groups of 4, with one team moving on from each group. The eventual winner, Dream Water, was in the same group as Brand-Yourself.com, eliminating the team and moving on to beat out the other finalists.
“We were eliminated at our very best. We nailed our presentation - I have absolutely no regrets,” said Kistler. Despite not moving forward to the finals, the three entrepreneurs agree that merely participating gave them a leg up in the launching of their business. "We learned so much from our competition, our mentors and our judges." Kistler explained. "The whole experience will allow us to create a better service come Spring '08."
The Brand-Yourself.com founders are already looking ahead to next year with high expectations.
“For next year's competition, we’ll have launched the business. We’re going to have real numbers and real users – that adds a lot of credibility,”
The Brand-Yourself.com team is focusing on launching the service and eagerly awaiting next year’s chance at winning $25,000 and the ability to hire staff and develop even better features.
