GW Students Hone Elevator Pitches

By Peter Granitz

A few dozen budding entrepreneurs gave their best elevator pitches to prospective funders at George Washington University today.

For the record, the investors weren't venture capitalists; they were judges in GW's business competition Pith George. Students propose a business model and have three minutes to pitch their plan in an elevator.

Tricia Revel pitched a plan that she says would make recycling programs stronger. She says it was a bit awkward, but was still a success.

"It's funny because you usually ride the elevator with someone and no one is, people don't really talk that way, and they're not asking you questions, and you're not nervous."

Erick Winslow is a professor of behavioral science. He says exercises like these teach rising business leaders to be ready at any time, regardless of where a chance meeting with an investor might take place: "in a restaurant, in a bus, in a cab, on a plane, in an elevator."

Winners won seed money to start their businesses.