Winners of the Second Annual Robert Day Venture Capital Competition were recently announced after finalists met with a group of prominent venture capitalists and investors for presentations of their term sheets and judging on Friday, April 12. David Byer (CMC '02), Jeffrey Park (PO '02), and David Mahler (CMC '02), came in first place. Second place went to Angeline Javellana (CGU '02), Junci Wu (CGU '02), and Mario Wu (CGU '02). The third place team was made up of Holly Echeverria (CMC '02), Tyson Moler (CMC '02), Daniel O'Neill (CMC '02), and John Whitledge (CMC '02). Sponsored by the Day 4 +1 BA/MBA Program at Claremont McKenna College, the competition challenged teams of undergraduate and graduate students to play the role of venture capitalists in striking a deal with a startup company.
The panel of judges includes Lowell Sears, chairman and CEO of Sears Capital Management; Michael Sekits, general partner at HSP Capital; Otto Sorensen, partner at San Diego law firm Luce, Forward, Hamilton et al; and private investor Ken Hughes.
The competition, which follows on the tail of last fall's Kravis Business Plan Competition, was conceived "to allow students to compete in a business and entrepreneurship competition without requiring a full business plan," said Moana Vercoe, associate director of the Day 4 + 1 Program. Students used Cold Fusion Foods, winner of the Kravis competition and brainchild of Collin Madden (CMC '94), which produces an energy bar in the form of a frozen juice bar, as the start-up company.
Finalists were judged on their valuation of the company, the conditions and terms of the deal, and their responses to judges' questions during the presentation. The total prize money, $10,000, will be divided among the finalists at the judges' discretion.