Startup Challenge Workshops
Startup Challenge offers free workshops to participants to help them apply, prepare to pitch, and develop key aspects of their business.Â
Introduction to Startup Challenge
These workshops are designed to help you know how to enter, compete, and get the most out of the Startup Challenge. These workshops are offered in locations around the region. The following two resources are the slides from the Introduction to Startup Challenge workshops:
Workshops will be held up to March 9th. Dates and locations are posted below.
Introduction to Startup Challenge Workshops Schedule
All workshops meet 6:00 p.m. â 7:30 p.m.
2/19/2020
Salinas
Small Business Development Center (SBDC)
106 Lincoln Avenue, Salinas
2/26/2020
Monterey
Middlebury Institute of International Studies
McCone building room M238
499 Pierce Street, Monterey
2/27/2020
Santa Cruz
NextSpace – Pacific Room
101 Cooper St, Santa Cruz
2/27/2020
Watsonville
El Pajaro Community Development Corporation (CDC)
23 East Beach #209 Watsonville
3/2/2020
California State University Monterey Bay
Gambord Information & Technology Building
3054 Divarty Street, Seaside
3/3/2020
Salinas
Small Business Development Center (SBDC)
106 Lincoln Avenue, Salinas
3/5/2020
Hollister
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481 Fourth Street, Hollister, CA (San Benito Board of Supervisors Chamber Room)
Create a Winning Pitch
These workshops are designed to help you build the perfect pitch for the Qualifying Round. Applicants should attend the âCreating A Winning Pitchâ workshops for tips on what to include, what to leave out, and how to narrow your focus to the most succinct, informative and successful pitch. The workshops will have opportunities to practice, so come prepared!
Creating a Winning Pitch Slide Deck
This year’s Creating a Winning Pitch workshops have been completed. Thank you all for your participation!
In It To Win It
Pitch preparation workshops
The In It To Win It pitch workshops provide both information to help you construct your pitch as well as practice and feedback. Finalists should attend the âIn It To Win Itâ workshops for tips on what to include, what to leave out, and how to narrow your focus to the most succinct, informative and successful pitch. The workshops will have opportunities to practice, so come prepared with your draft pitch!
Building Your Brand Narrative
Brand development workshop
A challenge for entrepreneurs is designing marketing communications that attract and engage prospective customers. In desperation, entrepreneurs frequently resort to relying on price promotion to generate sales, giving away precious margin that they need to run and grow their business. The secret lies in creating messaging that speaks to our customers and motivates them purchase without compromising pricing.
In this workshop, you will create a âbrand narrative,â a story about how your customersâ lives will be better with your product in them. We will show you how to create a simple and powerful narrative structure that you can use to design effective messaging to grow your sales.
This workshop has been completed. Click on the buttons to the right to view the workshop slides and video.
Startup Challenge 2020 – Finalist Workshop Schedule
The workshops listed below are open to all finalists of this year’s Startup Challenge.
These workshops meet 6:00 p.m. â 7:30 p.m. Workshops will be hosted virtually through Zoom video conferencing. Please RSVP below for your selected workshop sessions.
Detailed instructions for 2020 Startup Challenge finalists: