Our Judges

Jim Durham – Jim is a highly experienced developer that has launched multiple software products and brought them to market.

Pat Lennon – Pat Lennon is a local lawyer and Partner at Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP.

Chuck Perricone – Chuck is the former Speaker of the House for the Michigan House of Representatives and the owner of The Perricone Group. Chuck brings a wealth of experience from his years as a politician and a consultant.

Bobby Hopewell – Mayor Hopewell is the current mayor of Kalamazoo. Bobby is also a local business owner.

Kirk Russell – Kirk is an award winning salesman for Sprint in the Kalamazoo and Midwest area. His experience leans heavily in the corporate business area.

Sandra Cochrane – Sandra works for the MI-SBTDC (Michigan Small Business Technology and Development Center). Her background deals heavily with coaching early stage high-tech companies and small businesses.

Patricia Randall – Patricia is a current sitting City Council member for the City of Portage.

Judging Criteria

When our judges sit down to determine the winning team, they will be judging based on three main crieria. The categories and sub-categories are:

Customer Validation

• Interviewed potential/target customers?
  
• Integrated that feedback into the product?
  
• Built a base of fans and would-be customers?

Business Model

• Differentiated yourself from competitors?

• Defined the customer acquisition/rollout strategy?
• Clearly and realistically articulated their revenue model?

Execution

• Developed a functional prototype?
  
• Executed well as a team?
  

Remember that after each five minute pitch, our judges will have 5 minutes to question your group on anything.