Young Entrepreneur Institute

Teen Pitch Tank Rules and Eligibility

Note: Teen Pitch Tank reserves the right to update these rules at any time. Every attempt will be made to notify entrants of any modification to this document; however, it is ultimately the responsibility of Teen Pitch Tank entrants to stay current with Teen Pitch Tank Rules and Regulations by visiting teenpitchtank.com.

• Eligibility

  • Entrant must be enrolled in high school (grades 9-12) in the spring of 2018.  Entrant may be home schooled or enrolled in online schools.
  • Entrant must reside in one of the 21 counties of Northeast Ohio:  Ashland, Ashtabula, Carroll, Columbiana, Crawford, Cuyahoga, Erie, Geauga, Holmes, Huron, Lake, Lorain, Mahoning, Medina, Portage, Richland, Stark, Summit, Tuscarawas, Trumbull, Wayne.
  • Entrant’s parent or guardian must complete the electronic permission section of the Teen Pitch Tank entry form on the website.
  • Video entries should be no longer than 90 seconds. It is recommended that entries be not less than 45 seconds.  File types accepted include mp4, mov, avi, mpg, 3gp, flv, webm, wmv and mkv.
  • Entrant and his/her parent/guardian must give consent to all photographs, audio recordings and video recordings taken of him/her, and all Teen Pitch Tank work presented in association with Young Entrepreneur Institute. All media recordings become the property of the Young Entrepreneur Institute and may be used by Young Entrepreneur Institute for educational, instructional or promotional purposes in print, broadcast or electronic media formats now existing or in the future created. This includes but is not limited to the video entry submission.  There will be no compensation for the use of any photographs, audio or video recordings or any other media.
  • Entrants may not work in teams. Only single applicant entries will be accepted.
  • Finalists and winners may not be the child of any Young Entrepreneur Institute employee.
  • The deadline for submission is February 19, 2018 at 11:59 p.m.

• Business Pitch Criteria

  • The proposed idea can be any type of business – a product business, a service business, a social enterprise that helps people or the environment, or a technology business.
  • Entries will be judged on the Viability of the product, service or invention; the Creativity of the business idea, name, tagline and video; and Persuasiveness of the pitch.

• Prizes

  Fifteen (15) finalists and five (5) winners will receive both monetary and “in-kind” prizes. There is no cash value to “in-kind” prizes and no exchanges or refunds will be offered.  Prizes are non-transferrable.  

  • Five (5) winners will receive a prize package including:
    • Tablet Computer
    • $100 cash
    • One year supply of Coca Cola sparkling beverages (two cases per month, your choice of beverage)
    • Four Cleveland Indians tickets
    • Ahuja Business Leadership Scholarship, contingent on meeting specific additional criteria, including but not limited to: the winner being an incoming freshman admitted directly from high school into the Monte Ahuja College of Business and Cleveland State University; the winner accepting admission to CSU and the Monte Ahuja College of Business by March 1 of the spring prior to the fall semester that the recipient plans to enroll; and the winner having a minimum ACT composite score of 26 or a combined 1190 SAT score; having a minimum 3.4 high school GPA, and completing an essay to demonstrate leadership abilities. 
The scholarship award is intended to encourage students to remain in the program and graduate in four years. Recipients will receive a scholarship for their freshman year of $1,000 - $2,000, which may be renewed annually for even greater awards during their sophomore through senior years. Recipients are eligible to receive up to eight semesters of scholarship funding provided they remain in the Monte Ahuja College of Business, remain on pace to graduate in four years, and maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0. Certain additional eligibility criteria and requirements apply.
  • Fifteen (15) finalists will receive:
    • $50 cash
    • Two Cleveland Indians tickets
    • $25 Chipotle gift card
    • $10 iTunes or Google Play Music gift card

• Judging

  • Round One
    • Entrant will complete a registration form and submit a video, up to 90 seconds, to teenpitchtank.com. Entries that do not meet the requirements under the rules section or submit incomplete registration forms will be disqualified. Twenty finalists will be selected from all eligible entries meeting the Teen Pitch Tank contest rules and requirements.
    • Applicants should enter using the registration form on teenpitchtank.com. Applicant will receive a message confirming receipt of their entry.
    • Electronic submission: Teen Pitch Tank entries must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. on February 19, 2018.
    • Entries will be disqualified if Parent/Guardian Permission is not provided by February 19, 2018 at 11:59 p.m.
    • Submission title and description of the business idea must be submitted in the form provided on teentechtank.com.
    • Submissions will be reviewed and judged according to:
      • Viability of the product, service or invention
      • Creativity of the business idea, name, tagline and video
      • Persuasiveness of the pitch
    • Twenty (20) finalists will be selected by a team of judges to participate in the final round.  Notification will be provided via email by March 6, 2018.
  • Round Two
    • Twenty (20) finalists will be showcased on teenpitchtank.com from March 6 through March 13, 2018.  Four winners will be determined by a panel of judges from the youth entrepreneurship education ecosystem in Northeast Ohio.  Public voting via an online link at teenpitchtank.com will determine a fifth winner. 
    • Public voting begins on March 6, 2018 and ends on March 13, 2018. Visitors will have the opportunity to visit the site each day during the voting period and vote for their favorite entries. Voting is limited to one (1) vote per entry, per person, per day.  (A day is defined as 24 hours from the time the visitor’s vote was cast). 
    • The use of robotic, automatic, programmed or similar methods or devices for voting is prohibited. Young Entrepreneur Institute and Teen Pitch Tank reserve the right to nullify all such votes and to disqualify the responsible individual from voting. Young Entrepreneur Institute and Teen Pitch Tank, in their sole discretion, also reserve the right to disqualify the affected entrant based on any attempt by any person to vote more than the authorized number of times using any third party proxy voting service, multiple names or invalid e-mail addresses, or any other fraudulent mechanism including but not limited to those described above.  Young Entrepreneur Institute and Teen Pitch Tank use their best efforts to verify all votes. No applicant will be deemed a winner until confirmed by Teen Pitch Tank.  All decisions by Young Entrepreneur Institute and Teen Pitch Tank are final.
    • Finalists will be notified by March 16, 2018 whether they have been selected as one of the five winners.
    • Winners will be acknowledged on teenpitchtank.com. Prizes will be awarded on April 11, 2018 at the Celebrate Youth Entrepreneurship event at University School, 2785 SOM Center Drive, Hunting Valley, Ohio.