Pitch Johnny 2021
Celebrating Innovation at St. John's!
The Pitch Johnny Competition is open to all students at St. John’s University.
Pitch Johnny 2021 launches on September 1st!
Do you have an interest in entrepreneurship? Or an innovative idea you want to pitch? What about a problem to solve? Want to hear feedback and network with industry professionals who own and operate businesses? The Pitch Johnny Competition is the competition for you!
This year, Pitch Johnny will be presented in a hybrid model! The Pitch Johnny 2021 edition will have both an online component and an in-person competition. This year students will have to develop video style pitches and compete over the course of an entire semester for a chance to earn seed money to start and grow their innovations.
Pitch Johnny Details
Round 1: Submit your pitches!
Students develop a 2 min video pitch & 1 paragraph description of a business idea and submit it into one division and a track within that division.
- For Profit Division: Contains 3 Tracks
- Undergraduate Students
- Graduate Students
- Women Only
- Not-For-Profit/Social Entrepreneurship Division: Contains 1 Track
- Non-Profit
- If the Business is a Social Enterprise, it must be submitted to this track, regardless of any other potential qualifications.
- Social Enterprise
- Non-Profit
- High School Division: Contains 1 Track
- High School
Submission Due Dates
October 29th, 2021 (For All Divisions and Tracks)
Round 1 Evaluation by Judges
November 1st – November 5th (For All Divisions and Tracks)
Students are pre-screened by a team of elite judges (entrepreneurs, faculty, alumni, etc) and they select a total of 9 pitches to move on into the popular vote
3 Pitches from the “For-Profit” Division: (1) Undergraduate (1) Graduate (1) Women
3 Pitches from the “Social Entrepreneurship” Division: (3) Non-For-Profits
3 Pitches from the “High School” Division: (3) High School
Round 2: Popular Vote
November 8th – November 17th
Video pitches selected to go to the popular vote will be judged by an online popular vote during a 2 week period, November 8th – November 17th 2021
Round 3: Final Round
November 20th, 2021
Contestants who make it to the Online Popular Vote will also compete in a live final pitch off on our Queens Campus, where they will do a live pitch (no video) against the other competitors within their division and judged by a select group of entrepreneurs, alums, and faculty members. Finalists will have the option to compete remotely if they wish.
The Final Winners will be selected by a combination of online popular vote and the final judge panel.
The online popular vote will count for 40% towards their final rankings
The final judge panel will count towards for 60% towards their final rankings
Prizes
| For-Profit Division | Not-For-Profit/Social Entrepreneurship | High School |
1st Prize: $1,000 2nd Prize: $500 3rd Prize: $250 | 1st Prize: $1,000 2nd Prize: $500 3rd Prize: $250 | 1st Prize: $500 2nd Prize: $300 3rd Prize: $100 |
Students with further questions about Pitch Johnny please contact:
Kevin James or Christine Munch
St. Augustine Hall, Second Floor
[email protected]
For further questions about judging or sponsoring Pitch Johnny please contact:
Luca Iandoli
St. Augustine Hall, 2-136
[email protected]
718-990-6414
Your One-Stop Guide to Pitch Johnny!
Click here to download the 2021 Pitch Johnny Introduction
2020 Pitch Johnny Sponsors
Videos and Tips on How to Create the Perfect Pitch
You are welcome to, and definitely not limited to, view the following links for tips on pitching your innovative idea.
Rules and Format
Click here to view the Pitch Johnny rules and format.
Round 3: Final Round
November 14th @ 09:30am
The Final 6 competed in their division's final and their final placement was be selected by a combination of the online popular vote (round 2) and the final judge panel (Round 3).
Watch the final round here:
- The online popular vote counted for 40% towards their final rankings
- The final judge panel counted towards for 60% of their final rankings
Special Thanks to our Round 3 Judge Panel:
Steve Farella ‘77SVC
Larry Dunn ‘79SVC
Jenny Alonzo
Nick Plakoris
Professor John Swan
Professor Neil Feinstein
Professor John Lin
Professor William Reisel, Ph.D.
Moderator: Luca Iandoli, Ph.D