Here at The Mill, we often talk about how a new startup might be just “a backpack and an idea.” We get pretty excited about great ideas! In fact, our mission is to help founders turn ideas into full-fledged startups. We’ve got all kinds of programs and partners to make that happen. But first, we need to find folks with great ideas. And that’s where the Crossroads Idea Competition comes in.
The Crossroads Idea Competition is a chance to give a new idea a quick test drive in front of our expert judges. Before you dig deep into research, before you build a team, before you participate in an accelerator like Mill Cohorts or gBETA, sometimes you just gotta know: Is this idea as awesome as I think it is? Should I explore where this leads?
Someday, when you’re further down the road—say, when you’re pitching at Crossroads Pitch Competition—you might look back and realize this idea competition was the moment you really got going on your startup.
We think new ideas are so important that we’re going to award $2,500 to the best one from the competition. (Thanks to our sponsor and partner in innovation, Velocities.)
How to Apply to the Crossroads Idea Competition
And since you’re just at the idea stage, we’ve made it pretty easy to participate. You’ve just got to pull together an executive summary by December 3. Take the holiday weekend to fuel up on stuffing and mashed and cranberries! Then outline your idea:
- What problem will your idea solve?
- For what customers?
- What evidence do you have of need?
- What’s your solution?
- How will you earn revenue?
We’ll let you know whether you’re in to pitch your idea on Demo Day on December 15. It’ll be a short 5-minute pitch by Zoom, just to give you a chance to talk up your idea. If you win, you’ve got $2,500 in cash and our vote of confidence to take your idea to the next level. And let’s face it, we all like to get a little motivation to keep going on this startup journey.