Competitions

Competing in inter- and intra-collegiate competitions gives students real-world opportunities to pitch their startups, enhance their business strategies and learn what it takes to launch and run successful companies. Whitman offers many opportunities for friendly competition on and off campus:

Capstone

Capstone is the culminating experience for every Whitman student’s education. The course is taught each semester by Whitman Entrepreneurship and Emerging Enterprise Faculty, who challenge teams of students to create a concept for a new product, service or business model that is unique to the “real world” and includes a novel approach to the creation of its economic value. It must be scalable with the ability to reasonably achieve $3 million in gross revenues by year five of operation and investment by an outside source that exceeds $100,000. Students present their plans to seasoned industry professionals and compete for awards and bragging rights!

Orange Tank

Orange Tank brings Whitman student and alumni entrepreneurs together to pitch their ventures to a panel of seasoned entrepreneur judges in hopes of receiving the $25,000 grand prize. Thanks to the generosity of Whitman Advisory Council member and Syracuse University Life Trustee John Couri ’63 (A&S), H’08, the cash prizes for the event total over $41,000! Teams are matched with alumni coaches to guide them as they prepare their presentations.

Panasci Business Plan Competition

Interested in learning how to write a business plan? Have a great idea for a business but need help figuring out how to get the funding you need? Want to get access to amazing mentors? Then prepare yourself (and your team) by signing up for the Panasci Business Plan Competition. With more than $40,000 in cash prizes, this competition is an excellent opportunity to compete for seed funding for your business or idea. The Panasci Competition is open to all students at Syracuse University.

Student Case Competitions

Whitman supports graduate and undergraduate student teams in preparing and participating in various business case competitions. Case competitions are events where corporate partners provide students with a business challenge to solve in an allotted time frame. Teams compete for head to head to develop innovative and impactful solutions and present them for feedback and prizes. In addition to experience thinking strategically, these events provide great exposure and networking opportunities. Whitman students recently participated in the NBMBA Case Competition in Atlanta in Sept. 2022, as well as the Deloitte FanTAXtic Competition.

News About Competitions