Bulldog Pitch Competition

Introducing the 2026 Bulldog Pitch Competition

At the College of Business at Ferris State University

Timeline

February 20, 2026:  Initial submissions due (online)
March 16, 2026: Finalists notified and invited to on-campus pitch event
April 17, 2026:  On-campus pitch event

The Student Experience

High school students are invited to form teams of 1-5 to work on a business startup idea
Teams submit the application form and 2-minute explainer video by February 20
Finalist teams will be notified by March 16 and invited to Pitch Event in Big Rapids on April 17
Finalist teams prepare their 10-minute pitch and slide deck and pitch to a jury of entrepreneurs and faculty on April 17
Finalist teams will receive feedback on their startup ideas from jury
First, second, and third place teams win prizes!
All finalist teams will have opportunities to enjoy other on-campus activities

Bulldog Pitch Competition is grounded in BAMO standards

Employ entrepreneurial discovery strategies to generate feasible ideas for business ventures
Develop a concept for a new business venture
Evaluate a new business venture concept’s potential for success
Determine the resources needed for start-up viability of a business venture

Eligibility and Guidelines

The startup idea should be an innovative business concept (i.e., new product/service invention, or a significant incremental innovation of an imitative/existing business concept).
The business or idea must be majority-owned (over 50%) by a student.
It must be an independent business venture in the start-up ideation or very early growth stage (i.e., not part of an existing business, and only in the idea stage or very early startup stage).
Business concepts can be for-profit or nonprofit.
Businesses/teams with aggregate sales, investments, grants, or competition awards under $5000 since the legal entity was established are eligible to compete.
If a legal entity has been formed, the earliest incorporation date must be after April 1, 2024.
It is NOT a requirement that students register a legal business entity for the competition.
All team members must be currently enrolled at their respective high school.
Teams may consist of 1 to 5 students.

Required Instructional Videos

Participating students should utilize the following resources to help them succeed in this competition:

Lean Canvas Training Series
Lean Canvas (Word document download) referenced in video 5 of the instructional videos linked above
Production Tips for Your Video Submission

Submit Your Business Pitch and Video Entry

Questions, issues, or concerns?

Contestants should be aware that neither administrators of the competition nor judges of the business plan will be required, nor should they be asked, to sign non-disclosure agreements (NDA). Contestants are encouraged to be selective about what they disclose, to label plans and contents with the words CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY, and to seek legal counsel if they have any further questions regarding the legal protection of their ideas. All public sessions of the Competition, including but not limited to oral presentations and question/answer sessions, are open to the public at large. Any and all of these public sessions may be broadcast to interested persons through media which may include radio, television, and other internet channels. Any data or information discussed or divulged in public sessions by entrants should be considered information that will likely enter the public realm, and entrants should not assume any right of confidentiality in any data or information discussed, divulged, or presented in these sessions. Event organizers and attendees may make photocopies, photographs, video recordings, and/or audio recordings of the presentations including all materials prepared for use in a pitch presentation and disseminate said materials in any promotional form.