Five BizBlock teams presented to a room of “Venture Capitalists,” played by faculty and alumni. Our alumni VC’s were David Brandt (’82 MKT), vice president, Brandt Homes; Warren Carsey (’89 FIN), owner, Veritas Holdings; John O’Connor (’84 MKT); and Sherri Slayton (’85 FIN), senior vice president, Northern Regional manager, Alliance Bank of America. Ten teams were in the class and the five teams that moved forward to the VC presentation round were selected based on their strong performance in three earlier presentation rounds.

The teams that presented were:
Go-Ganics – an organic fast-food restaurant located in Flagstaff
A Tisket, A Tasket – a catering service specializing in picnic basket meals located in San Diego
The Collection – a wine bar in north Scottsdale
Heiss Stein – a German theme restaurant specializing in hot-stone meal preparation located in Flagstaff
PartyOn – a party supply store specializing in customized party supplies for college students located in Flagstaff.

Each VC is given a “check” for each team. They then write a check for the amount of money they would invest in the business based on the funding the team requests. The winning team is the one that receives the greatest percentage of funding from the VC panel. It is not the total amount of money the team receives; rather it is the percent of funding, so it doesn’t matter if the team asks for a large or a small amount.

The PartyOn team, comprised of Mike Deguisne, Jonathon Joseph, Brian DeMarco, Bertha O’Brien, Aaron Shacklett, Shayna Smit, and Casey Stephens, received the largest percent of funding. They did an impressive, in-depth product cost analysis and market research. In addition, they answered difficult questions regarding the legal and ethical issues associated with their product. This was one of the hardest-working, most motivated and functional teams we have ever had in BizBlock.