Skip to Content
Purdue logo
Purdue logo

The 36th Annual Burton D. Morgan Business Concept Competition

36th Annual Competition Winners


($10K)
Corin Tuinstra, John Lucas
Addressing inefficiencies in our current trade finance infrastructure

($7K)
Edgar Babajanyan, Lewis Polansky
Giving CFOs/analysts 75% time back via AI in their data pipelines for reporting

($5K)
Levi Reyes Premer, Mark O'Donnell III
Reducing the cost of residential electrification via data-driven load shifting

Congratulations to all finalists for their amazing work. They walked away with a $3K "Standout Concept" prize. In no particular order:

  • Amit Manchella, Aditya Naidu | helping IB analysts reclaim valuable time via automation of complex workflows and repetitive diligence
  • Shambhavi Adkar, Tong En Sim, Mahee Jain | redefining women's wellness by delivering life-stage personalized health solutions
  • Bilsha Das, Drew Riordan | addressing the decreasing attention span in education by writing truly engaging homework through personalized problem reframing
  • Ryan Jo, Maheshwari Das, Chorong Park | working on the caregiver turnover crisis in home health by improving caregiver-senior fit via emotionally-intelligent matching
  • Ilke Akturk, Ali Sinan, Akturk Burla Ondes | going from frustration to optimization in lab management via data integration, task automation, and inventory management
  • Kanishk Singh, Dheeraj Aaditya, Srikar Kolla | teaching investment to beginners through micro-learning and gamified paper trading
  • Rodrigo Schmitt | helping students get to next-level learning through personalized skill maps
  • Best Customer Discovery ($1K): Kenneth Halls | helping schools and teachers seamlessly incorporate engaging learning experiences with 3D printing solutions
  • Most Creative Concept ($1K): Dalton Aaker | improving cognitive performance and focus for knowledge workers in noisy environments via neuromodulating headphones and volume adjustment
  • Most Innovative Concept ($1K): Khushi Choksi, Hannah Margulis, Elan Smyla | revolutionizing on the field early concussion detection for athletes driving accuracy via a software solution

Final Event

Join us Wednesday, April 23, in the Rawls Hall 3rd floor atrium to witness the finalist student teams compete for the Top 3 Prizes ($10K for 1st, $7K for 2nd, $5K for 3rd).

56 teams and 125 students from all corners of Purdue have been working hard over nine weeks to refine and improve their business concepts. The Final Event is an opportunity to celebrate their effort and achievement! The agenda for the event is as follows:

9:30am-10:00am | Student finalists and judges check-in

10:00am-12:00pm | Presentations from the finalist student teams

12:00pm-1:00pm | Lunch and judge deliberations

1:00 pm | Announcement of Top 3 winners, celebration, networking

RSVP for the Final Event

Judge Panel

The finalists will have an opportunity to present and engage with an incredible lineup of judges who will select the Top 3 for this year’s Competition. Our sincere gratitude to the following group of experts in early stage venture building who will be joining us at the Final Event to be our judges.

  • Arpan Ajmera, Principal at VU Venture Partners
  • Landon Young, VP of Pre-Seed at Elevate Ventures
  • Mickey Swortzel, Operating Partner at Roll Tack Ventures
  • Minti Ray, Partner at McKinsey & Co
  • Ryan Larcom, Managing Director at High Alpha Innovation

Assessment Criteria

Student teams have been working hard framing and validating their concepts through customer discovery, identifying opportunities for differentiation, and assessing market potential. At the Final Event, concepts will be assessed according to the following criteria:

  1. Priority JTBD (important, unmet, valuable)
    • Clarity of target customer
    • Clarity of JTBD
    • Significance and magnitude of unmet need
  2. Clarity of value proposition
    • Differentiation and uniqueness
    • Performance improvement over existing solutions to JTBD
  3. Size of market opportunity
  4. Technical and execution risk of imagined solution

This year, the Burton D. Morgan Competition is back with a twist — it's all about creating new business concepts.

  • Are you passionate about a problem space but haven’t had the chance to dive deep into it and explore whether you can design a potential business idea?
  • Do you have a business idea you've been sitting on, unsure how to take the first step?
  • What about a problem you've personally experienced or witnessed that made you think, "Someone should solve this!"
  • Have you spotted a gap in the market or an unmet customer need, or do you see an opportunity for a "we can do better than that" solution?

If any of these resonate, this competition is your chance to turn that inspiration into action! Submit your preliminary draft venture concept by February 24, 2025, to enter the competition and embark on this exciting journey of business creation.

What to Expect

The Burton D. Morgan Business Concept Competition is an active learning journey designed to help you take the first step toward developing a business concept. It will guide you through answering the critical question: "Is there something here?" You'll gain the confidence to decide whether to move forward. You'll consider designing a prototype and testing for traction.

Participants will start by submitting basic information about the problem or opportunity they've identified. Over the course of a couple of months, you will:

  • Frame and validate customer problems
  • Assess market potential
  • Identify opportunities for differentiation
  • Envision solutions that resonate with customers

The ultimate goal? To confidently answer the question: "Do people want this?"

Information for Students

How You'll Succeed

Success in this competition depends on your proactive engagement with the market. You'll conduct customer and stakeholder discovery interviews and seek insights from experts. To support your journey, we'll provide workshops, tools, and feedback to help you refine and develop your business concept. Workshops will be held virtually on February 18, February 25, March 4, March 11, March 25, and April 8. All entered participants will have access to a Brightspace competition page to submit assignments, access workshops, and receive feedback.

Awards

The competition culminates in a final event on April 23, 2025, where approximately 10 teams with the most promising concepts will compete for:

  • 1st Prize: $10,000
  • 2nd Prize: $7,000
  • 3rd Prize: $5,000

The top three winners will be chosen by a panel of judges experienced in early stage venture building.

Additionally, 7-8 other teams with standout concepts will each receive a $3,000 "You need to build this!" prize meant to encourage (but not require) you to develop a prototype for your business concept.

This competition is designed for new, early-stage concepts, ideal for those ready to explore customer needs and market opportunities.

Requirements to Participate

To qualify for the final event, you'll need to:

  • Complete two virtual office hour meetings with our team
  • Submit four short assignments at key milestones to track your progress and receive feedback (through Brightspace)
  • Commit to attending the final event on April 23, 2025, in person

Eligibility

The competition is open to all Purdue students. However, your concept must meet these criteria:

  • It has not received more than $10,000 in funding from any source
  • It has not generated more than $5,000 in market revenue
  • It is not based on Purdue-owned Intellectual Property (IP)

Ready to Get Started?

Join our upcoming information session to learn more. Submit your preliminary draft venture concept by February 24 to embark on this exciting journey of business creation!

Information Session