Students deepen knowledge of venture capital during UNC investment competition

A team of six Elon students assumed the role of venture capitalists during the University of North Carolina’s 2021 Venture Capital Investment Competition (VCIC), which simulates the investment process.

Representing Elon in the Mid-Atlantic Undergraduate Regional Finals hosted by American University on Feb. 13 were Meghan Murray ’21, a finance and international business double major; Alexis Ortenzio ’21, an entrepreneurship major; JW Simmons ’21, a finance major; Courtney Moen ’22, a finance and business analytics double major; Lilly Rothschild ’22, a finance major; and Will Waggoner ’22, an accounting and applied mathematics double major. Margarita Kaprielyan, assistant professor of finance, and Alyssa Martina, director of the Doherty Center for Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship and lecturer in entrepreneurship, mentored the team.

In preparation for the competition, the team learned about venture capital, due diligence process, valuation of start-ups and term sheets. The students also met with Ryan Vet ’13, president of Newchip Accelerator and Doherty Center advisory board member; Tim McLoughlin, partner at Cofounders Capital; Thom Ruhe, president and CEO of NC IDEA; and Lou Anne Flanders-Stec, EVP of entrepreneurship at Launch Greensboro.

“Leading up to the competition we were able to meet with VCs and gather insight and advice about their profession and experiences,” Ortenzio said. “I can’t think of a better way to test what my true interests are than to participate in a real life mock competition.”

“I currently work with a startup that helps introduce other startups to venture capitalists and investors of all kinds, so when I found out about the opportunity to be in the competition, I knew I had to take it,” Simmons said. “At the start, I had surface-level knowledge of how the various stages of VC financing goes, but Professor Martina and Professor Kaprielyan helped teach us so much about the legal language, how to conduct due diligence, how to estimate valuations, structure deals and so much more.”

Thirty-six hours prior to the event, the team received pitch decks for three startups – El Camino Travel, Surgicure Technologies and BatteryXchange – and began researching the industries. On the day of the competition, the team viewed startup pitches, conducted due diligence sessions, and in less than two hours, decided which startup to invest in.

The team explained its investment decision during a partner meeting with the judges acting as VC senior partners.

“VCIC opened my eyes to the importance of extremely thorough research when it comes to investment decisions for startups,” Rothschild said. “I learned how to spot red flags on a pitch deck, business strategy, and where to dive deeper in market research. We learned everything down to how to craft our own terms sheet for closing a venture capital deal and how to organize, build and sustain our own firm’s fund.”

“VCIC was a really good way to be able to work with a team of people that you wouldn’t have really known otherwise and be able to work together to make game-time decisions about which startup is worth the investment and which ones are not,” Moen added.

Judges evaluated teams on their due diligence, written deliverables and partner meeting.

“The VCIC offered me a crash course into all parts of venture capital,” Business Fellow Waggoner said. “Coming into the competition I had a limited knowledge of how VC operated, but speaking with professionals in the industry, working through case studies, and learning from two incredible teachers (Dr. Kaprielyan and Professor Martina) gave me an accelerated exposure to VC.”

“We learned how to value different startups, the strategy that goes into building an investment portfolio, how to negotiate deal terms, and so much more,” Honors Fellow Murray added. “I enjoyed learning about a topic that I haven’t yet covered in any of my classes and being able to apply what we learned in a setting with real startups and VC investors.”