New Venture Competition: The Entrepreneurial Journey

Why It Matters

The competition accelerates early‑stage ventures, equips future founders with critical pitching skills, and strengthens Harvard’s pipeline of high‑potential startups, driving innovation and economic returns.

Key Takeaways

• New Venture Competition offers students real investor exposure.
• Participants gain pitching confidence and resilience to rejection.
• Judges' feedback reveals strengths, weaknesses, and pivot opportunities.
• Harvard-backed venture fund invested in 90 firms since 2016.
• Competition cultivates lifelong entrepreneurial mindset for HBS students.

Summary

The video spotlights Harvard’s New Venture Competition, a flagship event where undergraduate and graduate students pitch business ideas before judges, investors, and the broader campus community.

Organizers stress that the contest provides unparalleled exposure to capital, rigorous feedback, and a rehearsal space for founders to refine their narratives. Participants report heightened confidence, greater resilience to rejection, and actionable insights that often trigger pivots. Since its 2016 launch, Harvard’s venture fund has backed 90 companies, more than half rooted in university ventures.

“I’m much more confident now, much more resilient to hearing no’s,” one alumnus remarks, underscoring the personal growth dimension. The judges’ critiques helped teams identify weaknesses and reshape strategies, while the competition’s prestige has seeded several high‑growth startups.

For Harvard Business School and the wider ecosystem, the competition functions as a talent pipeline, reinforcing the school’s reputation as an entrepreneurial hub and supplying deal flow for its venture arm. Students graduate with a lifelong entrepreneurial mindset, amplifying the university’s impact on innovation and economic growth.

Original Description

Students, alumni, faculty, and investors share insights from Harvard Business School’s annual New Venture Competition, our flagship business plan competition, spotlighting early-stage startups and social ventures from the HBS community.