Ole Cup

    OLE CUP 2024 | APRIL 27, 2024

    Launched in 2014, the Ole Cup is an annual student entrepreneurial pitch competition open to all St. Olaf students. The Ole Cup helped launch successful businesses like JonnyPops, Teranga Strings, and the Ole Thrift Shop. The winner of the Ole Cup is awarded a $10,000 prize to help launch their business.

    Register Here!

    Agenda

    Friday, April 26th
    3:00-4:30 pm | Kick-off Event
    Buntrock Crossroads – Enjoy refreshments from Tin Tea and a tour of The Shop 1500 with the co-founders

    Saturday, April 27th 
    9:00 am | Pitch Competition
    Support your fellow Oles and help crown the People’s Choice Award; Livestream is available as well
    12:00 pm | Keynote Speaker
    Michelle Magat Williams ’92 
    12:45 pm | Winner Announced

    Ole Cup Origins

    Brad Cleveland '82

    Brad Cleveland ’82 (1959-2016) wanted St. Olaf College students to realize how much fun it can be to be an entrepreneur— no matter what type of organization they’re interested in building. So Cleveland, former CEO of Proto Labs, helped the St. Olaf Piper Center for Vocation and Career develop and fund a new business plan competition. The Ole Cup is modeled after the highly successful Minnesota Cup and will provide several students with the resources to help turn their business idea into reality.

    Get Started

    2024 – Information & Requirements

    Eligibility

    1. Any individual or group of First-Year, Sophomore, Junior, or Senior students enrolled at St. Olaf at the time of application.
    2. Applicants must be in good academic standing and have maintained professional conduct as a student.*
    3. At least one member on the team must be between the ages of 19-30 on April 27, 2024.
    4. The idea needs to be economically viable and it cannot violate or infringe on the copyright or intellectual property of another.

    *Good academic standing means a minimum GPA of 2.0, not on academic probation or academically dismissed according to the Registrar’s Office. Professional conduct is vetted by the Dean of Students Office.

    Ole Cup Timeline and deadlines

    There are two major deadlines for Ole Cup:

    1. February 20, 2024 – Executive Summary
      The Executive Summary is a high-level description of your company (elevator pitch). It should be no longer than 100 words, and should include a basic description of your business idea, such as a problem statement and value proposition. Apply now!
    2. March 15, 2024 – Business Plan
      The Business Plan should be between 10-15 pages and include: an overview of your product idea/venture, market analysis, business model, marketing plan, team, operations plan, and basic financial information (include an estimate of start-up costs and 1-3 year financial projections). Apply now!

    Watch the Recording

    2023 Ole Cup
    Play Video 2023 Ole Cup

    2023 Ole Cup Prize Winners

    First prize: $10,000 – Whiskey Woods
    Jordan Oberholtzer ’24

    Second prize: $5,000 – Psync.AI
    Abdou Ghanim ’23 and Saji Nammari ’23

    Third prize: $3,000 – Cord
    Gevorg Margaryan ’26 and David Yang ’26

    Social Impact prize: $5,000 – The Shop 1500
    Zaria Irving 25′, Giovanni Green ’23 and Aidan Lloyd ’24

    Read more about the 2023 Ole Cup here.

    This slideshow requires JavaScript.

    @stolafcollege Ole Cup Presents: Elevator Pitches in an Elevator 🦁Catch the 2023 Ole Cup on April 29! The Ole Cup is an annual student entrepreneurial pitch competition hosted by the Piper Center for Vocation and Career. The Ole Cup helped launch successful businesses like JonnyPops, Teranga Strings, and the Ole Thrift Shop. The winner of the Ole Cup is awarded a $10,000 prize to help launch their business. A few of this year’s participants joined us to provide a sneak peek of their business pitch. Good luck to all the Oles participating! Live Stream Link: https://wp.stolaf.edu/pipercenter/ole-cup/ In Order of Appearance: Share to Light Sinjar Recycling BluBoost Cord Elimisha Kakuma The Shop 1500 #WesAndersonTrend #UmYahYah #StOlaf ♬ original sound – St. Olaf College


    Preparation Resources

    View previous Ole Cup competitions, and learn more about past participants, including winners and judges: 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021.

    Use this tutorial on presentation fundamentals  and the Business Plan Basics template for additional guidance. More resources and Entrepreneurship workshop recordings are available here.

    The winner of the Ole Cup automatically qualifies for the semi-final round of the Minnesota Cup student division where the winner (of the student division) is awarded $30,000, and can compete for the Minnesota Cup Grand Prize of $50,000.

    Sign up for coaching through Handshake

    If you have any questions, please contact Meghan McMillan at mcmill2@stolaf.edu