Tom H. C. Anderson - Next Gen Market Research

EBV Award Winners - Wounded Warriors Turned Entrepreneurs

This past Friday, I had the honor to participate on the judging panel of the EBV Awards at the University of Connecticut.

My alma mater, the University of Connecticut, ran its first Entrepreneurship Boot Camp for Veterans with Disabilities (EBV) this year. Seventeen veterans participated in the three part program which includes an online component, a nine day on campus boot camp, followed by a mentorship program where the vets put their business plans into action.

While a lot of hard work, there was also time for fun. The veterans, all who came from outside of Connecticut, spent time with the UCONN Football team, attended a concert in Hartford, and were fitted for Brooks Brothers Suits. Last night was the official awards ceremony.

Judging for both the Most Outstanding Pitch Award as well as the Innovation Award was extremely difficult, as the business pitches ranged from entertainment oriented to the highly inventive, and everything in-between, including a couple of non-profit initiatives. I think myself, as well as the other judges on the panel (Michael O’Malley of SCORE and Laurie Paternoster of TopCoder), all found it challenging to separate our emotions and the powerful personalities of these veterans from the details of the business concepts presented. Although in the end I tried to judge based on how I would have invested my own money, what I’ve always known was reinforced, presentation, charisma and emotion are all extremely important and not to be taken for granted in any business presentation.

Christopher Dalryple was one of several veterans whose enthusiasm impressed us before, during and after the presentation. Below is an image of the challenge coin I received from Chris as a thank you for participating.

Thank you so much Chris. I wish you and all the other veterans the best of luck in starting your new businesses!

Also Thank You to Professor Dechant for the invitation and to all the other professors and staff from the University of Connecticut and SCORE who were involved in organizing and running such an impressive program. I feel very honored to have been able to play a small part in it.

@TomHCAnderson