Quirky goodbye sparks Pitch winner

FEVER PITCH: Roger Williams University student Willem Delventhal won Top Presenter at the Rhode Island Business Plan Competition’s Elevator Pitch Contest for an online greeting card idea that makes each card a game. / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO
FEVER PITCH: Roger Williams University student Willem Delventhal won Top Presenter at the Rhode Island Business Plan Competition’s Elevator Pitch Contest for an online greeting card idea that makes each card a game. / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

Roger Williams University senior Willem Delventhal last summer decided to say farewell to a friend in a quirky, unconventional way, which turned into an award-winning business idea.
Delventhal is one of hundreds of aspiring entrepreneurs to compete in the Rhode Island Business Plan Competition since its inception nearly 15 years ago years. Earlier this month, he won Top Presenter at the competition’s Elevator Pitch Contest, which required 26 contestants to describe their business ideas in 90 seconds to a panel of judges.
A business-management major with a double minor in computer science and Web development, Delventhal is developing an interactive card service called “Nuanotes.”
The service will be customizable for all types of occasions, including holidays, birthdays, goodbyes and more. The card’s recipient will be tasked with playing a short game that will – in parts – reveal the card’s message. The game will be designed so recipients can understand how to play in 10 seconds and finish within one minute, according to Delventhal. Most cards will be sold for $1 and some will be free.
Using the momentum he’s gained from winning the contest, he’s entering into the next phase of his business plan, which includes developing the card technology and setting up sales.
“The two big things [the contest] gave me was confidence and it got me excited,” Delventhal said. “I’m coming upon my winter break, so I’ll have two months to create the website and develop the technology for one card that people can actually purchase and send. With that one card I can actually start sales and run the business.”
The idea sparked from one day at his summer job of programming with the online “brain training” company Lumosity. Delventhal, who already has a job lined up with the California-based company after graduation, was trying to think of a quirky way to say goodbye to a friend who was returning home to India. He created a 2-D game in which a character delivered messages of fond wishes and farewells from friends and co-workers. “I’m a little weird, and he’s a little weird, so instead of a goodbye card, I made a game,” Delventhal said.
Delventhal further developed the idea, came up with a business plan and after receiving some encouragement from professors, he entered into the Elevator Pitch Contest.
The contest, in its ninth year, is put on by the Rhode Island Business Plan Competition, which was founded in 2000.
The nonprofit, referred to by operators as the “competition,” seeks to help promote and fund fledgling businesses in Rhode Island. Since 2011, with the exception of 2003-05 – when it lacked funding – the competition has given out cash prizes and in-kind services to 125 winners, finalists and semifinalists.
At least 27 of those past competitors are still operating as businesses today and have created 270 jobs in Rhode Island, according to competition spokesman Peter Lowy.
“The goal of the competition is to nurture new Rhode Island companies that will be based … [locally] and create Rhode Island jobs,” Lowy said. “We basically do it on a shoestring [budget]. We get a lot of support from the community and most of our funds go into the prizes.”
At the 2014 competition, three winners and four finalists shared $203,500 in prizes, according to its website. The competition had 59 sponsors.
Lowy acknowledged that some companies fail after winning, but for others – such as ShapeUp Inc. – the competition has been a springboard to success.
ShapeUp is an exercise and weight-loss challenge, which encourages Rhode Islanders to engage in a healthier and more active lifestyle through meeting common goals in teams. Its founder, Dr. Rajiv Kumar, competed and won at the 2007 competition.
Kumar says the cash winnings and in-kind services greatly benefited ShapeUp in the beginning before it secured other funds, but there were other aspects of the competition that helped.
“Most importantly, the competition provided us with an impetus, structure and timeline to finally formalize our business plan: market research and sizing, operating model, and financial projections,” Kumar wrote in an email. “It’s always hard to make predictions, but given that the business plan was a catalyst for us in so many ways, I can safely say that our business would be different today [if we had not joined the competition].” Since competing, Shape- Up has raised $14 million in venture-capital funds and employs more than 80 people, according to the competition’s website.
Premama, Luna Pharmaceutical’s drinkable, prenatal vitamin, was the 2011 winner of the student category and the company has since expanded its market. The product can be found in stores such as Target and Whole Foods. Founder and President Dan Aziz just closed on the first half a $1 million funding round led by Cherrystone Angel Group and was able to hire a second full-time employee.
The 2015 competition deadline is March 30, but Lowy says aspiring entrepreneurs should take their time and it might behoove them to apply closer to the deadline.
Delventhal, who took his prize winnings of $250 and put it directly toward trademark costs, says he’s definitely going to enter the full competition. The latter is free and open to everyone age 18 or older, whether or not they already have started a business. It is organized along two tracks – an entrepreneur track and a student track, for those enrolled in college or graduate school.
Where 10 Elevator Pitch contestants – including Delventhal – shared a total of $1,000 in cash prizes, winners and finalists in the Business Plan Competition are expected to share prizes valued at about $200,000.
Since its inception, the Business Plan Competition has awarded more than $1.6 million in prizes to competitors. It has been named one of the top 40 business-plan competitions in the country.
“I’m looking forward to it,” Delventhal said of stepping up in competition and the potential of bigger prizes. “I have a couple professors who are going to help me out with it.” •

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