Blackstone LaunchPad kicked off the spring semester with another exciting opportunity for the CSI student body. The Dolphin Tank Ideas Competition, powered by “Startup Tree,” began on Wednesday, February 1. All CSI students, undergraduate and graduate, with a business idea are encouraged to apply. 

Just as a reminder to those who might wish to enter this exciting contest, you must first be eligible to register for the competition. In order to register, applicants must be a current CSI student (undergraduate or graduate), must be the founder or co-founder of their future company (meaning they originated the idea), be in the earliest stages of having an idea or just beginning to build on that idea, and must create a profile on “Startup Tree.” Submissions are being accepted from individual students and teams of two.

Blackstone LaunchPad at CSI, hosted by the Lucille and Jay Chazanoff School of Business, will be awarding $1,750 in total winnings. A total of $1,000 will be awarded to the first-place winner and $500 will be awarded for second place. Third place winners will take home $250. These three selected individuals or teams will be invited to present their slides, and will receive coaching and guidance leading up to the presentation date.

Once the submission period closes, on Thursday, March 23 at 5:00pm, campus winners will be chosen, and they will have the opportunity to put their ideas to the test in later rounds of the competition. Once again, proposals will be accepted up until March 23 at 5:00pm, with no exceptions. Submissions can be made on the “Startup Tree” Website.

The Blackstone LaunchPad team at CSI looks forward to receiving your proposals and working alongside you to foster the next generation of entrepreneurship. Please contact Professor Mark Stroud at mark.stroud@csi.cuny.edu for more information.

By: John Paul Hoey