October is the month the Incubator kicks off this year’s Pitch Competition.
The Pitch Competition is open to all current Macquarie students who can choose to enter individually with one pitch or as a group with a maximum of two pitches. As of yesterday, 10/10, submissions have closed.
One of last year’s winners was Marina Leong. He blew the judges away with his ‘Websaino’ idea. Websaino, which translates to 'a website of talents' in Japanese, is a smart resume that accelerates jobseekers' employment success. Not planning on joining the Pitch Program and the following Competition, he finally did after he was asked by friends what he had to lose.
Marina, who has currently graduated with a Master of Creative Industries, became intrigued by the Incubator during his time at Macquarie. The building had caught his eye, even before he knew anything about it. Participating in the Pitch Program, organised by the Incubator, gave him a glimpse of what it’s like to have and run your own start-up. Having no previous knowledge, the Incubator environment gave him the possibility to connect with a likeminded, down-to-earth cohort. He attended talks and seminars which gave him a second outlook on his professional path and drove him to keep working on his project. Thanks to the positive feedback he received during this process, he said it gave him the boost of confidence he needed to keep moving forward, keep trying and keep growing. ‘Fail early and fail fast’, is his mantra, by which he means that you need to experience shortcomings early in the process in order to build better foresight in later stages.
Marina ended up as one of the winners in the 2020 Incubator Pitch Competition, which saw him win $5,000. With the prize money, he continued to grow his start-up and is now working full time with five other people in his team, spread out across Singapore, Malaysia and America. Currently, he’s finishing up his 9-month plan and should soon start with the A/B testing of Websaino.
The Incubator wishes all participants in the Pitch Program the best of luck and congratulates them on their participation, because in the end, what do you have to lose! The Incubator also encourages those who are willing to take the plunge next year, to keep an eye out for the Pitch Program and Competition. You can check all information here.