Student Resources

Below are helpful resources to consult when preparing to apply for VentureCat. Please review more details on what is required to apply here. 

Organization & Planning

Student Business Formation Resources | Northwestern University 
Guidance for Northwestern students on forming a business entity, developing co-founder agreements, navigating University IP policies, business banking and accounting, and other considerations for starting a business. A Northwestern NetID is required to access.

Startup Fundamentals

Entrepreneur's Toolkit | Techstars
A collection of practical tools and exercises for developing and testing your venture, including resources on Lean Canvas, understanding customers, positioning, goal setting, pitching, and fundraising.

Customer Discovery Best Practices | Startup Ignition
Practical guidance for conducting customer interviews, asking effective questions, and gathering insights to test assumptions about your customers and their needs.

Market Sizing | Carta
An introduction to estimating market size, including TAM, SAM, and SOM and approaches for evaluating the potential market opportunity for your venture.

Preparing Your Application

VentureCat Application Elevator Pitch Example
Watch an example of a strong 60-second elevator pitch submitted as part of a successful VentureCat application.

Annotated Example Application Responses
See how a fictional venture approaches each application question, with annotations highlighting what makes each response effective.

Annotated Example Pitch Deck
Explore a fictional pitch deck with annotations highlighting how each slide effectively communicates the venture’s story and addresses VentureCat’s evaluation criteria.

Building Your Deck

Pitch Deck Guide | Founder Institute
A step-by-step guide to building a startup pitch deck, with recommended content, examples, and common mistakes to avoid for each slide.

How to Build a Startup Pitch Deck | OpenVC
A slide-by-slide guide to building a pitch deck, with practical guidance and examples for presenting your problem, solution, product, traction, business model, market, go-to-market strategy, team, and more.

Delivering Your Pitch

Master Your Pitch | Techstars
A step-by-step resource for developing a startup pitch, from introducing the problem and product to presenting the business case and closing effectively.

TED’s Secret to Great Public Speaking by Chris Anderson | TED
TED curator Chris Anderson explains how to structure a presentation around a central idea and communicate it in a way that connects with an audience.

VentureCat YouTube Channel | VentureCat
Watch recordings of past VentureCat semifinalist pitches and Public Showcases to see how Northwestern student founders have presented their ventures to judges and the broader community.