2023 Business Plan Competition
Keynote by Senator Shelley Hughes
The Perfect Pitch was the grand finale event of the UAA College of Business and Public Policy Business Plan Competition held on Friday, April 7, 2023. Aspiring entrepreneurs showcased their ideas and presented their investor pitches to a live audience. Expert judges gave feedback to the contestants and deliberated on the winners while attendees voted for the People’s Choice Award. Senator Hughes was the keynote speaker. We will update this article with the winners.
A special thanks to Dr. Helena S. Wisniewski for organizing the competition and hosting the Perfect Pitch event. Dr. Wisniewski holds the following positions: Fellow, National Academy of Inventors; Chair, Management, Marketing, Logistics, and Business Analytics; Founding Director ADAC; Professor of Entrepreneurship, University of Alaska Anchorage.
Good evening, everyone! I’m Senator Shelley Hughes.
So wish I could be with you in person, with the budding entrepreneurs in the room there, with the mentors and investors, but here in the Senate, we just received a medical report of our colleagues down the hall in the House that is quite concerning and has us in a quandary.
The good news is that each House member has two sides to their brain. The bad news is that on the left side, there isn’t anything right, and on the right side, there isn’t anything left.
This condition must be why they just passed what we’re calling the “Drive-Through Value Budget Bill”. They ordered the take-home pork special, and the next guy who comes along has to pay for it.
I shouldn’t be so hard on our colleagues in the House. We have some of our own problems in the Senate.
Just last night a mugger wearing a mask stopped a well-dressed man in downtown Juneau and stuck a gun in his ribs. “Give me your money,” he demanded.
Scandalized, the man replied, “You can’t do this – I’m a state senator!” “Oh! In that case,” smirked the robber, “Give me MY money!”
The senator responded shaken but composing himself: “Okay, okay. I’ll be sure to include your PFD in the budget. It’s going to be tough though to make the budget balance. I’m not sure how we’ll handle all the people who rely on government handouts and refuse to work.
The mugger burst out laughing, “Oh that’s easy. We just need to kick them out of the legislature!”
Oh and you should have heard the debate in the Senate chambers the other day. It was rather strange but par for the course. A senator got up to speak and said nothing – nobody listened—and then everybody disagreed. Not sure how that happens but it does!
Guessing some of you who are into innovation and AI at this point in my remarks can’t wait for an AI to reach 10% of the capabilities of the average human – so then we can replace all the lawmakers in Juneau with a single AI!
Back to those floor debates and talking heads. Reminds me of Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz when she asks the scarecrow: “How can you talk if you haven’t got a brain?” Scarecrow tips his head and furrows his eyebrows like his does and answers, “Some people without brains do an awful lot of talking.”
Enough poking at the legislature, the Scarecrow’s line is a great lead-in to why we’re here tonight – because his words are in stark contrast to those of you gathered this evening. You are people WITH brains who don’t just talk but DO. Entrepreneurs are amazing.
To steal a line from Winston Churchill, you are people who understand success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.
People who understand like Zig Ziglar that motivation doesn’t last – just like bathing—and that’s why it’s recommended daily.
And people who aren’t distracted by criticism but realize the only taste of success some of those naysayers may ever get is to take a bite out of you.
You are people who understand that if you don’t build your dream, someone will hire you to build theirs.
And so I stand before you in admiration of what you have set out to do. Whether you win today, you should be incredibly proud. Success comes down to hard work and drive. You have all met that challenge as evidence of your being here tonight. The team of underwriters and supporters in this room believes in your potential and your value to the business world and recognizes your persistence and work ethic. They understand, I understand, and I know you understand that it’s only in the dictionary that success comes before work.
Being an entrepreneur is about taking risks. It’s about passion and innovation and creativity. It’s about recognizing the opportunities as they come your way, both good and bad, breaking down barriers and looking adversity in the eye. It’s about facing failures in the beginning and the middle but never allowing them to be the end result.
We’re here today because we all believe in the power of entrepreneurship, the activity of taking an idea and turning it into a business. Your passion overruled your fear of failure; from your unleashed creativity emerged solutions to drive the change you wanted to see.
I’m sure a little humor along the way helped too – and that you’ll look back and laugh at various points of your adventure. Just like the creator of Corn Pops who also invented Cocoa Puffs, Frosted Flakes, Froot Loops, and Apple Jacks did when he told his family what he wanted on his tombstone after developing his 5th breakfast product: I want it short and simple. I want the grave marker to just say “cereal entrepreneur”.
And because you’re a creative bunch headed for success, I’m guessing we’ll hear stories about you like I did about the business owner who was dismayed when a brand-new business much like his own opened up next door on the left side of his business and erected a huge sign which read ‘BEST QUALITY’.
And then he was horrified shortly thereafter when another competitor opened up next door on his right, and announced its arrival with an even larger sign, reading ‘LOWEST PRICES’.
The shopkeeper panicked, until he got an idea. He put the biggest sign of all over his own shop. It read ‘MAIN ENTRANCE’.
I know you’ve experienced Murphy’s law like this entrepreneur did, right? Anything that can go wrong will and you overcame it but have you heard of Cole’s law? It’s thinly sliced cabbage. Ha, that was a bad one.
Oh, before I forget, I want to commend one of you – we were in touch last week, but you will remain unnamed. I’m so proud of you, of how far you’ve come. When I asked you what made you decide to begin this entrepreneurial journey you told me “It was something my last boss said.” And when I asked you what your boss said, your answer was “You’re fired.”
Yes! You are overcomers, you are problem solvers, you are go-getters. So win or lose tonight, you are still victors. And remember if you stick with your venture and grow it, yes, you’ll be self-employed but remember in that role, you’ll always be the “Employee of the Month”! And it’s okay too if your mom is your office manager as you get started on the path to success.
In closing, just like the UAA’s mission, that we accelerate excellence through continuous improvement, that we impact communities and the world through innovation, you, my friends, are fulfilling that mission here and now. Be proud. You are an elite and rare group. Only 4% of the population has an entrepreneurial personality and mindset. Our world needs you. Be forever resilient, forever creative, forever persistent. You will do great things!
If you wish to view the speech, you can watch it on the Senator’s YouTube Channel
