1. Individual students or teams of up to 3 may enter the competition.
2. Students must be either part or full-time students during the semester of the competition or an alumnus who had graduated in the past year.
3. All members of the team pitching in the Bark Tank Competition must be available to attend the final event.
4. Students or teams who were awarded a prize in the final round of last year’s Bark Tank competition (first place, second place or people’s choice) may not pitch the same business or idea in this year’s competition; they are eligible to compete again with different business concept. Ventures that did not reach the final stage of the competition may be pitched in a subsequent year.
5. The venture cannot be a wholly owned subsidiary of an existing company or non-profit organization.
6. Both for-profit and non-profit models are eligible, but the idea must incorporate an income-generating model that will lead to financial sustainability.
7. Individual participants cannot be a member of more than one team competing in the event.
8. The Bark Tank Planning Committee reserves the right to address any circumstances in which the above rules do not apply. All decisions will be final. The Committee also reserves the right to clarify, amend, or change these rules when deemed necessary for fairness.

1. Only the Bark Tank Planning Committee and the judges assigned to evaluate each team will have access to the team’s written submissions.
2. Judges will be asked to treat all information with complete confidentiality.Entrants should feel free to mark any material submitted as confidential, and to exclude any information that is considered to be truly proprietary. As a rule of thumb, participants who believe they have a potential intellectual property concern should seek legal advice before making any public disclosures.
3. Judges, mentors, staff, legal counsel and any individual attending any public sessions of the competitions will NOT be asked or required to agree to or sign non-disclosure, confidentiality or other similar agreements. Competitors are advised not to disclose any information that they would be uncomfortable seeing in the public domain.
4. Final presentations will be open to the public. Any information or data disclosed in these sessions should be considered information that is likely to enter the public domain. Competitors should not assume any right of confidentiality to any information presented or discussed in public sessions. Please be aware that members of the media, potential competitors, and members of the financial community may attend public sessions.
5. By participating in the competition, competitors agree that the Bark Tank Competition assumes no liability for disclosures of information provided by an individual or team as part of a submission or otherwise during the course of the pitch competitions.

1. Nominations: About six weeks prior to the event, members of the Georgetown community will be invited to nominate promising candidates for the Leonsis Family Entrepreneurship Prize, based on the above-described criteria. Self-nominations are also welcome. Candidates may be nominated as individuals or as teams.
2. Applications: Nominated individuals or teams will be given two weeks to complete a detailed application. Nominees will be asked to describe their business and the impact the Leonsis Family Entrepreneurship Prize would have on their ability to advance their venture, as well as their own personal qualifications.
3. Internal Committee Review: An internal committee of faculty and Entrepreneurs-in-Residence, including Entrepreneurship Initiative Director Jeff Reid, will review applications and select a group of finalists.
4. Presentations: Finalists will be given three weeks to prepare presentations for the Bark Tank event. During this time, our Entrepreneurs-in-Residence will serve as key mentors and advisors to the young entrepreneurs, helping them design their presentations and consider the challenges and opportunities the prize may present to their ventures.
5. Judge Scoring: Following the finalist pitches during the Bark Tank event, a judge panel composed of experienced entrepreneurs shall rate the full group of finalists and use these ratings to rank the finalists.
6. Final Selections: The judge panel will select the recipients of the Leonsis Family Entrepreneurship Prize. The panel will be given discretion to select the total number of recipient(s) each cycle as well as the size of each prize within an annual limit of $100,000. The committee will not be required to award a prize in a given application cycle. After the prize is awarded, Georgetown’s Entrepreneurs-in-Residence may continue to provide mentorship to the Leonsis Family Entrepreneurship Prize finalists as they advance their entrepreneurial activities.

The judges will evaluate finalists using the following criteria:

Feasibility: Does this business seem likely to succeed?

Team: Do you have confidence in this entrepreneur/team?

Values: How well does this business incorporate Georgetown’s core values?

Impact: Is prize money likely to make a difference for the company?

Successful Pitch Preparation & Delivery by Fiona Macaulay, Entrepreneur in Residence:
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5 Reasons to Enter a Business Pitch Competition:
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Formulating & Delivering Your Successful Pitch:
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5 Lessons to Gain in Pitch Competitions That Have Nothing to Do with Money:
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Pitching to Angel Investors:
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The Ultimate Presentation Prep Checklist:
Helpful checklist with questions to ask yourself before any pitch.

Teams should prepare a short pitch deck (approximately 10 -12 slides). Typically, an effective pitch will contain the following information:

Value proposition: what problem does it solve, and for whom?

Competitive landscape: Who else does something similar? How are you different or better?

Demo or illustration: How does it work?

Market: How big is the opportunity? How many potential customers/users? How much is spent on this type of product/service?

Source of revenues/business model: Are customers likely to pay, and how much? On what basis did you set the price?

Profit potential: Is it scaleable? Profitable? How big could this idea become over time?

Validation: Have you tested the idea with potential customers? Any feedback? Have you generated any revenues to date?

Next steps: How soon do you plan to launch? What happens between now and then? How much funding do you need, and for what purpose?

Students are strongly encouraged to reach out to mentors, professors and our Entrepreneurs-in-Residence for help on preparing their pitches.

Who are the judges?

We expect to have an all-star panel of judges, including Monumental Sport’s owner Ted Leonsis. We will let you know when more are confirmed.

When and where are the presentations and how will the room be set up?

The event will take place on Wednesday, November 5th, 2025, 5-7:15pm. Presentations will take in Lohrfink Auditorium, Hariri.

How long are the presentations?

Each finalist will have 3 minutes to deliver a presentation, with 5-6 minutes of Q&A session to follow. Only judges will be asking questions. Members of the audience are expected to remain quiet.

How many finalists will present?

Eight finalist teams will be invited to present.

Will all finalists receive money?

All eight teams invited to present at Bark Tank will receive a cash prize of some amount with the top prize of $30,000 going to the first place team. In addition, there will be a People’s Choice Award in which the audience gets to vote for their favorite venture.

Who on the teams can present?

Only current Georgetown students or recent graduates (graduated within the last 6 months) will be allowed to make the 3-minute presentation. Other members of your team may be present and help answer questions. Please keep in mind that the purpose of this prize is to help Georgetown student entrepreneurs, so we advise that non-Georgetown team members should not play a leading role even in the Q&A. 

Will the judges know anything about my company in advance?

The judges will not be provided any information on the companies in advance of the event, other than what they might read in the press release, which includes team names & brief company descriptions.

How do I apply?

Nominated individuals or teams will be given two weeks to complete a detailed application. Nominees will be asked to describe their business and the impact the Leonsis Family Entrepreneurship Prize would have on their ability to advance their venture, as well as their own personal qualifications.