Winners at each local event will go on to compete in the statewide competition for a $10,000 cash prize.
Last year, Cottonwood Mayor Tim Elinski and his wife, Ruth Ellen, made their pitch and won the statewide competition with their PinDrop Travel Trailers after first winning locally. Elaine O’Connor did the same thing in 2022 with her business idea, Prescott Bark.
“Whether you’re an entrepreneur with a moonshot startup idea or a seasoned founder with a business you’d like to expand, participation in this event hones your business skills and assists in moving your business forward,” said Moonshot President and CEO Scott Hathcock.
Participants prepare, practice and perfect a five-minute pitch presentation for a panel of judges that selects the finalists. Winners at each local event will go on to compete in the statewide competition for a $10,000 cash prize.
This is the fifth year for the Moonshot tour, which has grown from three stops in the beginning to 10 stops last year and now 16, from Yuma to Winslow. Hathcock says the competition continues to empower business owners and provide opportunities to learn new skills.
“We use these pitch events to audit local entrepreneurial talent, identify future sectors for growth, access resources and needs for scaling these startups with an intention of removing as many obstacles as possible from the founders,” said Hathcock. “Our mission is to keep these startups and the jobs they create within the local market.”
Moonshot Chief Marketing Officer Kiersten Hathcock, who successfully pitched her Mod Mom Furniture business on “Shark Tank” in 2011, helps participants hone their pitches. “It takes a lot of courage to present an idea to a room full of strangers,” she said. “We applaud each participant who shows up to share their inspirational startup stories and business ideas with us. Many times, we’re so touched by their pitches, that there’s not a dry eye in the house.”
“We’ve had a lot of people show up at our events who have just amazing ideas, and they are all in it for job growth,” said Scott. “We have some entrepreneurs who are rocket scientists, and we have some who think they know how to build a better taco. It really does run the gamut. We don’t have a particular sector we’re focusing on; mainly, we’re just trying to help those who are experts in that thing, surround them with business acumen, get them to market sooner and get them on a faster track to hiring more people.”
Entrepreneurs associated with the Moonshot program gain access to resources and professionals for support including marketing and business plan guidance as well as help with scaling their business. Scott says Moonshot believes that no matter where you live, you should have access to the same entrepreneurial resources as those who live in major cities. Thus, Moonshot’s mission is to help bring products and services to market and to help cities in rural Arizona develop “entrepreneurial ecosystems” that create jobs.
“When people hear that word ‘entrepreneur,’ they often think about big startup stories like Amazon, which started in Jeff Bezos’ garage,” said Scott. “But actually, being an entrepreneur can be starting a company that pays for your gas, that pays for your childcare, and if it creates jobs, fantastic. But it doesn’t have to be those big, big ideas. Essentially, we’re saying, ‘You should do this if you have the energy, the passion and you have a problem you are trying to solve. We want people to show up. That’s the first step: showing up and talking about it.”
Local cash prize packages for the top three winners in each community are made possible through local area sponsors.
Tour title sponsors are Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona, Arizona Commerce Authority, and APS. Statewide sponsors include Growth Partners of Arizona and SBDC. Regional sponsors are CIC Tucson, SRP, Emplifi, Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, PinDrop Travel Trailers, and AWD Law. FBN
By Bonnie Stevens, FBN
Moonshot is an entrepreneur development program that promotes the creation and sustainable growth of local business. It offers multi-track programs to help businesses become ready for the market as well as entrepreneurship mentoring, a speaker series and community events. www.moonshotaz.com
Online registration to participate for the Moonshot Rural Pitch Tour is available at: https://www.moonshotaz.com/moonshotpitchtour.html.
To hear more from Scott and Kiersten Hathcock about Moonshot, the 2024 Moonshot Rural Pitch Tour and tips for entrepreneurs, watch Zonie Living at starworldwidenetworks.com.
