Now in its 4th year, Pitch Competition celebrates the innovation that is taking place right here on our island. All island entrepreneurs are invited to apply - whether you have a new business idea or want to grow your current one. We'll hand-pick four finalists to compete in the live event, based on the strength of their ideas and their vision for how to bring them to life. Finalists will have just 5 minutes to "pitch" their business to our celebrity panel of judges. After all teams have pitched, the judges will make their decisions, and then we’ll unveil the winner of our cash prizes.
This year's event will be emceed by John Shea, Emmy award winning actor, writer, director, and producer.
This Year's Pitch Competition Judges:
o Bruce Percelay has been coming to Nantucket since the age of 5 and has become deeply involved in life on our island. He is the founder and Publisher of N Magazine and owns 21 Broad and 76 Main, two of Nantucket’s most popular hotels. He is also the owner and Chairman of the Mount Vernon Company, one of Boston’s largest private landlords and fastest growing hotel developers.
o Elin Hilderbrand is the #1 New York Times best-selling author of 27 novels including SUMMER OF ‘69 and GOLDEN GIRL. She’s a graduate of the Johns Hopkins University and the University of Iowa Writers Workshop. Elin is the mother of three Nantucket natives and has lived on the island year-round since 1993. She’s also a seven year breast cancer survivor.
o Jamie Siminoff is a lifelong inventor. Jamie created the world’s first Wi-Fi video doorbell, then called DoorBot, while working in his garage on other inventions in 2011, so he wouldn’t miss package deliveries. In 2013 Jamie pitched Doorbot on Shark Tank, but walked away without a deal. Well, we know what happened after that! In 2014 Ring was brought to market, which is now the trusted, customer first, whole home security company. Jamie is the first entrepreneur to go from pitching the sharks to sitting in a guest shark’s chair and we’re thrilled to have him sitting in one of our chairs tonight.
