In the 2016 Governor’s Cup competition, every team that enters a High Growth business plan will sit down with a small panel of industry experts in a required 20-minute interview.  Teams will be interviewed based on their industry category rather than academic division.  There is no presentation, no handouts, no guests, just the team and the panel. Teams will be expected to display their knowledge of their business and competitive advantages, articulate the business model and how the business makes money, and display competency across the team.

This is more than a casual discussion, however, because $5,000 in prize money is on the line.  After the last interview, each panel will rank the teams, with the top-ranked team in each category winning $1,000. The ranking will later be used to establish a cumulative score that will help determine which teams advance to the oral presentation round of the competition. Industry category winners will be announced simultaneously when the 14 teams advancing to the presentation round are revealed.