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Firebird Won the Crossroads Idea Competition!

Firebird won first place in its first-ever pitch competition!

Validation with a Cherry on Top

On November 20th, 2024, we hit an incredible milestone — we were honored to win the Crossroads Idea Competition with Firebird! We were awarded the winning prize of $500, which marked the first time Firebird brought in any income.

The Crossroads Idea Competition was an event during Innovation Week in Bloomington, Indiana, sponsored by The Mill and the German American Bank. The main idea was for people to pitch their business ideas and get feedback. Participants had 2 minutes to pitch and 3 minutes to answer questions from the judges. The winner would take home $500.

On competition day, our cofounder Andreia delivered the 2-minute pitch and answered the judges' questions. She had practiced extensively with cofounder Eric to refine the messaging, cadence, and delivery of the pitch. After all 12 competitors made their pitch, the judges deliberated and announced Firebird as the winner.

We signed up Firebird for the competition for several reasons:

• Validation: we wanted to see how people would perceive our company and understand if people found value in our product
• Feedback: we are first-time entrepreneurs and we wanted the opportunity to get more eyes to identify any problems or weak spots in our product or business strategy
• Exposure: we wanted to start making people aware of our company and hopefully get some buzz about it
• Fine-tuning: preparing for the pitch helped us think about and clarify our company vision, which resulted in us having a clear view of the product we wanted to build.
• Experience: pitching was a great practice in explaining to people the value we can provide them with our product
• Community: solopreneurship can be quite lonely, so participating in events like this is a great opportunity to interact with other people who are also on this journey

Participating in the competition was an incredible experience. Our product idea was validated, generating excitement among attendees, and we had the opportunity to connect with many fellow entrepreneurs. We left the competition feeling inspired and with a renewed energy to keep building Firebird.

Winning the cash prize was the cherry on top.