Venture Capital Club Competition: An Investment in Knowledge and Skills

The competition, first held in 2018, takes the form of an actual business pitch, followed by funding decisions that are supported by extensive analysis. To make the competition as realistic as possible, said math faculty member Elizabeth Wendorf, who oversees the event, the businesses are real-world entrepreneurial endeavors. No real money is at stake, of course, but the students—playing the role of “junior partners” at a VC firm—go through all the steps that would be taken in deciding whether to fund these start-ups. 

Wendorf explained that each business presents a pitch; following that, the students perform due diligence by meeting with the entrepreneurs and peppering them with questions. Each team then meets to put together a term sheet—“their decision of which company to invest in and why,” said Wendorf. Finally, they present their pitches to six judges (generally members of the Rivers parent/caregiver community with business backgrounds), who play the role of skeptical senior partners; the students must be prepared to defend their decisions. 

This year’s businesses were 20/20 Onsite, which provides mobile eye care and ophthalmic clinical trials, and LuxMed, a startup that makes cardiac ablation catheters. Leading LuxMed’s presentation was Rivers alum Stephen Richlen ’15, currently an MBA candidate at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business and an investor in the firm. 

After the due diligence phase, the Rivers team decided to back LuxMed, as did one of Winsor’s two teams. Sounding every inch an experienced venture capitalist, Elizabeth Lapides ’25, one of the VC club’s student leaders, explained the team’s reasoning: “We were attracted to LuxMed because we were looking to invest in an early-stage company with a high profit margin. Our investment decision had some risk to it, but had the opportunity for a high profit margin, whereas 20/20 Onsite would have been a lower-risk investment with a smaller profit margin. We also believed that LuxMed’s sensor-based catheter was unique and effective, would successfully gain FDA approval as planned, and would be acquired shortly after.”

The judges were apparently persuaded: The Rivers team won best pitch overall. Wendorf said afterward that Rivers’ “term sheet was excellent. It was incredibly well written, the decisions were well justified, and the responses were consistent, with even more depth beyond what was on the term sheet.”

The VC Club introduces students to concepts, vocabulary, and strategies that they’d be unlikely to encounter elsewhere. Beyond content, says Wendorf, the “most beneficial thing for students is the exposure to different careers. It might inform their decisions about classes and colleges, and help them have a vision of what it would take to reach different goals.” Moreover, she said, the club and the competition help students foster a range of “soft skills” that could be broadly applicable: “Public speaking, answering questions on the fly when you don’t totally know the answer, interacting with impressive adults and being able to shake their hands and look them in the eye.”

Lapides reported that being questioned by the judges was indeed the competition’s most formidable challenge. “They ask us about our investment decision, valuation, expected return, and due diligence, and we have to think on our feet to back up the choices we made with confidence,” she said. 

For Rob Hargrove ’26, another VC Club student leader, that aspect of the competition was both a challenge and an opportunity. “One of the biggest highlights for me,” said Hargrove, “was having the chance to engage with Rivers alumni and parents during the competition. Their feedback and encouragement regarding our investment decisions were incredibly valuable, and it was a great experience to receive such thoughtful perspectives.”

That said, Hargrove added, “The biggest challenge was developing a convincing argument to defend our choice. Both companies presented solid investment opportunities, each with its own risks. Our task was to clearly justify why LuxMed was the better option from both a financial and logistical standpoint.”

The experience, said Lapides, brought rewards well beyond the acquisition of investment knowledge. “From participating in competitions and leading the Venture Capital Club, I now know that the best way to learn something new is to jump right into the unfamiliar,” she said. “Most high schoolers do not know much about venture capital, and it certainly is not inherent knowledge. When I first joined the club, I knew nothing, and while I still have much more to learn, my growth thus far can be credited to the exposure I have gained through club meetings and competitions.”