Awards, Rules and Guidelines

Campus Eligibility: Anyone with an active @umich.edu email address can participate, including U-M students, faculty, staff, and alumni across the Ann Arbor, Dearborn, and Flint campuses.

Team Submissions: Teams of any size are welcome, provided at least one member submits using an active @umich.edu email address.

Multiple Entries: Participants may submit as many unique pitch ideas as they like. You’re highly encouraged to submit multiple pitches. All pitches submitted during that week are eligible for the weekly drawings.

Prize Eligibility: Most prizes are dedicated to student submissions, but it is expected that there will be a set of awards for staff, faculty, and alumni.

Length & Format: You may submit text-only pitches, audio-only pitches, or video pitches. Pitches should be 60 seconds or less, but that is not a hard cutoff. No slide decks or formal business plans are required, but feel free to use them or be creative in other ways. Every pitch must be at least 50 words, whether typed, in a document, or spoken in your audio or video. Shorter pitches are rejected automatically.

Public Gallery: Submissions are featured in an open gallery where the community can view, share, and vote on pitches.

Confidentiality: Submissions are public; do not include confidential or proprietary information in your video.

Usage Rights: By submitting, participants grant U-M permission to feature pitch videos for promotional, educational, and program development purposes.

Maizey AI Pitch Coach: Participants can use Maizey, U-M’s custom AI pitch coach, to brainstorm, draft, and refine their short-form pitches prior to submission.

Questions & Help: For help with submissions, account or login issues, or any general questions about the competition, email the 10,000 Pitches team at 10k.pitches@umich.edu.