Startup Survivor: The Pitch Competition

The Startup Survivor program has been a game-changer for Power of Play! Within 4 months, this program turned our idea into a tangible product with an early customer base and a market strategy ready to drive us to success. Winning the competition isn’t just about securing funding to execute our plan—it’s about the incredible growth we experienced along the way. Startup Survivor took Power of Play to new heights, boosted awareness for our product and company, and connected us with an incredible network of inspiring, like-minded innovators. Without hesitation, I wholeheartedly recommend this program to every student entrepreneur with a bright idea and the drive to make it a reality!

After going through four different accelerators, I can confidently say The Forge was as the best. In just four months, I went from not even knowing what “venture capital” meant to pitching my business to investors and securing offers. The Forge’s top-tier mentorship and supportive community didn’t just teach me the skills I needed—it completely transformed my perspective on entrepreneurship. Whether you’re a first-time founder or a seasoned entrepreneur, joining The Forge is one of the best decisions you’ll ever make.

For a team of aspiring yet relatively inexperienced student entrepreneurs, The Forge Start-Up Survivor program is exactly what we needed to develop our medical device start-up. All aspects of the program were critical to helping us expand on our innovation: the mentors were very experienced and helpful with their advice; The workshops were great skill-building experiences and the pitch competition in November was a great way to wrap up this journey.
In addition to helping develop our start-up, the Start-Up Survivor program through experiential learning helped all four members of the team develop key skills and grow as entrepreneurs and innovators.

Being a part of The Forge through the Startup Survivor program this past year has been an incredible experience for my fellow co-founders and I. We’ve wanted to be a part of this program for years, especially after seeing so many people we knew from McMaster’s startup ecosystem be accepted in 2023. Having now completed the program ourselves, we understand why so many people wanted to be a part of this, and why it offers such a unique learning experience for new founders.

If you’re someone considering applying to Startup Survivor, the first thing I would tell you is that this program moves FAST. There’s always new stakeholders to interview, new prototypes to test, more market information to gather, and more pitch practice to do. There’s never a dull moment. But as fast-paced as Startup Survivor can be, it was never overwhelming. I always felt like we had a solid support system to fall back on, whether that was our fellow student co-founders or the amazing team of mentors that The Forge has put together. They really care about helping you succeed and there are so many resources on offer that will help get your business where you want it to go.

The program helped us validate our initial business idea, conduct rapid prototyping with stakeholders, craft a business plan and create a pitch for potential investors. After months of hard work, determination and a little bit of luck, my co-founders and I were honoured to have been chosen as one of 5 program finalists, ultimately placing third at the 2024 Startup Survivor Pitch Competition. While the prize money is certainly helpful, the most valuable thing about Startup Survivor is the people – the mentors who helped guide us, the other founders who inspired us, and the connections we’ve made that will help our business grow in the years to come.