Matt Gentry | The Roanoke Times

William Creed pitches a business idea as part of Entrepreneurial Summit at Radford University, a competition where students will have 90 seconds to pitch an idea to a panel of judges. First place will receive $1,500, second place will receive $1,000 and third place will receive $500.

RADFORD -- By his own admission, Radford University senior Mike McCoy is an "idea guy" -- the kind who launched his own computer consulting firm at the age of 15, visits his professor each month with a different business idea and runs the numbers on those ventures for fun in his spare time.

So when McCoy heard Radford's first-ever Entrepreneurial Summit would include an "elevator pitch" competition, he couldn't wait to sign up: "I went to [assistant professor Jeff] Pittges the same day with a whole stack of research, which is about 100 pages of research, and said, 'I want to win.' "

The premise of the contest is simple: Entrants deliver punchy, persuasive business pitches in the time it would take to ride in an elevator with a prospective investor.

"If you can persuade someone in 90 seconds that your idea is worth investing in, your job is done," McCoy explained. "It shows you have confidence, knowledge ... and dedication to succeed."

Two days before he took the lectern to deliver his pitch, McCoy went over his presentation with Pittges, a faculty member in the department of information and technology and adviser to the Collegiate Entrepreneurs student group.

Standing in front of a blackboard and gesturing with his hands, McCoy described the idea he would pitch -- a searchable database that would let would-be car buyers easily identify the vehicles that met their desired specifications.

It was a topic McCoy knew well -- after all, the 21-year-old president of Collegiate Entrepreneurs had been working on his business plan for months, researching his competition, drafting his speech and delivering it to family and friends.

My roommate and I "have a whiteboard that's about as big as this [projector screen], and when we're bored, we sit down and write down all our ideas," McCoy said. "We're basically business nerds."

The way McCoy tells it, he's been that way for a while.

Inspired by his dad, a salesman with credit insurer Atradius, the Maryland native started McCoy Computer Systems as a high school student. Before long, he had about 70 clients and was earning $50 an hour.

"He's a Richard Branson type; he's someone that's just passionate about business," Pittges said. "I guarantee that sometime, Mike's going to be in the right elevator with the right idea."

Yet on Wednesday, as Radford's Bonnie Auditorium began to fill with dozens of other students and entrepreneurs, ideas seemed a dime a dozen. Lured by $3,000 in prize money and perhaps inspired by the daylong Entrepreneurial Summit's business-oriented speakers and sessions, roughly 20 people showed up to compete.

Some pitched advertising and financial planning, others home repair, groceries, golf -- even beer delivery.

But which idea would earn first place and $1,500?

Before hearing the presentations, Edwin Tirona, one of five contest judges, gave his thoughts.

"I want a pitch that tells me what sets the product apart, why is it unique, why is it innovative, why is it different," said Tirona, chief executive officer and co-founder of Virginia Beach-based Dynamic Systems Integration.

The value of delivering such a pitch is something Tirona, a Radford alum, knows well -- he once had exactly five minutes to describe his own business to Microsoft founder Bill Gates.

"It was pretty stressful," Tirona said of the experience, which led to a collaboration between his company and Gates' development team. "I had a lot to say in five minutes and a very knowledgeable audience."

Similar stress was apparent in several of the competitors Wednesday, as one by one, they took the lectern for their 90-second pitches and four-minute question-and-answer sessions.

More than two hours into the contest, McCoy delivered his pitch. Clad in a suit and smiling, he ended asking judges when he could schedule a meeting to talk about his new venture.

By 6 p.m., the judges declared their winners.

Stephanie Richardson won $1,500 for her pitch about a nonprofit advertising business. Shannon Moore received $1,000 for her presentation on a pet care and grooming business, and Andrew Rymaruk won $500 for his pitch about a butcher shop.

And McCoy?

"I got honorable mention," he said Thursday. "It was a great experience."