Mulerider EPIC is Southern Arkansas University’s annual pitch competition. The competition aims to give students an opportunity to learn how to develop a business pitch and develop their business idea. Startup ideas and student-owned businesses are welcome to compete. Students may present individually or on presentation teams.
The preliminary round is virtual with 10 pitches moving to the final live competition, EPIC LIVE, on November 9, 2026, at 4 p.m. This Live Event, held in Foundation Hall, Reynolds Center, will be open to the public.
General Prizes:
1st Place – $1,000
2nd Place – $750
3rd Place – $500
Special Category Prizes:
These and other prizes are offered for business plans that meet their requirements. Additional categories are in development.
Forge Prize* $1000 for best pitch offering a solution to a social, cultural, or environmental problem.
SOAR Prize* $500 to best pitch addressing sustainability.
Community Prize* $300 to the team chosen as the favorite by the community.
Wisewirx Media Award* $300 for the best pitch involving creative/imaginative media content in the business idea or presentation.
These prizes may be awarded in combination with the 1st–3rd place awards, but the same contestant may not receive more than one special category award.
Virtual Round Requirements
Video pitches for the first round must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. on Monday, October 26.
For the virtual portion, the contestants will record and submit a video of their pitch. You will need the following:
- Executive Summary – a short description (One to three pages) describing the product, market, business set-up, and estimated funding needed to launch the first stage. Also include brief descriptions of yourself (and your team, for team presentations), summarizing your qualifications.
- Pitch Video – three-minute maximum pitch video
- Visual aid – pitch deck, prototype, something to support your idea.
The top ten presentations will be notified. These winners will be invited to present at EPIC LIVE on November 9, 2026.
Live Round Requirements
For the live portion, students and student teams will present their pitches to the public. For the live round, students will need to bring the following:
- Handouts for the Judges. These may be in the format of a business canvas, brief description, and any diagrams, spreadsheets, or pictures that are needed. (One to three pages.)
- Visual Aid(s) include pitch deck (PowerPoint) and any props or prototypes that support the idea.
- A Professionally Prepared Presentation limited to three minutes in length. (It will be timed with a stopwatch, so practice. Memorizing your presentation can be helpful in controlling the length.)
In order to pitch, you must be an actively enrolled student at Southern Arkansas University. Students may compete individually or on teams. Teams may include both undergraduate and graduate students. (Teams will divide their winnings.) Non-students or non-participants may serve as resource persons, but the pitch must be written and presented by the students.
In a nutshell, a pitch tells what you’re offering to whom, how it fills a need and, in many cases, how it differs from other products.
Basic sections:
- The Offering: What you’re offering to the potential user. For example, a hand-held sonogram device is a different kind of offering than a coffee shop. A technological product would have to address technological concerns as well as application concerns. A coffee shop would offer a kind of experience, a unique taste, etc. (Starbucks bought the Italian coffee bar experience to the U.S. It was about community as well as caffeine.)
- The Market/Marketing: Show an understanding of the needs of the users, how they would use the product, and how the product would improve their lives. (Example: Small children need toothbrushes with squishy handles because we studied how they brush their teeth, and many don’t have the coordination to hold the brush handle with their fingers.) How the product would be marketed and delivered to them. (Examples: Tell about your food truck, your website, the user conferences you could go to and show it off.)
- The Operation: What kind of organizational set-up would you need to produce the product and experience? The business canvas (see below) specifies three areas: Key activities you would have to perform, resources (people, equipment, facilities) you would need to have to perform it, and external allies you would need as suppliers, distributors, software providers, etc.
- The Financial Side: The business canvas breaks this down into your revenue streams (sources of income whether they’re product sales, advertising sales, consulting fees, membership fees, subscription fees, etc.) and your projected costs (startup and ongoing).
Obviously, you can’t cover all of this in detail in only three minutes. Focus on what is most important for your kind of business. Either briefly mention the rest or cover it in your handout and/or the question-and-answer period. You are not required to use the business canvas format (See the link below.), but the nine-cell canvas table it offers is a good way to break down your idea.
The business canvas framework is a popular way of breaking down a business model. If you look up “business canvas” on YouTube, you will find a number of them. Steve Morris, of Startup SOS has a series of videos explaining each part of the canvas. The first video, “Business Model Generation with the Business Model Canvas” is accessible at the link below:
The pitch must fit within a three-minute timeframe. (It will be timed.) This does not include set-up time or the question-and-answer period that will follow each presentation.
A PowerPoint, prototype, or some other visual representation is required.
The judging rubric will not be released, but the judges will evaluate on evidence of thoughtful research, creativity/innovation, concept feasibility, how well the company meets a need/solves a problem, “investability,” and the individual’s enthusiasm for the idea.
- Individual students or student teams from any major
- Students who have new business ideas
- Students who have developed innovative products
- Students who have started their own companies
- Students interested in enhancing their presentation skills
- Students who want to explore the idea of starting a company in an environment that provides them with feedback, funding, and opportunities to network
- Students who want to demonstrate their ability to clearly communicate an idea to a group
- This competition does not require students to submit a fully developed written plan, but going through the exercise of preparing a plan would be a helpful exercise. This is especially true for participants who want to take their ideas further.
The Arkansas Governor’s Cup Business Plan Competition does require a formal plan of up to twelve pages, and some student and student teams might be interested in participating. The competition will open for entries in late January. This competition is sponsored by Arkansas Capital Corporation, and cash prizes for this competition are substantial. Technology startups may win up to $20,000 and lifestyle businesses may win up to $10,000.
A Former ASBTDC (Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center) director posted the following note for students with technology products they intend to patent:
All participants should be aware of something called 35 USC 102(b), which contains a nasty “gotcha” called an “in-use” or “on-sale bar” to patentability. This is not legal advice, look up 35 USC 102(b) yourself. Be familiar with this. Participants might want to consider (Prior to their presentations) taking their PowerPoint or other presentation materials, printing everything on 8.5 x 11 paper and mailing this into the US Patent Office with a check for $65 (Prior to their presentations). Doing so is not a cure-all, there are many other steps necessary in the patent process, but doing at least this can be somewhat helpful in preventing the nasty “gotcha” of 35 USC 102(b). Just be aware, doing nothing could harm your patent rights.
