Hunting Season A play-by-play look at one entrepreneur's presentation to a venture capitalist

Most entrepreneurs look forward to a presentation to a VC likethey look forward to a swift kick in the pants. For 34-year-oldJack Crawford Jr., founder of CampusEngine.com, a developer ofInternet portals for college campus newspapers, the experience wasa little more exciting. In an effort to get funding for his Folsom,California, company, he appeared on the nationally syndicated PBSprogram MoneyHunt. Pitching his idea in front of a panel ofindustry experts, Crawford earned CampusEngine a $100,000investment and a slew of other benefits. How did he do it?Here's the play-by-play:

FEBRUARY 2000: Crawfordattends the local Sacramento Valley Forum and hears about theGolden State Capital Conference, a chance to compete with 300Northern California companies for a spot on MoneyHunt."We submitted our company four weeks before the GoldenState," remembers Crawford. "We were selected a weeklater."

MARCH 28-29, 2000: Crawfordpresents CampusEngine.com at the Golden State Capital Conferencewith a 10-minute Power Point presentation. Immediately followinghis time on stage, Crawford is interviewed, on camera, byMoneyHunt creator and co-host Miles Spencer with a series ofrapid-fire questions. "The off-stage interview provides thetype of high-pressure environment you face when you're actuallyin investor presentations," explains Crawford. According toSpencer, the MoneyHunt crew visited 25 nationwide events andaccepted online applications in order to select contestants. Theshow chose 26 possible contestants from a pool as large as 2,000.Only five finalists would actually make it to the show.

APRIL 2000: CampusEnginesends its story to MoneyHunt, and Crawford begins to preparehimself for the grueling question-and-answer session he'll faceon the show. "You knew you were going to be asked questions,but you didn't know which questions," says Crawford."The MoneyHunt group was certainly going to bebusiness-savvy and industry-savvy, and they knew a lot about ourcompany already because they researched it."

JUNE 13, 2000: Crawfordmakes his first appearance on MoneyHunt, where he isinterviewed by Spencer, co-host Cliff Ennico and an industryexpert. His performance lands him a position on the last show and achance to compete for the $100,000. "It was great exposure forthe company," says Crawford. "Then I realized therereally was a prize riding on my questions."

JUNE 14, 2000:CampusEngine.com is unanimously chosen as the $100,000 prizewinnerafter another eight-minute grill from the show's hosts and aventure capitalist. While CampusEngine had taken in its first roundof funding before it appeared on the MoneyHunt show, it nowserves more than 1.8 million students at 90-plus college campusesnationwide and, at press time, expected sales of $1.5 million for2000. With its vote of confidence on MoneyHunt,CampusEngine's outlook is good. "The whole experience wasso exciting," says Crawford. "It was an absolutevalidation from the investment community."

		Up ToSnuff THINK YOU'VE GOTWHAT MoneyHunt is looking for? According to Miles Spencer,creator and co-host of the show, likely contestants have thefollowing three characteristics: A great idea that is easily expressed. (Jack Crawford Jr.,founder of CampusEngine.com and recent winner, suggests having aspiel that can convey the basics of the business in only 30seconds.) An opportunity for a breakaway business. Charisma that the camera loves. You can get the full scoop as well as view past episodes of theshow at www.moneyhunt.com,or check out MoneyHunt: 27 New Rules for Creating andGrowing a Breakaway Business (HarperBusiness) by Miles Spencer andCliff Ennico. "