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.