NDToGo : Best in Show?

OK, so we didn’t win the Notre Dame McCloskey Business Plan competition on Friday.  We did, however get the highest vote total from judges among a pool of 13 non-finalists to give a 2 minute “elevator pitch” during the final presentations.  It was a great opportunity to tell everyone what the buzz is about and how we plan to help students and restaurants simultaneously.  Needless to say, we generated some excitement among the business school and competition community.  In case you still don’t know what we’re about, here’s a transcript of DJ’s 2-minute speech and the video as well.  Thanks for tuning in; see you at midnight TONIGHT.  Tell your friends.

 

“Students:  You’re Cheap, We’re Easy.

“Now, Charlie Weis will tell you that ‘Tradition Never Graduates,’ but it does in the restaurant business.  Think about it, you’re not going to the time-tested favorites of ND students in the past, you’re calling Papa Johns  because you’ve got their magnet on your refrigerator.  It’s easy and predictable.  One large pizza, $9.99.

“But if you were given a free pizza at Bruno’s, Rocco’s, Barnaby’s, Dominic’s…would you go there?  Have you even heard of those places?

“You see, restaurants in South Bend and Mishawaka face a dilemma; they want student business but don’t know how to get it.  Radio/TV/Newspaper…that’s not how you find a great barbeque place.  [Students] don’t even have phones in their dorm room, let alone phone books, yet restaurants pay thousands to advertise in the Yellow Pages.   Do me a favor when you get back: type in “South Bend Pizza” to google and see what you get.  5 chains, one location in Granger, no selection, no menus…and a discount?  Forget about it.

“NDToGo brings cheap, starving students to restaurants hungry for their business. We do so through coupons, giveaways and an unmatched, in-depth directory.

“Which cafes have free wifi?  What beers do they have on tap at Parisi’s?  Which joint [stutter #1] serves fried frog legs? (Joe’s Tavern does, by the way.)

“You will be able to search by event:  Is your family in town? – a.k.a which places serve steak…  Is it after midnight?  Find out which places are still open and what they serve.   Are you going on a date?  Sure, you know where grape road is, but [uh..stutter #2] what are they giving you to go there?  And haven’t you already been?  Be a real cassanova and find the hole in the wall [stutter #3] Italian joint on Mishwaka’s east side.

“We just started 3 weeks ago and we’ve collected $3500 in free food from 16 local restaurants that we’re giving away in the next two weeks.  We open up THIS Sunday night at midnight.  We’ve got 5% of the campus signed up so far on buzz alone.  You probably saw our article in the Obsever and we’re the 8th fastest growing blog on wordpress.com. [Out of over 877,000 total.] The more students we get signed up, the better deals we can get.  Did I mention it’s free? Tell 10 friends and we’ll give you $10 in pizza from Dominic’s over by the Backer.

“As a senior, I once spent 14 hours in a Mishawaka Chick-fil-a parking lot to get $300 in free chicken sandwiches.  I’m not above it.  [Hearty laugh by cameraman. Thanks, Mcnulty.] Restaurants WILL PAY to get you in the door, visit NDToGo.com to reap the benefits.  The first 30 people to see us outside the auditorium will get a special deal for being here.   Thanks to the Fish Taco Fund for helping us get started.”