Cafés, breweries, and nail salons. Construction trades, aviation, and industry. Biotech, health tech, and software. Every kind of business this valley actually runs on belongs on this stage — and one Contra Costa Community College District class, credit or not, makes you eligible.
A short description of your business idea and a deck of no more than 15 slides. No video, no prior experience required — just current 4CD enrollment.
Selected by the screening panel and notified on Nov 6 — exactly two weeks before the final, so every team gets the full mentoring window.
Three minutes to pitch, two minutes of judges' questions. Cash prizes, audience vote, and reception.
This is a 4CD competition. If you are enrolled in a Contra Costa Community College District course — any course, at any of our colleges — you are eligible to apply.
For the past several years, the Contra Costa Community College District has hosted an annual Business Pitch Competition at DVC's Pleasant Hill campus — student founders sharing ventures spanning wellness tech, food sustainability, hardware, and student support. Past winners have gone on to pilot with Contra Costa County agencies and BART.
For 2026 we've widened the door without leaving the district. Community members are welcome to compete — they just have to be enrolled in a 4CD class. That includes non-credit Community Education courses: a ceramics class, a QuickBooks workshop, an ESL course, a welding certificate. One class is enough. Enroll, then apply.
There are no tracks and no categories. Students, dual-enrolled high schoolers, and community members in a non-credit class all fill out the same form and stand on the same stage. What we are actively recruiting is range — see the room we're trying to build.
We are not auditioning to be the other valley. We are cafés, breweries, bakeries, and nail salons. We are aviation and industry out past the airfield. We are biotech and health tech in the labs. And we are construction trades — a lot of construction trades.
That's the economy people here actually work in, so that's the room we want on this stage. There is no venture-scale requirement and no technical co-founder required. A framing contractor with a hiring plan is a business. A second bakery location is a business. Bring the software too — just don't assume it has a head start. It doesn't.
No separate tracks, no beginner bracket, no category handicap. A nail salon expansion and an AI product go into the same pile, in front of the same panel, scored against the same five criteria.
The application form is open now. If you're not enrolled in a 4CD class yet, this is the window to sign up for one — including any non-credit Community Education course.
Submit a short description of your business idea and a slide presentation of no more than 15 slides by 11:59pm PT on Monday, Nov 2. No video is required at this stage. Late submissions are not accepted; the screening panel begins review the next morning.
Each application is reviewed by two members of a multi-person screening panel; the ten highest-scoring teams advance. Finalists are notified on Friday, Nov 6 — exactly two weeks before the final. Finalists then submit a final-draft deck and an optional 1-minute public YouTube video.
The mentoring window now opens two weeks ahead of the final. Finalists are paired with mentors and given deck reviews, pitch coaching, financial-model review, and dry-run sessions — with Main Street teams matched to operators and lenders, not just startup advisors. Optional drop-in office hours every weekday evening at the DVC business department.
Three minutes to pitch, two minutes of Q&A. Audience vote runs throughout. Winners announced live; reception immediately following with judges, mentors, and the district's founder and small-business community.
Cash prize, on-stage recognition, and an introduction round to local investors, lenders, and small-business advisors.
Cash prize and continued mentor matching post-event.
Cash prize and recognition.
Live audience vote during the final. Open to all finalists.
Prize amounts shown reflect the 2025 finals; the 2026 districtwide edition will scale prizes to the expanded field. Final amounts confirmed when finalists are named.
2026 panel announced in October.
The full category-by-category rubric for both stages is published below — see § 06, Scoring. Nothing is scored on anything that isn't on it.
Scoring happens in two rounds, on two published rubrics. The first is for everybody: every application submitted by 11:59pm PT on Nov 2 is scored on the screening rubric, and the ten highest-scoring teams become the finalists. The second rubric is used only at the live final, and only those ten teams are scored on it. Each round is worth 50 points, and every category is worth 10.
The two scores are completely separate — your screening score does not carry into the final. Screening decides who gets on stage and nothing more. Squeaking into the ten costs you nothing there, and topping the screening round buys you nothing either: all ten finalists start the final at zero.
| Category | Description | Possible points |
|---|---|---|
| Clean formatting | Fonts, layout, sentence and paragraph structure. | 10 |
| Quality of writing | Professional, grammar, punctuation, etc. | 10 |
| Description of business idea | How likely is this idea going to become a real business (feasibility / viability)? Description of product or service? Market size and potential? | 10 |
| Rationale & supporting information | How much, if any, supporting information was provided to justify the idea? | 10 |
| Initial slide deck draft / outline | Did the slide deck address all necessary components for the pitch? | 10 |
| Total points | 50 |
| Category | Description | Possible points |
|---|---|---|
| Demeanor & delivery | Appropriate language and logical flow? Supported by data and/or examples? Confidence and sincerity? | 10 |
| Problem–solution statement | Is the description of the proposed problem clear and the proposed solution viable? | 10 |
| Market analysis & plan | Product/service described with market sizing and potential? Information and/or data on traction? | 10 |
| Conclusion | Was the "ask" specific, clear, and convincing? | 10 |
| Quality & clarity of slide deck | Formatting, easy to read and understand, thorough with supporting data and information. | 10 |
| Total points | 50 |
One rubric for everyone. A neighborhood service business and an AI product are scored against the same categories — no category is graded on a curve, and no judge is asked to weigh "scalability" against a business meant to serve one town well. The People's Choice award is decided by the live audience vote and sits outside these rubrics.
Anonymous, QR-code based wellness survey giving organizations real-time insight into mental health trends while protecting individual privacy. Now piloting at the county and BART level.
Helping restaurants reduce food waste by selling surplus meals at affordable prices. Founded by a dual-enrolled DVC student and Northgate High School junior.
Helping community college students track scholarships, internships, and coursework as they prepare to transfer. Prize money funded a scholarship for underrepresented transfer students.
A voice-activated wristband focused on calm, family-centered safety alerts. Selected by audience vote on the night of the competition.
Scholarships, internships, coursework tracking, and essay help for community college students.
A platform connecting talented teens with freelance opportunities.
Investment coaching for young adults.
Diverse plush dolls empowering children to embrace their heritage.
An app that detects scam calls, messages, and emails.
Software enhancing triage accuracy with integrated patient histories.
A wristband that buzzes until you complete tasks in the app.
Keychain accessory promoting healthy habits and goal progress.
Clothing brand merging UAE heritage with California style.
A tool for easily converting owned books to audio.
The Contra Costa Community College District. It's made up of three colleges — Contra Costa College in San Pablo, Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill (plus its San Ramon campus), and Los Medanos College in Pittsburg (plus its Brentwood center) — along with districtwide Community Education. Enrollment at any of them, in any course, makes you eligible to compete.
Anyone currently enrolled in a Contra Costa Community College District course. That's the only eligibility bar: one active enrollment at DVC, Contra Costa College, or Los Medanos College. Credit students, dual-enrolled high school students, and community members in a non-credit class all use the same application — there are no separate tracks. There are no citizenship or status requirements.
Through one form: the 2026 application. It asks for a short description of your business idea and a slide presentation of no more than 15 slides — nothing else. Everyone uses the same form, and it closes at 11:59pm PT on Monday, Nov 2.
Yes — enroll in a class and you're eligible. It does not have to be a business class, a full course load, or a credit course. A single non-credit Community Education class counts: cooking, ceramics, computer basics, ESL, QuickBooks, welding, yoga. Register for one 4CD course, keep the enrollment active through Nov 20, and you can apply.
It does. Non-credit Community Education enrollment carries exactly the same eligibility as a credit course — a single Community Education class puts you on the same footing as a full-time credit student, with no separate track and no extra paperwork.
It's more than a fit — it's the point. We are actively recruiting Main Street: restaurants, food trucks, salons, landscaping and trades, childcare, retail, cleaning, bookkeeping, repair shops. Brick-and-mortar and service businesses compete on the same stage, in front of the same judges, against the same five scoring criteria as the software and AI teams. You do not need a technical co-founder, a prototype, or a growth chart.
No — a concept on a single slide is welcome. You may also pitch a business that already exists, as long as it has less than $25,000 in total assets or annual revenue. Past that, it has outgrown this competition. The screening rubric scores the description of the idea and the rationale behind it, so an early-stage team is not penalized for having no traction yet — but supporting evidence, where you have it, is worth points.
Yes. A team may have no more than five people, and solo founders are absolutely permitted. List every team member on the application; only listed members are eligible to present on stage.
Two things: a short description of the business idea, and a slide presentation of no more than 15 slides. No video at this stage. Everything is due by 11:59pm PT on Monday, Nov 2. Finalists then submit a final-draft deck and an optional 1-minute YouTube video. Open the application form →
Yes, you can submit multiple applications. But a finalist pitches only once at the live event, whether solo or as part of a team — so if more than one of your entries makes the top ten, you will be asked to choose which one goes on stage.
Yes — past participants are welcome back, including past winners. The one condition is that your new submission must be a different concept from the one you pitched before. Come back with something new.
The mentoring window is a full two weeks — it opens when finalists are named on Friday, Nov 6 and runs to the final on Friday, Nov 20. Every finalist team is matched with one or more mentors drawn from 4CD business faculty, alumni founders, past judges, and working local operators. Support includes deck reviews, pitch coaching, financial-model feedback, and live dry-runs in the actual venue. Main Street teams are matched with people who have run storefronts and payrolls, not only startup advisors.
Yes — a live Zoom drop-in every Friday at 4pm PT, running weekly through the competition. Bring your deck or your questions; it's the same kind of help you'd get in the Discord, just live and face-to-face. Join the Friday Zoom → (Meeting ID 819 5141 5734, passcode vikings).
Yes. You retain 100% ownership of your venture, IP, and equity. The competition takes no equity, no fees, and no rights to your work. You grant us the right to use your name, logo, and pitch summary for promotional purposes only.
Yes — and we encourage it. The November 20 final is free to attend, and attendance requires no enrollment of any kind. Invite your family, your customers, your potential investors, and your skeptics. The audience vote is real.
Yes — two, both sized for US Letter and free to post anywhere on campus or around town. Print at 100% / actual size; don't let the print dialog scale to fit.
The quarter-page sheet has dashed cut lines down the middle — one sheet gives you four handbills. If your printer can't reach the edge of the page, the colored bands will trim slightly; no text will be lost.
There is also an eleven-slide deck covering the whole competition, if you're presenting this to a class, a club, or a department meeting.
Arrow keys or space to advance, F for full screen, and the Print button in the bottom bar exports one slide per page as PDF. Nothing to install and nothing to download. To leave the deck, use the ← 4cdpitch.com link in its top-left corner — or just close the tab.
Running a lobby screen or a hallway monitor? There's a single slide sized for that, with the deadline and final date large enough to read from across a room, plus a QR code for anyone who wants the rest of the details.
Ask it in the Discord — that's the fastest way to reach the organizers, and odds are someone else was wondering the same thing. If you'd rather ask privately, email rbuckley@dvc.edu and we'll get back to you within two business days.
You don't have to wait for the deadline to start. The Discord is where applicants ask the organizers questions, find a co-founder, get a deck torn apart before a judge sees it, and hear about workshops and office hours first.
Whether you're 16 with an app idea or 46 with a lease you're ready to sign — this is the stage. One 4CD class is all it takes to be eligible, and any class counts. One description, one deck. We'll do the rest.
The application form is open. Questions while you're filling it in? Join the Discord — organizers and other teams are in there.
