At the 2020 Entrepreneurship Intervarsity Competition event on 21 January, all four winners from the 2019 competition were invited onto the stage to participate in facilitating the discussion. The winners were essentially sharing their experiences of the competition, the benefits derived, their aspirations, and future outlook.
Asked how they felt, emerging head-and-shoulders above 1155 entrants and a total of 144 pitches, Denislav Marinov, a 3D printing machine designer now pursuing BSc Honours at the University of Cape Town (UCT), said his first reaction to winning in the Existing Technological Business category was of shock. He said it felt incredible, hearing his name being called among such an incredible lot of contestants, some of whose businesses had already won clients and were making money. “I was intimidated — competing against very intelligent peers in my category, so winning was highly inspiring. It reminded me of why I was doing what I was doing. At that moment I felt that I must be onto something right and felt more inspired than ever to continue on this journey.”