Rules & Regulations

Eligibility

  • You must be 18 years of age or older to participate

  • Participants may have an operating for-profit or non-profit business

  • Businesses must have at least 50% ownership by an enrolled tribal member.

  • All presenting team members must be able to attend, and prepared to pitch in-person (i.e. as opposed to via Zoom) on and to potentially receive the award during the Pitch Your Hustle event on Friday, July 18, 2025.

How to Enter

  • Required: 

    • Apply via the online form on our website by completing all required fields. All applications must be submitted by Friday, June 27, 2025 at 11:59 p.m. (MDT).

    • Form submission must include:

      • A 7-minute pitch video that includes business name, location of business, type of business, pitch, and demonstrated ask.

      • Finalists will need to submit a PDF of a pitch deck (maximum size: 100MB; approximately 10-20 slides) answering the prompts below. Submissions do not have to follow the order outlined below. Feel free to organize it as best suits your narrative while ensuring all elements are covered.

    • Submissions should clearly demonstrate:

      • Validation of existing business model that includes your business solution, how your business works, your customer and market, your team, and what you will use the pitch money for within the 7-minute timeframe.

  • Finalist Pitch Deck Submission Requirements (PDF): 

  1. Company & Product Overview

    • Name of Business

    • History of Business (founded & operation location, etc.)

    • Business Mission/Vision

    • Goals

    • Funding seeking & Problem/Solution 

    • Add any additional information that maybe beneficial to your ask. 

  2. Market Opportunity & Growth Potential

    • Customer Segments 

    • Channels

    • Value Proposition

    • Customer Relations/Relationships

    •  opportunity and competitive advantage including:

  3. Competitive Advantage 

    • Who are your biggest competitors? 

    • What’s your main point of differentiation and competitive advantage? 

  4. Business Model & Revenue Strategy 

    • Business model and financials overview including:

      • Historical and projected revenue 

      • Current Revenue Strategy: How do you make money today? What’s your main revenue stream?

  5. Team

    • Provide an overview of your company’s structure including your founders/co-founders, number of full-time-employees, part-time employees, board members, and so on as applicable.

    • Please note which team members will be on-site to pitch at Change Labs Ignite should you be chosen as a finalist. 

    • Please include anything you’d like us to know about what makes your team great as we care deeply about the humans behind the ideas.

Finalist Notification

‍Finalists will be notified in late June/ first week of July 2025 and provided a detailed overview of presentation expectations, timing limitations, and logistics at that time, including the final Pitch Your Hustle programming schedule and requirements. Your in-person presentation will not have to be the same as your application, and all expectations will be articulated at the time of finalist notification.

Submission Rules

  • The Contest begins at 7:00 a.m. (MDT) on Monday, June 2nd, 2025 and ends at 6 p.m. (MDT) on Friday, July 18, 2025. All applications must be submitted by Friday, June 27, 2025 at 11:59 p.m. (MDT).

  • Submit your application using the website form and include your deck (PDF) per the requirements above.

  • Stories and posts about prize winners will be published on Change Labs’ website and social media channels.

  • Change Labs may publish additional articles about submissions, even if they aren’t selected as one of the winners receiving cash prizes. By submitting your story, you grant Change Labs the right to publish that you’ve submitted to Pitch Your Hustle and to link to relevant websites and social media channels.

  • Your submissions will be shared with our submission panel which is made up of third-party partners and judges, as well as Change Lab staff members. By submitting an application, each applicant agrees to Change Labs disclosing the applicant’s personal information to its sponsors, contractors, and agents to assist in conducting the competition and communicating with entrants. Change Labs’ submission committee and judges may contact all participants.

  • Entrants warrant and represent that they own all rights (including intellectual property) in the material they submit throughout the competition.

  • All finalists will be expected to present to our panel of judges and Shiprock E-Ship Grand Opening attendees on Friday, July 18, 2025 on-site in Shiprock, NM, as part of our Grand Opening Event programming.

    • Finalists should anticipate being in Shiprock, NM, no later than the morning of Friday, July 18, 2025 (subject to change pending needs for pre-event preparations) 

      • If finalists are unable to be on-site as requested by Change Labs, their place in the contest will be forfeited. 

    • Finalists will be responsible for their own travel and lodging expenses and logistics. 

    • Upon request, finalists must provide assets for promotional inclusion, including but not limited to company logos, headshots, bios, and so on. 

Judging Criteria

  • This is the criteria that will be used to award first prize and runner-up. It will also be used to evaluate the initial submissions. All judges’ decisions are final.     

    • Problem & Solution Fit: 10 points

      • Does the entrepreneur clearly describe the problem and how their solution addresses it?

    • Business Model & Revenue Plan: 10 points

      • Is the way the entrepreneur makes money clear and realistic? Is the plan sustainable?

    • Market Understanding: 10 points

      • Does the entrepreneur know who their customers are? Do they understand their competition?

    • Traction or Progress: 10 points

      • Has the entrepreneur made progress—sales, users, prototypes, partnerships, pilots?

    • Presentation & Confidence: 10 points

      • Is the pitch polished and compelling? Did the entrepreneur manage time well and tell a cohesive story?

Awards

  • ‍First Place Prize for 7-minute pitches will be awarded to two (2) entrepreneurs, with a cash prize of $2,500 each.

  • ‍Second Place Prize (Runner Up) for 7-minute pitches will be awarded to two (2) entrepreneurs, with a cash prize of $1,750 each.

  • Third Place Prize (Runner Up) for 7-minute pitches will be awarded to two (2) entrepreneurs, with a cash prize of $1,250 each.

  • All ten (10) short/ 1-minute pitch participants will receive $250.

Winner Notification

‍‍Winners will be announced at the Shiprock E-Ship Grand Opening during the event on Friday, July 18, 2025. All potential winners are subject to verification. Upon verification of eligibility, prizes will be awarded no later than July 19th, 2025. Prizes will be awarded in accordance with these rules. Change Labs determination of eligibility and selection of winners is binding on all participants. The prizes are non-transferable and non-assignable. All costs, fees, expenses, and taxes (including, without limitation, federal, state, and local taxes) associated with any element of a prize are the sole responsibility of the winner.

Grant of License/Publicity Waiver

‍‍By entering this Contest and in consideration for the same, the entrant grants Change Labs  an irrevocable, non-exclusive, perpetual, royalty-free, worldwide license to broadcast, publish, store, reproduce, distribute, syndicate, and otherwise use and exhibit the Submission (along with their names and/or likenesses) in all media now known and later come into being. The entrant represents and warrants that they have full legal right, power and authority to grant Change Labs the foregoing license. The entrant agrees to sign documents deemed necessary by Change Labs to confirm and document the license. The license granted pursuant to this paragraph does not divest the entrant of ownership of the Contest submission.

Entrant consents to Change Labs capturing their likeness in photographs, video, and audio recordings.  Entrant grants to Change Labs an irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free license to utilize, adapt, modify, reproduce, distribute, publicly perform and display the photographs, video, and/or audio (collectively "Media") taken of entrant for use in promotional, educational, informational, advertising or commercial materials and communications in any form now known or later developed. Entrant further consents to  the use of their name, image, likeness, and voice (collectively, "Likeness") in the Media for all Materials or any other purposes deemed appropriate by Change Labs. Entrant waives any right to be notified or to inspect or approve the Media or any Materials that are created using their Likeness, now or in the future.  Entrant agrees to sign any documents deemed necessary by Change Labs to confirm permission and authorization.

Waiver of Liability

‍‍By participating, the entrant agrees to waive, release, hold harmless, and indemnify Change Labs; its current and former officers, directors, owners, employees, agents, representatives, affiliates; and the judges (“Released Parties”) from and against any and all liability or causes of action (however named or described) and for any injuries, losses, and/or damages caused by or resulting from entry or participation in this Contest, including without limitation: (1) any incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by entrants, any Released Party, printing errors, by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Contest; (2) technical failures of any kind, including but not limited to malfunctions, interruptions, or disconnections in phone lines or network hardware or software; (3) unauthorized human intervention in any part of the entry process or the Contest; (4) technical or human error that may occur in the administration of the Contest or the processing of entries; or (5) any injury or damage to persons or property that may be caused, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, from entrant’s participation in the Contest. If for any reason an entrant’s entry is confirmed to have been erroneously deleted, lost, or otherwise destroyed or corrupted, entrants' sole remedy is another entry in the Contest during the entry period. Released Parties are not responsible for any expenses incurred by entrants in connection with participation in this Contest.

Confidentiality

‍‍‍All entrants should be aware that finalists’ pitches will be presented in a public forum. Confidentiality is not guaranteed in any way. Applicants should exclude sensitive or confidential information from their pitches and not include confidential material in their applications or submissions. Change Labs is not responsible for any confidentiality issues that may occur during the course of the competition.

Privacy

These Official Rules will govern the privacy relationship between Change Labs and the Entrants. Entrants understand that if during the registration process of the Contest, Entrants have elected to opt-in to the sharing of their information with the event attendees, the Entrant has consented to allow Change Labs to share their personal information with these third-parties.

Modification of Contest Rules and/or Contest Termination

Change Labs reserves the right to modify any term of this Contest and these rules at any time at Change Labs’s sole discretion. Change Labs reserves the right to cancel, suspend, and/or modify the Contest, or any part of it, if any fraud, technical failures, or any other factor beyond Change Labs’s reasonable control impairs the integrity or proper functioning of the Contest, as determined by Change Labs in its sole discretion. In such event, Change Labs reserves the right to award the prizes from among the eligible entries received up to the time of the impairment.

Law

This Contest shall be conducted in accordance with the laws of the State of New Mexico. All disputes concerning these terms and Contest shall be adjudicated in the federal and state courts having jurisdiction over Shiprock, New Mexico, USA.

Disqualification/Ineligibility

Any attempt to enter this Contest in a manner other than in compliance with and as provided in these rules shall be VOID. Entries received from persons not meeting eligibility requirements will be disqualified. Change Labs is not responsible for lost, late, incomplete, invalid, unintelligible, or misdirected entries, all of which will be disqualified.

Change Labs has the sole discretion to disqualify and/or remove any individual for any reason that it deems appropriate before and/or during the pitch competition. All decisions regarding an individual’s removal and/or disqualification from the pitch competition are final.

A DONATION WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. This Contest is subject to all applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. Participation constitutes full and unconditional agreement to these rules and Change Labs and its and judges’ decisions, which are final and binding in all matters related to the Contest. Winning a prize is contingent upon fulfilling all requirements set forth herein and is not guaranteed.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.