When the Seattle Seahawks won Super Bowl XLVIII, Malcolm Smith earned the title of Super Bowl Champion and took home the Super Bowl MVP trophy. That win also put him in an even more exclusive category – one that he gets to share with his brother, Steven, former NY Giants Wide Receiver: Malcolm and Steven Smith are one of only six pairs of brothers in NFL history to become Super Bowl Champions.
But these Super Bowl Champion brothers are working on leaving an even bigger legacy beyond the gridiron. A year ago they formed the Smith Bros P.L.A.Y. (Practice Listen Apply Yourself) Foundation with the mission to impact youth through education and athletics, which they do through work-based learning programs and athletic enrichment events. And just a year in, they are already making a huge impact up and down the West Coast.
While Steven retired in 2013, Malcolm is currently an Oakland Raider so tapping into Silicon Valley seemed like a natural fit. When they were presented with a unique opportunity to partner with 500 Startups for their foundation’s second fundraising event, they jumped on it. The 500 Challenge was a “Shark Tank” competition that paired underserved youth from Project LEVEL with startup founders to see who can pitch their company the best.
The event, hosted by Steven and Malcolm Smith and 500 Startups, featured seven companies from 500 Startups Batches 10 and 14. Over the last two months, the student teams met with the founders once a week to develop a presentation for the company. The culmination of their hard work was on display Monday night in San Francisco when each team gave their demo pitch in front of an audience and five judges.
As Steven Smith said before the competition began, this opportunity gives these youth the building blocks for their future in a hands-on learning experience in interviewing and pitching. Senia McClure, a high school junior who worked with Lab Sensor Solutions, confirmed that sentiment when she expressed that the most important skill she took away from this experience was figuring out how to put a lot of information into a concise presentation.
Each student team had two minutes to make their pitch and the judges scored the presentations on the idea and whether it was fundable as well as their energy, clarity and passion. The judges were Malcolm and his teammate Khalil Mack, Andrea Barrica, Partner at 500 Startups; Harry McCracken, Tech Editor at Fast Company; and Nick Tommarello, Founder at WeFunder.
The audience and the judges were dazzled with entertaining, energetic and informative presentations from the seven teams. These young men and women had a stage presence that’s captivating. They presented thoughtful use cases that were relatable to the crowd and their passion for these companies was contagious. It was really, really impressive to watch these kids own the stage in front of an intimidating panel of judges.
When I asked Barrica about her impression of the presentations as a judge, she told me, ‘I coach thousands of companies on how to pitch and present and I was blown away by their presence.’ Malcolm Smith said it was very fun to be a judge and it’s nice when he’s able to be involved without the spotlight being on him. He enjoyed giving them feedback and he was impressed by their ability to make the presentations personal and relatable.
While all of the pitches were stellar, it was a competition so the judges did have to declare a winner. After much discussion, they named Neighborhood HOA as the champion and they’ll receive a 3-month PR campaign by JSY PR & Marketing, as well as a promo video from Malcolm, which will be a part of the PR campaign.
Neighborhood HOA seeks to crowd-source for neighborhood improvement. Their goal is to establish projects like street cleaning, planting trees or improving playgrounds without waiting for government to do it by empowering neighbors and local businesses to contribute to the projects. The essence of the company is based on the wise words of Dr. Seuss as seen in the slide they showed to the group:
When the judges gave comments following Jasmin and Akeem’s presentation, McCracken noted that the notion of privatizing something the city can’t afford to fix is an exciting opportunity. Barrica added that’s a very fundable concept and Malcolm Smith asked if he could be an intern. Steven Smith chimed in to say that their pitch showed how much they cared about the community.
Malcolm Smith told me that he and Steven always talked about how they would give back and inspire someone else. This was just the second fundraising event for their young foundation and it was a success on multiple levels. The proceeds from the event ticket purchases, raffle ticket purchases, silent auction and other donations will go directly to implementing the foundation’s learning programs and athletic enrichment events for underserved youth. It was also an incredible learning experience for the students from Project LEVEL. They were exposed to the startup world and gained first-hand experience that they might not otherwise have had the chance to do without the generosity of the founders, 500 Startups and the Smiths. They gained confidence and life-long skills from developing the company pitches and nailing their presentations in front of a high profile crowd.
The Smith brothers are off to a great start in achieving their mission to impact the youth. I can’t wait to see how the foundation continues to grow, but for now, they can celebrate a victory for their legacy off the field.