CompleteSet was the winning pitch at the 2014 5 Across Finals. CompleteSet is a web and soon-to-be smartphone application for collectors to archive and hunt for hard-to-find items. It hosts exhaustive lists of items relating to things from Star Wars to sports memorabilia, and has attracted a growing and loyal user base. Here’s founder Gary Darna’s recollection of CompleteSet’s journey from conception to winning 5 Across, and what is in store for CompleteSet in the future:

The first time I pitched CompleteSet was at Startup Weekend Cincinnati in February of 2012. At the time, all I had was an idea. I didn’t even have wireframes or a UI designed, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the pitch didn’t go over too well. No one volunteered to join my team, which was my only goal at the event, so I ended up helping someone else turn their idea into a prototype that weekend.

After an exhaustive year-long search and dozens of pitches, I met and recruited my co-founder through The INKUBATOR program at Northern Kentucky University. Since then, Jaime and I have raised $650,000 in an oversubscribed seed round, grown from 2 to 8 employees, and acquired members in more than 30 countries around the world. We’ve come a long way since that uninspiring pitch at Startup Weekend, which was three years ago this February.

I shared this story with you because it demonstrates how important events like 5 Across are to the community of entrepreneurs they support. Practice really does make perfect when it comes to pitching. Without the opportunity to pitch in front of an audience of my peers and get honest feedback about my company, I wouldn’t have been as prepared to sell our dream to potential investors. As a founder, being able to communicate your vision to investors, your team, and your customers is one of the most important skills you need to be successful. 5 Across prepared me for the tough questions that investors expect to be answered.

Since winning the 2014 5 Across Finals in December, we’ve continued to grow at a rapid pace. We plan to use a portion of the prize money to purchase BlinkScan, an innovative device that makes scanning easier than ever. BlinkScan was 1 of the 5 great companies that won 5 Across in 2014. In that way, both of our companies won, and we’re excited to support a fellow entrepreneur the way 5 Across has supported us.