Cross-Campus New Venture Competition
A very long post, but has all the info you need to get started. Not directly linked to SI, but if you have a good idea for a social enterprise, this would be a great opportunity. Apply by Jan. 5.
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An Invitation to Participate in the 2010 CMU Cross-Campus New Venture
Competition – January 29, 2010
Hosted by the Tepper School of Business’ Donald H. Jones Center for
Entrepreneurship, the Graduate Entrepreneurship & Venture Capital Club, and
the Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Association
* Are you an entrepreneur with a great venture idea?
* Want to put your idea to the test in front of judges – experts in
new-venture creation and investment?
* Need some money for your new venture?
This one-day new venture competition is open to all Carnegie Mellon
undergraduate, graduate, and Ph.D. students. These groups will compete in
two separate tracks (run in parallel) and be judged by different sets of
professional entrepreneurs and VCs. Ten spaces per track (undergraduate and
graduate/Ph.D.) are available. To be eligible, students must submit their
“intent to compete” by January 5, 2010 at 9:00 am EST. Those selected will
be invited to participate in a workshop to assist you in the development of
your final five-page (or less) executive summary. The final deliverables
are a five-page executive summary due January 22nd and a 15-minute
presentation due on January 29th. Each team will be given 15 minutes to
present followed by a five-minute Q&A. Read below for information on
prizes, important deadlines, judging criteria, and resources for developing
an executive summary. Please contact John DiRicco (djc@andrew.cmu.edu) with
any questions.
Prizes
Prizes will be awarded at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. These
include:
* Cash prizes
* In-kind corporate & IP legal services from regional law firms
Competition Date, Time & Location
Date: January 29, 2010
Location: Posner Hall, Tepper School of Business
Time: Competition from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm, Rooms 151, 153 and Cooper
Auditorium
Lunch from 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm (open to competitors, judges,
and sponsors only)
Winners announced from 1:00 pm to 1:30 pm
Important Deadlines
Tuesday – January 5, 2010 by 9:00 am: Deadline for 1-2 page
Intent-to-Compete
This Intent should include:
. Contact information: primary contact name, degree pursued, school
affiliation, email, phone number
. General Company Information: venture name, team member names
. New Venture Description: See below for criteria for the final
pitch – this should guide the development of your intent to compete. E-mail
your Intent to djc@andrew.cmu.edu.
Saturday – January 9, 2010: Teams notified of acceptance to competition.
Ten spaces per track (undergraduate and graduate/Ph.D.) are available.
Friday – January 22, 2010 by midnight: Deadline to submit five page or less
executive summary.
This is the final version that will be sent to the competition judges; no
teams can submit “updated” executive summaries after this deadline. E-mail
your summary to djc@andrew.cmu.edu.
Friday – January 29, 2010 from 9:00 am to 1:30 pm: Competition Day!
Students must arrive at least 15 minutes before their scheduled time slot,
bringing with them their 15-minute presentation on a laptop. If students
choose to give judges hard copies of their presentation, they must bring
their own copies.
Final Judging Criteria
1. Idea/Concept (10%)
2. Problem Statement (10%)
3. Solution – How are you solving the problem (10%)
4. Market – What/how large is your target market. Who is the
competition and what advantage do you have to compete with them. (10%)
5. Business Model – How will you make money (10%)
6. Status of company – what have you done to date (10%)
7. Financials – 5 year projections (10%)
8. Initial Investment Needed & Potential Return – Ex: financial,
social, environment (10%)
9. The Team (10%)
10. Delivery and Ability to Field Questions (10%)
Suggested Resources:
Books:
1. Business Plans that Win $$$: Lessons from the MIT Enterprise Forum
by Stanley R. Rich
2. Art of the Start: The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide for Anyone
Starting Anything by Guy Kawasaki
Web Resources on Market Research Tools
1. DJC’s Swartz Boot Camp & Hunt Library List of Market Research Tools
for Entrepreneurs <http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/rwerner/bootcamp09.htm>
Web Resources on How to Write an Executive Summary:
1. Garage: Writing a Compelling Executive Summary
<http://www.garage.com/resources/writingexecsum.shtml
2. Business Plans Guide.Com: How to Write an Executive Summary
<http://www.business-plans-guide.com/write-an-executive-summary.html>
3. Duke: Executive Summary Competition
<http://www.dukestartupchallenge.org/the-competition/ESC>
