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Instructions

Eligibility

The WPI Venture Forum Business Plan Contest is open to technology-based, pre-start, startup, and on-going businesses located in the Northeast. Students are eligible. The venture must involve the development of a new product, a new application, or process in an existing business or the start-up of a new technology-based business.

Upon receipt of application and accompanying executive summary, applicants that meet the criteria compete through three rounds of judging – First Round, Semi Finals, and Final Competition. Those advancing beyond the first round are eligible for coaching and mentoring.

Deadline, Application and Fee

Applications and executive summaries are due by 5:00 P.M. Friday, October 9, 2009. The contest fee is $50.00 which should be submitted at the time of application. Mailing instructions are on the downloadable contest application. Application and Executive Summary may be emailed to ventureforum (at) wpi.edu. If emailing the application, please call 508-831-5075 about entry fee payment options.

First-Round Presentations

First-Round presentations take place for all qualified entrants on Saturday, October 17, 2009 in the WPI Campus Center. We provide a projection system and laptops with the most current version of Windows software. Presenters will receive an email indicating the presentation time. Times and dates cannot be changed once set. This round is not open to the public.

Each first-round team will have fifteen minutes to make a presentation to a group of judges in the format of their choice. We do not provide a template for presentations. Prototypes in any stage of completion are heartily welcomed. Judges will have fifteen minutes to ask questions. To learn more about the competitive scoring that will be used to rank each presentation, please see the Ranking Criteria [PDF]. Please check for updated versions as the ranking criteria may change before the judging takes place. Full business plans are not submitted for First Round competition.

Typically five competition teams are chosen to advance to the Semi-Finals.

Semi-Final Judging

New for 2009, each semi-finalist team will be coached by judges with the aim of improving the plan and presentation. After the coaching, each semi-finalist team presents to a judging panel. This round is conducted via an online Web-based application (not available to the public). Typically, three teams will be selected from the pool of semi-finalists to advance to the final competition. Semi-finals use the same criteria as in the first round.

Final Presentations

Finalists will be notified by email when they need to submit a full business plan. Finalists will present to a panel of judges and the WPI Venture Forum audience at the WPI Venture Forum Business Plan Competition final round on Tuesday, November 10, 2009 in the WPI Campus Center Odeum Room between 6:00-9:00 PM. Finalist presentations are a public disclosure. The winner will be determined at this event and announced at the conclusion of that program.

Mentoring

Semi-finalists are provided complimentary mentoring before the finalists are chosen. The mentoring is provided by contest judges, who are qualified professionals and experienced entrepreneurs affiliated with the WPI Venture Forum.

Mentoring helps perfect and finalize business plans and presentations for the second round of judging. A substantially completed draft business plan will need to be submitted by semi-finalists immediately after the first round of judging. Semi-finalists will receive expert advice related to the business plan and the presentation.

Judging

Judging, as described, occurs in three rounds: the first round, a semi-final round and final round. All qualified entrants will be judged in the first round and can expect feedback from the judges in the form of scoring criteria points and personal comments. Presentation details will be provided in ample time prior to each event. The final round winning team will be the venture that the judges feel has the best chance for success. Judges decisions are final.

Process	Date	Who
Entry deadline. Executive Summary submitted.	October 9, 2009	Technology-based startups in the Northeast
First round competition	October 17, 2009	All eligible entrants
Semi-final round	October 29, 2009	Winners from first round
Notification of advancement to finals	October 31, 2009	Semi-finalists
Semi-finalists deliver Business Plans	November 3, 2009	Winners from second (Semi-final) round
Final Competition - open to the public	November 10, 2009 at WPI	Winners from semi-finals

The Prize

The winning team receives a $15K prize comprising cash and professional business services donated by the sponsors.

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Last modified: October 27, 2009 16:41:21