McKinsey & Company is launching a virtual business plan competition in Second Life.
Be part of the first truly global business-building contest ever held
in the virtual world! The Virtual Venture Competition is your chance to
turn your innovative ideas into successful business operations in
Second Life.
From 3pointD.com
The competition is open to students and young professionals no more
than 32 years old, and first prize is US$20,000 in training and career counseling. Teams get 45 days to build a business, but there’s no
fixed start or end date, you can apparently jump in at any time. Only a
limited number of teams will receive initial funding, however.
It should be really interesting to see how this plays out. This is the 1st business plan competition of this type than I’m aware of. If you’re a member of the Second Life community, comment here and let us know how this develops.
– Cale Bruckner
Posted on May 25th, 2007 | No Comments »
The winners of the 2007 Rhode Island Business Plan Competition were announced yesterday.
PROVIDENCE – (May 1, 2007) – A local company that provides software
which turns GPS-enabled cell phones into personal security devices on
college campuses and a student team from Brown University that is
creating a company to help employers lower their health care costs have been named the winners of the 2007 Rhode Island Business Plan Competition.
Campus Guardian Corporation, led by Michael Glier
of Jamestown, RI, whose software turns GPS-enabled cell phones into
personal security devices that automatically notify college and
university security in emergency situations, was named the winner in
the entrepreneur track.
Providence Health Solutions, LLC, co-founded by Brown University medical students Brad Weinberg and Rajiv Kumar, a workplace wellness program that relies on a peer approach and exercise competitions to motivate behavior change and weight loss, was the student track winner.
(source)
The competition winners each receive prizes valued at $62,500. The competition attracted more that 40 business plans from seven states.
Related: Top 10 Business Plan Competition Mistakes
– Cale Bruckner
Posted on May 2nd, 2007 | No Comments »
What’s up with this? Good ventures, represented by not-so-good plans. You read the plan first, then meet the people, listen to their pitch, and ask questions.
Last week I judged a semi-finals round at the University of Oregon’s New Venture Championship for the tenth time in 11 years. Every year has been different, this year was different again, but in a new way. Two outstanding observations:
- The four ventures I dealt with were the best group of four ventures I’ve ever dealt with. All four had solid ventures, believable offerings, defensible positioning, interesting markets, and competent teams.
- Three of the four teams presented not-so-good plans that misrepresented the quality of their businesses. Problems began with long winding texts sprinkled with grammatical errors. Some had financial projections that left out key elements of cash flow and working capital. They had no business charts.
That’s a shame. The good news is that what they had to present was so much better than what they showed in their plan. The bad news is that the plans undervalued the ventures.
While it is true that the management team, the business offering, and the market potential are much more important than the quality of the plan, it’s also true that a business plan is relatively easy to do well. Why, with such a strong venture, would they not take the care to reread and edit their plans? That isn’t hard.
I think it’s a matter of optimizing. Why not do your best? If you’re going to a graduate level intercollegiate and international venture competition, ask somebody to edit the plan for simple practical writing. Make sure your projected income and balance link up correctly with the cash flow, and that the cash flow understands working capital. Use business charts to illustrate the main numbers.
– Tim Berry
Posted on April 21st, 2007 | No Comments »
On this one I get to think like entrepreneur and grandfather at the same time, because last week’s $50K first prize winner at the University of Oregon Intercollegiate International New Venture Competition was a grandfather’s recipe for cockroach bait.
This was a surprise. It’s cockroach bait, not a website, not medical, not electronics, and not even new. Mullis Enterprises, the University of Georgia entry, was also a last-minute entry, invited to join the 19 other finalists only after the 20th finalist dropped out shortly before the finals.
– Tim Berry
Posted on April 21st, 2007 | No Comments »
10 startup ideas from the TechStars competition (300 applicants) were selected this week. The selected startups will move to Boulder Colorado for a 3 month, mentor backed, startup kickstart. TechStars provides seed capital, experts, infrastructure, and access for a 5% equity position. Is all of that worth 5%? Does an environment like this increase the chances of startup success? Is it limiting in any way?
Ycombinator, similar business model, made it work for Reddit. — Cale
Posted on April 19th, 2007 | No Comments »
Women 2.0 has a great concept for a business plan competition: the business plan must fit on a 5×5 napkin.
I love this for a few reasons:
First, this contest forces contestants to focus on their elevator pitch and executive summary which are arguably the most important parts of a business plan. Requiring a focus on the core of what makes a venture remarkable and how it is going to achieve its goals ensures that contestants aren’t distracted by the rest of the business plan. Too often, the elevator pitch/executive summary are not given the attention that they require and don’t focus on grabbing the reader and convincing them within the first few sentences that the rest of the plan is worth reading. This contest won’t let that happen.
Second, there are huge opportunities to be creative with this contest. I’m sure some contestants will just fill the 5×5 space with as much text as they can fit, but the real stand-outs will be the submissions that are creative with the space allowed. How will your napkin stand out from all the other submissions?
Finally, this is unique! The contest itself is remarkable and worth talking about.
Posted on February 28th, 2007 | No Comments »
The Albany-Colonie Regional Chamber of Commerce
is now taking applications for the $100,000 business plan competition
that takes place during the Summit in Tech Valley on May 14.
Business plans must be submitted to www.summit.techvalley.org by March 12. There is a $150 entry fee.
Posted on February 13th, 2007 | 1 Comment »
Southeast BIO, which supports the life science industry, is launching a business plan competition designed to help
foster new company growth. The BIO/Plan Competition will match entrepreneurs
with mentors in an attempt to build what SEBIO calls
“venture-attractive” companies. The winner will receive an award estimated at $100,000.
AND
The Hormel Family Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to
McCook Community College and business development in McCook, unveiled
plans today to launch a $25,000 cash award business plan competition to
attract business to the area.
Posted on February 5th, 2007 | No Comments »
A University of California, San Diego student organization will offer a
$50,000 award for student teams who will compete based on individual
business plans. Teams will undergo intensive business plan education — including
one-on-one sessions with volunteer mentors, many of whom hail from San
Diego ’s scientific, technical and entrepreneurial base.
For more, visit the UCSD 50k site.
Posted on January 19th, 2007 | No Comments »
The contest is open to all new start-up and young
companies and will award $50,000 in prize money to the top three
business plans submitted ($25,000 for first prize, $15,000 for second
and $10,000 for third).
Read More
Posted on January 18th, 2007 | No Comments »
