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Competition

Eligibility

• All current Stanford students, research staff, postdoctoral staff, faculty and Stanford Alumni (graduated after Feb 2006) are eligible to enter. Though individuals not affiliated with Stanford University are encouraged to participate, any entering team must have at least one Stanford student. The size of a team is not restricted meaning 1 person could be a team. In the past, however, teams consisting of 3 to 7 members have been most successful.
• Team members can change over the period of time provided the team maintains the above mentioned eligibility criteria.
• A team can submit more than one plan.
• An individual can participate in more than one team.
• A team can compete in both the E-Challenge and the Social E-Challenge

Restrictions

• Teams that have received prior outside investment from venture capital firms, private investors, or industry sources are not eligible to compete.
• Entrants who receive funding of any kind after officially entering the E-Challenge may continue to compete and will be considered for the competition prizes. The source(s) of such financing, however, must be disclosed to the E-Challenge Organizing Team immediately.
• Everything submitted to the competition is original. The ideas, concepts, written documents, oral pitch and all aspects of the submissions are original work of the team members and that they are not under any agreement or restrictions which prohibit or restrict his or her ability to disclose the idea or use them to participate in the E-Challenge.
• The E-Challenge Organizing Team reserves the right to disqualify any entry that, in its judgment, violates the E-Challenge rules or the spirit of the competition.

Competition

The competition consists of three rounds.

Round 1 : Executive Summary
Last date of Submission : 17th February,2010
Announcement of Results : 3rd March,2010

Semi-Final Round : Business Plan
Last date of Submission : 13th April,2010
Business Plan Presentation : 24th April,2010
Announcement of Results : 26th April,2010

Final Round : Business Plan Presentation
Last date of Submission : 20th May,2010
Final Round Presentation : 21st May, 2010

First Round Submission

To enter the E-Challenge competition, an executive summary of your business plan must be submitted to the E-Challenge organizing team. The Executive Summary is a short and easy summary of your idea. The executive summary will be judged by people from the industry or venture capitalists.

Please observe the following guidelines when editing the executive summary:

• Recommended preferred length is up to 2 pages including appendices and exhibits. Do not expect the judges to read much more than 2 pages.
• Recommended font type:11-12 pt Times New Roman double spaced
• Submit the document in Word or Adobe PDF formats
• Executive summaries must be submitted electronically prior to the deadline stated below to be considered valid

Last date of Submission : 17th February
Announcement of Results : 3rd March

We also suggest addressing all or most of the following points in the executive summary. While not all points may be applicable in your specific case, try to address those that you believe are relevant. Please also pay attention on the quality of content, scope & presentation of the executive summary, and be as succint, clear & accurate as possible.

1. Concept

• What exactly is the product or service of the proposed business?
• What are the problem & need of the market, solution, and opportunity proposed?
• Lead with the most compelling summary of your idea and be direct & specific.
• Is it unique? What are the main benefits?

2. Customers

• Who are the potential customers of your business?
• What is the size of the addressable market?
• Why will they buy?

3. Marketing

• How will you to reach your target customers?
• How will you advertise or distribute your product?

4. Competition

• Who are the competitors of your business?
• What is your main advantage compared to them?
• Why hasn’t somebody done this before or what is different about your product compared to industry standard? What do customers use now instead of your product or service?
• What stops others from copying you?

5. Business & Financial Model

• What is the proposed business model and how is your business going to make money?
• What are the high-level projections for the revenue and cost?
• How much money do you need, when, and what for?
• When will it be cash flow positive?

6. Risk factors

• What are one or two major risks that can influence your business?
• How would you react if these risks occur?

7. Team

• List team members and their short bio/main area of expertise.
• Does you team have all the skills it needs to run the business?

Few external resources for writing the executive summary:

• Garage Technology Venture: Download
• TiE-DFJ India Venture Challenge : Please click here to go to the website.
• Check out U.S. SBA for some Examples (Note: these are Business Plans so the Executive Summary is given at the beginning of the Business Plans)
• Check out E-Challenge Resources Section for other helpful info.

Semi-Final Round Submission

In the semi-final round, all the teams will present their business plan to the judges. The presentation will be 16 mins long (10mins presentation and 6 mins for Q & A). Teams have to submit a copy of the complete business plan by the deadline and bring a copy of their planned power point presentation in a usb drive, on the date of the presentation itself. Teams will be mailed their presentation time slots, and must report at the venue at least 15 mins before their slot. The deadlines are as follows:

Last date of Submission : 13th April
Business Plan Presentation : 24th April
Announcement of Results : 24th April

Guidelines for the Presentation:

There are no hard and fast rules on your presentation. In general, make sure your strongest points are said early and often. You will only have 10 minutes to make a big impression, followed by 6 mins Q&A. The long Q&A session ought to make sure the judges have a solid understanding of your plan.

NOTE:

• Above mentioned points are just our suggestions. We recommend consulting the resources available in Stanford’s GSB library or on the Internet to know how to write a business plan.
• Please submit your plan in Acrobat PDF format or Microsoft Word format and presentation in Microsoft Power Point format.