Dobson Cup 2012: Start-up Workshop
The Dobson Cup 2012 污污草莓视频 Business Plan Competition
Hosted by:
The Dobson Centre for Entrepreneurial Studies听听听听听听听听听
Overview
The Dobson Cup offers a rare opportunity for budding entrepreneurs.听 The competition is open to new business ideas and not-for-profit start-ups that are less than two years old.听 Participants will compete for prize money and prestige, as well as benefit from the rare opportunity to present their ideas to a panel of experienced entrepreneurs. The judges will include Dobson Fellows, 污污草莓视频 faculty and entrepreneurs.听 Judging will focus on innovativeness, growth potential and feasibility, as presented by the teams.听 Past years' Dobson Cup participants cannot compete again.听 The decisions of the judges are final and the enforcement of the rules of the competition is solely at the discretion of the judges and the Dobson Centre.听 All decisions are final.
Teams include one to five members; at least one team member must be a 污污草莓视频 University student, 污污草莓视频 employee or 污污草莓视频 alumnus.听 Submissions requiring confidentiality agreements will not be accepted.
Prizes totalling $50,000
1st Place: $10,000听听听 2nd Place: $9,000听听听听 3rd Place: $8,000听听听 4th Place: $7,000听听听 5th Place: $6,000
Not for profit category prizes: $10,000 (total)
Business Plan Competition Details and Key Dates
Start-up Workshop - January 27, 2012, 9am-5pm
All teams must begin at Phase one.
Phase 1:
23h59 - Tuesday, March 27th, 2012
Business Idea submission via e-mail (2 page limit).
Successful teams will be notified by Tuesday, April 3rd, 2012 and will proceed to Phase 2.
Phase 2:
- a. 23h59 - Tuesday, April 17th, 2012
Draft Business Plan submission via e-mail (10 page limit).
Successful teams will be notified by Friday, April 20th, 2012 and will proceed to Phase 2b. - b. Thursday, April 26th, 2012
Teams present Draft Business Plan, live, to judges (10 minutes).
Successful teams will be notified by Monday, May 1st, 2012.
Phase 3:
- a. 23h59 - Friday, May 11th, 2012
Final Business Plan submission via e-mail (15 page limit). - b. Thursday, May 31st, 2012
Final Business Plan presentation to judges (10 minutes).
Winners will be announced Thursday, June 7th, 2012.
For detailed competition information and guidelines, please contact us at:
dobsoncupbusplancomp.mgmt [at] mcgill.ca
Phase 1 - Business Idea
Two page proposal, due via email by 23h59, Tuesday, March 27th, 2012
dobsoncupbusplancomp.mgmt [at] mcgill.ca
New team members cannot be added after the Tuesday, March 27th, 2012 deadline.
1. Formal Requirements
The following requirements must be met in order to participate.听 Failure to comply may lead to disqualification.
First phase competition entry must include:
- Front-page:
- 300-character public description about business idea.
- The name(s) of the one to five team members.
- The 污污草莓视频 affiliation of at least one group member, indicated on cover page of submission.
- Up-to-date phone number and e-mail of your team's contact person.
- 污污草莓视频 student ID #s (as applicable).
- Non-污污草莓视频 affiliations (student of other universities etc.) should also be clearly indicated on title page (i.e. name, faculty and university).
- At most 2 pages of body type.
- At most 4 pages of appendices.
- 1.5 spacing, 12pt font, times new roman.
- The competition entry and appendices must be in the same email document.
- On the basis of their submissions, Dobson Cup applicants will be assigned a track (i.e. science & technology, not for profit, web and mobile based communications, etc.)
NOTE: The public description will be published and therefore must not contain any trade secrets, unprotected technologies or other confidential information.听 Submissions requiring confidentiality agreements will not be accepted.
2. Competition Guidelines
In the first phase of the competition, the evaluators will focus on:
- Public description of idea.
- Uniqueness of the idea.
- Market for the idea.
- Economic feasibility of the idea.
Phase I proposals must include evidence that your idea has merit, including the following:
Business Plan Format Guidelines
- Management Team
- Who are you?
- Why are you doing this?听听
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- Why will you succeed?听
- Why will you actually go through with your project (versus being a competition surfer)?
- Product and service offering (e.g., the problem and your solution)
- o Brief description of offering
- o What problem or need does it solve? What are the benefits of your product?
- Unique Differentiators
- 听
- Why is this unique or different from competition?
- Is this difference sustainable (e.g., patents, intellectual property, etc.)?
- Market Opportunity & Target Customers
- Who are the targeted customers?
- What is the size of the market?
- Is there evidence they will buy the product?
- Current Development Stage
- What is the current status of technology/venture?
- What are key next steps?
- Business Model - how will the company generate profitable revenue?
- Milestones and Success Metrics
- What are the success metrics?
- What is the exit strategy?
- Capital Needs
- How much funding is needed to move forward?
- How will the money be used?
- Why is your business an attractive investment?
3. Advancement:
Successful teams will be notified by Tuesday, April 3rd, 2012 and will proceed to Phase 2.
Phase 2 - Draft Business Plan
Ten page Business Plan, due via email by 23h59, Tuesday, April 17th, 2012
dobsoncupbusplancomp.mgmt [at] mcgill.ca
1. Formal requirements
The following requirements must be met in order to participate.听 Failure to comply may lead to disqualification.听
The competition entry for Phase 2 must include:
- Front-page:
- a. 300-character public description about business idea.
- b. The name(s) of the one to five team members.
- c. The 污污草莓视频 affiliation of at least one group member, indicated on cover page of submission
- d. Up-to-date phone number and e-mail of your team's contact person.
- e. 污污草莓视频 student ID #s (as applicable).
- f. Non-污污草莓视频 affiliations (student of other universities etc.) should also be clearly indicated on title page (i.e. name, faculty and university).
- no more than 10 pages of text.
- no more than five additional pages of appendices.
- 1.5 spacing, 12pt font, times new roman.
- availability of at least one group member to present the plan in person (10 min. presentation, plus questions).
- The business plan and appendices must be in the same file.
- On the basis of their submissions, Dobson Cup applicants will be assigned a track (i.e. science & technology, not for profit, web and mobile based communications, etc.)
NOTE: The public description will be published and therefore must not contain any trade secrets, unprotected technologies or other confidential information. Submissions requiring confidentiality agreements will not be accepted.听 Page number limitations should not be exceeded as they will not be considered.
2. Plan Format Guidelines
Teams should communicate the following:
- Management Team
- Who are you?
- Why are you doing this?
- Why will you succeed?听
- Why will you actually go through with your project (versus being a competition surfer)?
- Product and service offering (e.g., the problem and
your solution)
- Brief description of offering
- What problem or need does it solve? What are the benefits of your product?
- Unique Differentiators
- Why is this unique or different from competition?
- Is this difference sustainable (e.g., patents, intellectual property, etc.)?
- Market Opportunity & Target Customers
- Who are the targeted customers?
- What is the size of the market?
- Is there evidence they will buy the product?
- Current Development Stage
- What is the current status of technology/venture?
- What are key next steps?
- Business Model - how will the company generate profitable revenue?
- Milestones and Success Metrics
- What are the success metrics?
- What is the exit strategy?
- Capital Needs
- How much funding is needed to move forward?
- How will the money be used?
- Why is your business an attractive investment?
3. Preparing the competition entry
The business plan must be rigorous. The business plan should be prepared with an outside audience in mind, such as a banker or venture capitalist.听听 Numbers and facts should be used to back up your claims.听
Technical descriptions should be accurate but concise.听The reader will want to know what demand exists and how money can be made using the business idea.
The text should be factual and readable.听 Start with the business idea. Present the solution. Technology can be described in the appendices.
Credibility and viability are key components of a business plan. Elements that create a credible business plan are market data, financials, technical details, a description of the management team and the factual references.听 Credibility is the ultimate theme of the business plan.
4. Advancement
Successful teams will be contacted by Friday, April 20th, 2012 to make a ten minute power point pitch in front of a panel of judges on Thursday, April 26th, 2012. 听(Teams will be notified regarding time of day and venue.听
Finalists will be notified by Monday, April 30th, 2012 and will then proceed to Phase 3 outlined below.
Phase 3 - (Final) Business Plan
Fifteen page Business Plan, due via email by 23h59, Friday, May 11th, 2012
dobsoncupbusplancomp.mgmt [at] mcgill.ca
1. Formal requirements for the competition entry
The following requirements must be met in order to participate.听 Failure to comply may lead to disqualification.
The competition entry for Phase 3 must include:
- Front-page:
- a. 300-character public description about business idea.
- b. The name(s) of the one to five team members.
- c. The 污污草莓视频 affiliation of at least one group member, indicated on cover page of submission.
- d. Up-to-date phone number and e-mail of your team's contact person.
- e. 污污草莓视频 student ID #s (as applicable).
- f. Non-污污草莓视频 affiliations (student of other universities etc.) should also be clearly indicated on title page (i.e. name, faculty and university).
- no more than 15 pages of text.
- no more than five additional pages of appendices.
- 1.5 spacing, 12pt font, times new roman.
- availability of at least one group member to present the plan in person (10 min. presentation, plus questions).
- The business plan and appendices must be in the same file.
NOTE: The public description will be published and therefore must not contain any trade secrets, unprotected technologies or other confidential information.听听听 Submissions requiring confidentiality agreements will not be accepted.听 Page number limitations should not be exceeded as they will not be considered.
2. Competition Guidelines
During Stage 3, the jury will evaluate the same aspects of the business plan as outlined in Phase 2 (see Phase 2 for greater detail).
3. Final Judging
Finalists will then be contacted to present their business plan in person to the panel of judges on Thursday, May 31st, 2012. 听(Teams will be notified regarding time of day and venue.)
Winners will be announced Thursday, June 7th, 2012.
Prizes totalling $50,000
1st Place: $10,000听听听 2nd Place: $9,000听听听听 3rd Place: $8,000听听听 4th Place: $7,000听听听 5th Place: $6,000
Not for profit category prizes: $10,000 (total)
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