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"I wanted to develop a technology that would dramatically improve the  speed of wireless data. The problem for wireless users today is that they are limited to the speed and coverage of a single wireless network. With our technology, everyone will be able to access all available wireless networks simultaneously - thereby creating much faster and more reliable wireless service."
Matt Knebl, Team Leader, Presto Wireless
CFO/COO/ Engineering Consultant, Waterdog Engineering Inc. Class of 2008
One of the nation’s premier business plan competitions is held right here at UC Irvine – the Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth Business Plan Competition. This competition garners international media interest and awards prizes of up to $30,000. Participants have the opportunity to form a team, create a business plan, and potentially fund their business idea – all within five exciting months.
Although the competition is open to all UC Irvine students, FEMBA students have a unique advantage. With their foundation of Merage knowledge and training, they can leverage this experience as they form teams, write concept papers, develop business plans and present their ideas. In fact, FEMBA students were on the team that took first place in the Business Plan Competition in 2008.
Left to right: Prof. Kaye Schoonhoven, UCI; Craig Jack, Coach; Aric Plumley, Presto; Mark Skaist,
Straddling Yocca Carlson and Rauth; Vishal Kanodia, Presto; Matt Knebl, Presto; Anil Sharma, Presto;
Shankara Raghuraman, Presto; Andrew Monteabaro, Presto; Dean Policano, UCI; Charlie Baecker, UCI
Presto Wireless bested 19 other competing teams with their innovative idea to revolutionize the wireless world. "This competition is another great example of taking what we learn in the classroom, as well as our collective experience, into a real-world application. Successful start-up concepts must be able to effectively utlitize both." - Anil Sharma, Presto Wireless
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Teams must present an original idea for a company, which must not have been in existence prior to the competition. Teams must be in "pre-incubator" form and must not be backed by incubators, existing companies or venture capitalists.
The competition kicks off in January, with the awards ceremony in the spring. In between, participants can take advantage of seven workshops covering a broad area of business plan development skills, led by leading practitioners from Orange County. The competition also provides individual team coaches to all teams that qualify for the semi-finals.
For 2008, the following cash prizes were awarded:
| 1st Place, Overall Competition |
$15,000 |
| 2nd Place, Overall Competition |
$7,500 |
| 3rd Place, Overall Competition |
$2,500 |
| 1st Place, Undergraduate |
$2,500 |
| 2nd Place, Undergraduate |
$1,500 |
| 3rd Place, Undergraduate |
$1,000 |
| Best Concept Paper, Overall Competition |
Certificate |
| Best Undergraduate Concept Paper |
Certificate |
An Opportunity to Generate an Additional $1 Million
This year’s competition will again feature the Tech Coast Angels Seed Financing Invitational. The top three teams from the 2008 Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth Business Plan Competition and two wild card teams will each be assigned a coach and will be invited to pitch their business plans to the Tech Coast Angels. Teams are given the opportunity to generate up to $1,000,000 in start-up capital for their business idea.
Find out more about the FEMBA Team who won 1st place
[2008 Business Plan Competition.pdf]
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