High Growth Tech Start-Up:
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The 2009 Business Plan Competition at The Merage School of Business is one of the nation's premier business plan competitions offering all UC Irvine students, staff and researchers the opportunity to form a team, create a business plan and potentially fund their business idea all within seven months. The competition started with our Kick-off event at the UC Irvine Student Center and ended with the Final Presentations and Awards Ceremony on Thursday, April 30, 2009, where $30,000 in cash prizes was awarded. Between the kick-off and finals, we offered four 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.
The Business Plan Competition is being sponsored by Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth Attorneys at Law
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The Don Beall Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship is pleased to announce the winners of the 2009 Business Plan Competition at the Paul Merage School of Business!
All of these teams competed on April 30 in front of a panel of investors from around Orange County for $30,000 in cash prizes.
Congratulations to the following teams:
Overall Competition
1st Place
ZeroWatt
$15,000 Prize
2nd Place
Diamas
$7,500
3rd Place
SIMON
$2,500
4th Place
Travelmate
$2,500
Undergraduate Competition
1st Place
Happy Sleep
$2,500
To get more information on each of the semi-finalist teams, click on their respective link. You can view their elevator pitches as well!
Alu Enterprizes
Special purpose CPU for database processing
Elevator Pitch
Astrowatch
Mobile astrology entertainment application
Elevator Pitch
ConnectMedical
Network-based preventive healthcare monitoring
Elevator Pitch
HappySleep
Bluetooth wristband alarm
Elevator Pitch
Kadho
Educational toy for English as a second language training
Elevator Pitch
Lifelong Biocoats
Diamond coating for surgical instruments
Elevator Pitch
Plexision Microelectronics
Ultra low-power, multi-channel, integrated circuits communications for
biomedical sensor applications
Elevator Pitch
Qualight Superconductor Technology
Quartz-based, high-temperature superconductors
Elevator Pitch
Relecom
Performance metrics for online, multi-channel marketing mixes
Elevator Pitch
Savant
Academic research portal for finding, organizing and sharing knowledge
Elevator Pitch
SIMON
Wristband for vital sign monitoring
Elevator Pitch
SweatGreen Gym
Green energy exercise equipment
Elevator Pitch
TLS
Prospective employee fit assessment
Elevator Pitch
Tourgether
Real-time, on-site travel information service based on mobile network
Elevator Pitch
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This Year's Winning Team -- ZeroWatt
Left to Right: Payam Heydari, Vipul Jain, Goran Matijasevik (Coach), Fred Tzeng, Thomas Pearson, Howard Ko
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April 13, 2009
Business Plans due via YouNoodle by Midnight
April 30, 2009
Final Presentations and Awards
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| 1. Competition Format |
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The Competition has several phases:
Phase One:
Concept Paper Phase –
Winter quarter, 2009, the Competition begins by registering student teams (by 5 pm Friday, January 9, 2009). This is required.
Teams submit a three-page Concept Paper about a business idea that they would like to pursue (by February 9, 2009.)
This initial three-page document is the equivalent of an Executive Summary of a business plan that the team will develop in the second phase of the competition. A guiding outline for the concept paper is provided on-line, and teams must register on-line before submitting their concept papers at (www.merage.uci.edu/go/bplan).
From the concept paper submissions, a maximum of 16 teams will be selected for participation in Phase II of the competition. The teams selected to continue in the competition will be notified February 18 and coaches will be matched with each of the semi-finalist teams. Awards are given to recognize the team with the best concept paper for the overall competition as well as to the team with the best undergraduate concept paper.
Phase Two:
Business Plan Development Phase – Teams that are selected for the second phase will have until April 13, 2009, to work with their coach to submit a complete business plan for the competition.
Deadline: One copy of the 15-page business plan (including all appendices) must be submitted by 11:59 PM Monday April 13, 2009 in order to compete in the final round of the 2009 Merage School of Business Campus-Wide Business Plan Competition. Please provide a cover sheet that gives contact information and the title and the names of the team members (including their respective school affiliations and graduate/undergraduate status). This cover page does not count against the 15-page maximum of the business plan. Please submit only one copy of your plan for the judges. Please do not submit business plans in covers or binding.
Business Plan Competition – The actual competition presentations will be made to a panel of judges on April 30, 2009 in Doheny Beach Rooms A-D at the UCI Student Center on the UCI Campus. This will be an all day event. Judges will make their decisions and the formal recognition of all award winners will be acknowledged that day.
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| 2. Teams |
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All UC Irvine Graduate and Undergraduate students are invited to participate in the business plan competition and to form or be part of a competing team.
Teams must have at least three (3) members: at least two (2) members must be registered UCI students, and at least one (1) member must be a student in one of the Merage School’s degree programs (full time MBA, fully employed MBA, executive MBA, health care executive MBA, joint-MBA and Masters programs with other UCI Schools, Doctoral and Undergraduate (major and minor) programs), A “registered student” is defined as a bona fide student registered at UC Irvine for at least two (2) quarters during the 08-09 academic year.
May teams include any non-UCI student members? Yes, once the team is organized by a UCI student and has at least one Merage School student member, non-students may participate as Auxiliary Members of the team. There is no official upper limit on the number of team members, however about five (5) members is the practical upper limit for an effective team, including any auxiliary members. Auxiliary (non-student members) are expected to be present with their team during all competition events.
Undergraduate Teams: An undergraduate team is defined as a team where all team members are current undergraduates. The team leader must be a registered UC Irvine undergraduate student in the Merage School of Business (majors as well as minors.) Undergraduate teams may compete for all overall competition prizes as well as specific undergraduate Awards.
IF you Need More Team Members: multiple networking events will be held fall 2008 and early winter, culminating in the competition kick-off on January 16, 2009. Networking events facilitate the team creation process, and you can locate a team to join and teams can recruit more members. Students campus-wide are encouraged to attend whether you have a firm concept developed or not.
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| 3. Business Plan/Idea |
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Teams must present an original idea for a company which may not have been in existence prior to 2007. Teams must be in a "pre-incubator" form and must not be backed by incubators, existing companies or venture capitalists.
Concept Paper and Business Plan Format:
Concept Papers must not be over three pages, excluding the cover page
Business Plans must not be over 15 pages, excluding the cover page
For both documents:
Margins must not be smaller than ½ of an inch on any side
Body text should be between 11 and 12 points inclusive.
Document text should be single-spaced
Submit stapled documents only with no covers or binders. These will be discarded before distribution to judges for review.
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| 4. Judging Guidelines |
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The judges are professionals who come from various business backgrounds and they include experienced investors (angels, venture capitalists, investment bankers), experienced entrepreneurs and senior business people and service professionals who interact with early stage companies like intellectual property attorneys and early stage accounting and consulting firms. Each judge is an expert in the process of starting a business. The judges consider specific criteria when evaluating concept papers and business plans, however ultimately, winning teams usually are those in which the judges would most likely invest their own money. This decision is influenced heavily by several factors:
Size and growth rate of the market addressed.
Likelihood that the team can create a sustainable competitive advantage.
Simplicity of the business model described.
Believability of the business plan, which includes:
Is this a realistic business opportunity?
Is the business model well thought out & have potential to be effective?
Do any prior benchmarks exist that the plan can be measured against?
Size of the initial (outside) investment required?
Length of the implementation process.
Can the team build the venture capabilities to become a market leader?
Does a clear target market and customer exist?
Does the management team have the skills to succeed?
When does the venture team expect to achieve profitability (break even &
profit)?
Is the plan concise and well written?
What will allow this business plan to have initial and sustained success?
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| 5. Award Divisions |
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The 2009 Merage School of Business Campus-Wide Business Plan Competition is organized into two award divisions:
· Overall Competition Award Division
· Undergraduate Award Division
All teams, including undergraduate teams compete in the Overall Competition Division, as it is open to all UC Irvine students, researchers and staff. Overall Competition Division teams must be led by a UCI student, must have at least three (3) members of which two (2) of members must be registered at UCI. Students, researchers and staff may be from any UCI school or department.
On the day of the final presentations, Undergraduate teams not placing in the Overall Competition will be considered for awards given in the Undergraduate Award Division. Teams considered for a registered UCI undergraduate must lead the Undergraduate Award Division, have at least three (3) members and be composed of only undergraduates. International teams are encouraged as are teams including members from other US universities. All Undergraduate Division teams must have at least two (2) registered UCI undergraduates participating on the team.
Tech Coast Angels Seed Financing Invitational
The teams placing 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the 2009 Merage School of Business Campus-Wide Business Plan Competition will automatically be invited to the Tech Coast Angels Seed Financing Invitational. In addition, at the discretion of the Tech Coast Angels, two “wild card” teams will be invited to the Tech Coast Angels Seed Financing Invitational. All five teams invited to the Invitational will have the opportunity to be assigned a Tech Coast Angel executive as a coach and be screened by the Tech Coast Angel membership for up to $1,000,000 in seed financing. Teams will have 6 months to prepare their presentation before the Tech Coast Angels and another 6 months to secure financing through the Angels.
Teams competing in the 2009 Merage School of Business Campus-Wide Business Plan Competition with the objective of being invited to the Tech Coast Angels Seed Financing Invitational should focus on business ideas that have a potential for high growth, a strong market position, and a sustainable advantage. Specifically, Tech Coast Angel investors look for:
- A market opportunity sufficiently large to create a business with at least $50 to $100 million in annual revenues within 60 months.
- A compelling, well articulated strategy for capturing and defending a significant market share.
- Proprietary technology or other strong barriers to entry.
- Strong management (not necessarily a complete team) with relevant and successful experience.
- An exit strategy for the investors.
- A desire for advice and coaching.
- Last, the company valuation must fit within the Team's risk/reward expectations for the investment.
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| 6. Competition Registration |
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Registering for the 2009 Merage School of Business Campus-Wide Business Plan Competition is easily completed by simply clicking on the link at the top of the website.
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| 7. Competition Calendar |
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Wednesday, November 19, 2008
2009 BPC Kick-Off
UC Irvine Student Center
Pacific Ballroom CD
5:30-8:30 pm
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
2009 BPC Workshop
Assessing the Market
Calit2 Auditorium
6-8:30 pm
Andy Mindlin, RealWorld Marketing
Friday, January 9, 2009
Competition Registration Closes
5:00 pm
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
2009 BPC Workshop
How to Develop a Winning Concept and Lead Your Team to Success
Calit2 Auditorium
6-8:30 pm
Joel Calvo, Calvo Capital
Charlie Baecker, Don Beall Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Monday, February 9. 2009
Competition Deadline:
Concept Papers Due
SB 230
5:00 pm
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Competition Advisory Board Meeting
Merage School Executive Commons
MPAA
7:30 am
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Competition Semi-Finalists Announced
5:00 pm
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
2009 Team/Coach Mixer & BPC Workshop
How to Write a Business Plan
Calit2 Atrium & Auditorium
5-8:30pm
Seth Yakatan, Yakatan and Associates
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
2009 BPC Workshop
Presentation Skills for Pitching Investors
Calit2 Auditorium
6:00-8:30 pm
Mike Cannon, Mainpoint Communications
Monday, April 13, 2009
Business Plans Due
Submit via YouNoodle by 11:59 PM
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Elevator Pitch Video Taping
Teaching, Learning & Technology Center
6:00 pm
Monday, April 20, 2009
OC Register People’s Choice Poll Begins (On-line Event)
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Competition Judges Orientation Breakfast
Merage School Executive Commons
7:30-9:00 am
Thursday, April 30, 2009
2009 Competition Finals and Awards Ceremony
UC Irvine Student Center
Doheny A-D, Emerald Bay A-E, and Crescent Bay A-D
8:00 am-5:00 pm
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
BPC Volunteer Recognition Luncheon
Merage School Executive Commons
11:30 am – 2:00 pm
Competition Deadline:
Business Plans Due
Submit via YouNoodle by Midnight
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| Resources for Participants |
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There will be numerous resources available to the teams throughout the competition. They are as follows:
- List of reading materials on this site
- Links to various websites and online publications
- Guidelines on what is expected in the concept paper and final business plans
- Workshops on the key elements of a business plan will be offered from January through April
- Team coaches for teams selected for Phase II
Also contribute to the innovative spirit and economic success of Southern California.
2009 Merage School of Business Campus-Wide Business Plan Competition Resources
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