MABPC - Mid-Atlantic Business Plan Competition

Rules & Guidelines

• Student Rules & Team Guidelines
• Faculty Sponsor Guidelines

Student Rules & Team Guidelines

Welcome to the 2008 Mid-Atlantic Business Plan Competition, produced by the MIT Enterprise Forum of Washington-Baltimore in partnership with Georgetown University.

The Competition allows students, working as individuals or teams, the opportunity to submit a business idea to be evaluated by a panel of professionals which may include academics, venture capitalists, experienced entrepreneurs, high-tech industry leaders, CPAs, and attorneys.

The goal of this competition is to provide students with the education, skills, and motivation necessary to create a viable business a competitive environment that expose them to some of the challenges inherent with tech startups. A grand prize package consisting of cash and products or services to assist in starting a business will be awarded to the top scoring team.

Additionally, in the spirit of competition, the leader of the winning team will be presented with an authentic championship-style belt manufactured by Wildcat Championship Belts of Latrobe, Pennsylvania, a supplier to the professional sporting world. This is the only business plan competition in the nation with such a unique "bragging rights" award. In order to take advantage of these prizes, all businesses must plan to participate throughout the semester and adhere to the following guidelines.

The process extends through the entire spring 2008 semester, culminating on April 26th, 2008, on the beautiful campus of Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. The competition consists of three rounds. Feedback and instruction are given for each round so it is not necessary to have any business background to enter. It is helpful to have team members with different areas of expertise. A mandatory Facebook group has been created for networking and forming teams. Even if you already have a team, the Facebook group is necessary for competition questions and other communications.

Eligibility

• Any undergraduate or graduate student attending a degree granting institution in Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia and enrolled for classes in Spring 2008 at that institution is eligible to compete. Graduates who have earned a degree from one of those institutions since the Spring 2007 semester are also eligible. Team members are not required to be from the same institution.
• All business entries must be for-profit enterprises with a main line of business in the technology sector. Non-profit businesses are not eligible.
• Teams with business plans that have previously received external funding (family, friends, private investors, bank loans, venture capitalists, etc.) of $50,000 or greater are not eligible.
• Teams with business plans affiliated with an existing business are not eligible to compete, unless the scope of the entry covers expansion into a significantly different industry or customer base, or a major geographic expansion (e.g. franchising or expanding from local to national).
• All team members must join the Facebook group set up for this event using their college email address (with an .edu domain)
• Teams may be comprised of any number of students, but teams that make it to the semi-final and final rounds may not have more than four presenters. Each team must designate a student leader to serve as a point of contact for all subsequent Competition communications.
• Team members must be registered via this website and submit an Executive Summary of their proposed business by Sunday, March 9th, 2008.
• All proposed businesses should be located or have an office in Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, or the District of Columbia. For the purposes of entering the Competition, this is not a strict requirement; however, prize sponsors have the discretion of setting geographic conditions for the award or delivery of their respective prizes and may deny award based on the actual location of a student business if it is not in the Mid-Atlantic Region as defined by this Competition.
• Faculty advisors are not required, but teams are encouraged to seek one for the duration of the program.
• Teams are encouraged, but not required, to review any other resource materials provided by the Competition, or attend any training produced by the Competition or posted on the Competition website.

Competition Schedule

Round 1: Submission Deadline: Sunday, March 9th, 2008

Requires a three- to five-page Executive Summary of the business idea. The purpose of the Executive Summary is to provide a vision for the proposed venture, including the business concept, target customers, industry overview, competitive advantage, and revenue potential.

Each summary must be submitted in Microsoft Word or PDF format, 11-point Ariel font, double-spaced with 1-inch margins. There must be a cover sheet with: the business name (the cover sheet is not included in the 5-page maximum requirement); an abstract of the proposed business in no more than 200 words; the team leader, and team members with corresponding schools major/degrees, and graduation dates.

The nature of any previous external funding or affiliation to an existing business must clearly be disclosed and described. For tips in creating an Executive Summary, team members may refer to the links provided at the Resources page of this website.

Teams will electronically attach one copy of the cover sheet and Executive Summary at the bottom of the Participation Agreement Form on the Registration page of this website. This will be scored by a panel of judges and up to ten to twelve teams may be selected and invited to advance to the Semi-Final Rounds. Entries will be judged by a panel of technology and business leaders, experienced entrepreneurs, academics, CPAs, and venture capitalists using a scoring system approved by the Competition Committee.

Judges are also asked to comment on each reviewed summary. After the scoring is tabulated, the semifinalists' teams will be announced via email around Monday, March 24th, 2008. Posting to the official website for the 2008 Mid-Atlantic Business Plan Competition, MABPC.org will occur shortly thereafter.

Round 2 (Semi-Finals): Saturday, April 26th, 2008 at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

Teams invited to the Semi-Final Rounds must submit a full Business Plan by Monday, April 21st, 2008 in order to accommodate adequate distribution to the judging pool. Electronic copies of the full business plan should be sent to judging@mabpc.org.

The required format for all business plans is as follows:

• Business plans should be no longer than twenty-five (25) pages of text plus no more than ten (10) additional pages of tables, exhibits, figures and appendices. No attachments of any kind beyond this number of pages (plus contact sheet) are allowed. Longer business plans will be disqualified.
• The title of the electronic document should be the "Business Number" (as listed at http://www.mabpc.org/teams/) - "Business Name" Business Plan (i.e. "Business 00 - ABC Company Business Plan." DO NOT merely title the document "Business Plan."
• All entries must include a contact sheet containing the following team information: Business or company name/title, Names and affiliations of all team members, Primary & Secondary team contact name, Proof of eligibility (Proof of eligibility may include: a copy of an official transcript or diploma; a signed affidavit from an instructor in whose class you are enrolled; semester payment receipt; or current student photo ID.), Primary & Secondary Mailing address, Primary & Secondary contact phone number, Primary & Secondary contact E-mail address. The contact sheet is not counted in the twenty-five page limitation.
• All plans should contain standard 81/2 x 11" pages with no less than 1" margins on all sides.
• Text should be single-spaced Arial font and not smaller than 11 point font for text and 8 point font for spreadsheets.
• Plans must be submitted in electronic format; entries may use either Microsoft Word for Windows or PDF as the file format.
• The business plan header shall include the business or company name/title and the footer should state: "2008 Mid-Atlantic Business Plan Competition."
• Business plans that do not conform to these rules will be disqualified.

Each invited team must travel at their own expense to the designated university venue where they will present their business plan in the morning before a judging panel. Attendance is mandatory for all team members. There will also be some ad hoc questions by the judges that must be answered satisfactorily. The top five to six teams based on the scoring will advance to the next round.

In this Round, teams in the competition will be divided into "portfolios." The portfolio will consist of Teams, "clustered" by industry sector, to the extent possible. Judges will be assigned to portfolios based on their background and areas of expertise, to the extent possible. The Teams will present in breakout rooms at the venue before a panel of judges who share the same portfolio. Each Team will have a total of 15 minutes for presentation and Q&A. Judges can interrupt at anytime and ask questions and are encouraged to do so. Each judge will assess the oral presentations in terms of coherence, poise, and professionalism, including impressions from any impromptu answers using the scorecard provided.

During the competition, judges are asked to evaluate each team individually and should not discuss their evaluation with other judges until all judges' evaluation forms have been submitted. The winning team(s) from each portfolio will be determined by the judges' scoring. This scoring will be based on the judges' impression of the business plan, presentation and subsequent willingness to invest in the company as noted above. The scoring will be completed by the judges at the end of each presentation.

For both Round 2 and Round 3, a shared computer and projector will be available. Teams may bring their own laptops for backup but are also are responsible for bringing their presentations as PowerPoint 2003 files on thumbnail drives for downloading onto the shared computers they will be using.

The use of easels, props, models, or live demonstrations of software or products is allowed but the setting up and breaking down must occur within the alloted times for team presentations.

The top ranked teams from each of the portfolios will advance to the Final Round. In total, up to five or six teams will advance. Announcement of the finalists will be publicly made on midday after the lunch break.

Round 3 (Finals): STARTUP SMACKDOWN! Saturday, April 26th, 2008 at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

The remaining teams make their full presentations in the afternoon before a public audience and judging panel that will see all Finalist presentations. Each team will be given 20 uninterrupted minutes to present their plan. This will be followed by a 20 minute Q&A session with the judges. All team members must be present for the competition. Not all are required to present before the audience, but should be available for Q&A. The team with the highest score will win the STARTUP SMACK DOWN! Championship Belt and other prizes. Depending on the makeup of the competitive pool and at the discretion of the Judging Committee, there may be one or more runner ups, and an award for concept (if not incorporated), and an undergraduate team award and graduate team award. However, the STARTUP SMACKDOWN! Champion will walk away with most of the prizes.

Important Dates

• Saturday, December 1, 2007
  Competition Registration Commences
• Wednesday, February 6, 2008
  Tentative Value Propositions & Executive Summary Tutorial Webcast
• Sunday, March 9th, 2008
  Team Registrations & Executive Summaries Due
• Monday, March 24th, 2008
  Semi-Finalist Notification
• Wednesday, April 16, 2008
  Tentative Public Speaking Tutorial Webcast
• Monday, April 21, 2008
  Semi-Finalist Full Business Plans Due via Email
• Saturday, April 26th, 2008
  Semi-Final & Final Rounds at Georgetown University, Washington, DC
  Win valuable prizes & the "Startup Smack Down!" Championship Belt!

All prize proceeds may be revoked if the recipients are found to have violated any of the competition's rules and regulations. The Mid-Atlantic Business Plan Competition and the MIT Enterprise Forum of Washington-Baltimore is not responsible for the content or quality of any in-kind services that may be provided as awards for the competition.

ENTRANTS ARE URGED TO CHECK THIS SITE AND THE MANDATORY FACEBOOK GROUP FREQUENTLY DURING THE COMPETITION PERIOD FOR RESPONSES AND OTHER INFORMATION AND ANNOUNCEMENTS OF INTEREST TO COMPETITION ENTRANTS..

If an Entrant believes that there is any ambiguity, conflict, discrepancy, omission or other error in these rules, such Entrant should immediately notify the Administrator of such error or request clarification of or modification to this document. Such notice shall be given prior to the final filing date for submission of entries. Modification of these rules, when appropriate, will be made by addenda hereto and distributed to all parties who have entered this competition and will be posted and available a MABPC.org.

COMPETITION COMMITTEE MEMBERS WILL NOT SERVE AS JUDGES OR COACHES DURING ANY PART OF THIS COMPETITION UNLESS ASSIGNED BY THE COMMITTEE CHAIR..

Faculty Sponsor Guidelines

Eligibility

• Any current full-time or adjunct faculty member at a degree granting institution in Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia may serve as a faculty sponsor.
• The faculty member should have knowledge, experience, or training relevant to the student team's business idea.
• Faculty advisors are not required for teams to compete, but teams are encouraged to utilize one.
• An eligible faculty member may sponsor more than one team.

Responsibilities

• All conversations, advice, etc., for each team sponsored will be considered as proprietary information and not shared with other teams.
• When a faculty member advises more than one team, please be equitable in the time and advice provided to the multiple teams.
• Sponsors take an active part in advising the team during the creation of the plan, but it is not a requirement or expectation. Active participation might include such things as:
        - Periodically reviewing the student team's work product.
        - Providing the team with time as requested by the student team.
        - Reviewing a draft of the completed plan prior to submission.
• Faculty sponsors will review the plan idea with the students to determine its viability.
        - If plans require significant capital investment (millions of dollars), advisors should help the students think through and articulate realistically where the money will come from.
        - Consider if a plan were to be funded, is there a probability this could be a workable business or nonprofit organization?
• Sponsors may assist in locating the other advisors or members for the student team.
        - Sponsors are asked to certify that the school advisor is an entrepreneur or business professional with relevant expertise.
        - Sponsors are asked ensure that any additional advisor does not write or play an active role in the writing of any portion of the plan. Faculty sponsors and other advisors will discuss, suggest, or advise, not create or do the students' work.
• Faculty sponsors are requested to attend the STARTUP SMACKDOWN! Event in Spring 2008 if their sponsored team is selected as a finalist.

Conditions

• Faculty sponsors are not eligible to serve as reviewers or judges in the competition.
• The faculty sponsor may advise, but may not participate in, the creation or presentation of the business plan.
• Faculty sponsors are not eligible to share in any award.