The objectives of the competition are to encourage students to develop their entrepreneurial ideas, enhance understanding of requirements for a successful business venture, and showcase the creativity of students at Virginia Tech.

YouFolio - Grand Prize Winner of the 2012 Student Business Concept Competition
(pictured from left to right: Alex Freedman, Steven Zimmerman, Matthew Moore, & Kayvon Nikbakhshian)

Prizes
Grand Prize Winner of the Virginia Tech Student Business Concept Competition:

• receive $10,000 in scholarships
• qualify for the 2012 VT KnowledgeWorks Global Student Challenge (week-long, expense-paid celebration of student entrepreneurship with a $25,000 grand prize.)

2012 Student Competition Rules

Eligibility: The competition is open to all graduate and undergraduate students at Virginia Tech. All participants must be full-time, registered students at Virginia Tech with an average team age of 27 years or less to participate and receive prizes if selected as a finalist team. Up to five finalist teams will be selected to present at the Challenge. Students may elect to work with teams of up to five people.

Guidelines and Deadlines

1. February 10, 2012: Individual students or student teams of up to five students must register by purchasing an Intent to Compete form by midnight of February 10, 2012.

2. February 10, 2012: Students must submit a one-page summary of the business concept by following the one-page submission guidelines by midnight of February 10, 2012. These will be reviewed by a panel of faculty and local business leaders and those chosen to participate in the competition will be announced relatively soon after.

One-Page Summary Guidelines ~ Review before submission

3. March 9, 2012: The announced students and teams that were chosen to compete must submit a more detailed business concept document by following the submission guidelines. This is to be a three to five-page document and up to five finalists will be announced relatively soon after. The business concept document will be critiqued on the dimensions listed below.

Business Concept Guidelines ~ Review before submission

Note: Business concept documents should be submitted to christine.spalding@vtknowledgeworks.com.

Business Concept Criteria:

• Professionalism of submission or presentation
• Explanation of compelling customer need being met by the proposed product or service
• Size of the market opportunity (quantified)
• Competitive advantage of the company's product or service in the marketplace
• Management team's strengths, in terms of the core competencies needed for business success
• Proposed value proposition: how will value be created and captured by the business
• Business financial projections and the funding needed in its initial years

4. April 9, 2012:  Submit your final presentation to Dick Daugherty at dick.daugherty@vtknowledgeworks.com no later than midnight on Monday, April 9.

5. April 11, 2012: Up to five finalists will present their business concepts at the Entrepreneurship Challenge before a panel of judges as well as angel capital and business leaders and others attending the Challenge.

Presentation Guidelines ~ Review in preparation for presentation

Presentation Judging Criteria: Judges will rank the finalists and awards will be presented at the Networking Reception and Awards Presentation.

• Professionalism of submission or presentation
• Explanation of compelling customer need being met by the proposed product or service
• Size of the market opportunity (quantified)
• Competitive advantage of the company's product or service in the marketplace
• Management team's strengths, in terms of the core competencies needed for business success
• Proposed value proposition: how will value be created and captured by the business
• Business financial projections and the funding needed in its initial years

How to Prepare

1. Meet the above mentioned deadlines.
2. Carefully review and follow instructions and formats for the

• One-Page Summary Guidelines

• Business Concept Guidelines

• Presentation Guidelines

3. Review the Frequently Asked Questions section.