The Fisher Business Plan Competition

The Ohio State University Business Plan Competition Official Rules & Requirements The Ohio State University Business Plan Competition provides a forum for faculty, students and community entrepreneurs to win more than $130,000 in cash and services to use as start-up funds to transform an idea into a thriving business.

The Spirit of the Competition

The Ohio State Business Plan Competition purports to stimulate and nourish the entrepreneurial spirit in any full-time or part-time Ohio State University student. In particular, this competition seeks to:

 Encourage entrepreneurially-oriented graduate and undergraduate students to develop and grow new ventures based on their own ideas and technologies.

 Provide the students with educational workshops to develop their ideas and pitch their ventures to investors. These programs provide constructive feedback for increasing the probability of successfully launching their ventures

 Provide the best business plans with substantial resources to assist the winning student teams with launching their ventures.

To provide a relatively level “playing field” for student teams, the directors of the Ohio State Business Plan Competition and the Center for Entrepreneurship at the Fisher College of Business have developed the following set of rules that all participating teams are expected to satisfy. At the same time, the directors recognize that no set of rules, no matter how thorough or carefully developed, can ever cover all circumstances. Accordingly, all teams are expected to abide by the specific rules enumerated below as well as the overall spirit of the competition. The directors reserve the right to disqualify any team that violates the rules, regulations, or the spirit of the competition.

Round 1: Conceptual Business Case Round

After registering for the competition, teams begin the competition by submitting Conceptual Business Cases that clearly explain the business ideas and market opportunities for their given products or services. Judges evaluate the cases and select the top business ideas based on specific investment criteria to advance to the second round.

Round 2: Business Plan Round

During this round, the teams test viability, perform market analyses, prepare financial projections, identify customers, and write complete business plans for their ideas. After teams submit their business plans, judges review the plans and select the finalist based on the overall quality of the opportunity, management team strength, market dynamic, and other investment criteria. Round 3: The Final Event & Awards Reception

The finalists present their business plans to a panel of expert judges (entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, private investors, faculty, and leading consultants) during the final event. Judges select the first, second, and third-place winner. The Awards Reception takes place after all tracks of the competition are completed and the Center for Entrepreneurship announces the winners at that time.

1. Student Involvement

The competition is for student created, managed, and owned ventures. In other words, students must

 have played a major role in conceiving the venture,

 have key management roles in the venture, and

 own significant equity in the venture.

In general, a member of the student team should be CEO, COO, or President of the venture, or members of the student team should occupy 50% or more of the functional area management positions that report directly to the CEO, COO, or President. Members of the student team should also own 50% or more of the equity allocated to the management team and key advisors. An equity position of less than 50% of the equity allocated to the management team and key advisers, and/or less than 20% of the total equity of the venture will be questioned and require the students to show evidence that they were a major cause in the venture creation.

2. Team Composition

This is a competition for graduate and undergraduate students, and at least one Ohio State student must be a member of the venture’s startup management team. All current OSU undergraduates and all graduate students are eligible. This includes executive MBA students. Non-students may be members of the venture’s management team and may participate in planning the venture, presenting the plan, and answering questions from the competition judges. There is no restriction on the total size of the venture’s founding team. Participants in the competition are encouraged to only enter one business plan as we feel this is the most effective way for an individual or team to learn from the competition process in a focused manner.

3. Student Enrollment

The competition is for students enrolled in the current academic year. Students who graduated in the preceding academic year are not eligible to participate. However, an exception will be made for students who both wrote their business plans for academic credit and graduated during the preceding summer. 4. Nature of Ventures

The competition is for new, independent ventures in the seed, start-up, or early growth stages. Generally excluded are the following: buy-outs, expansions of existing companies, real estate syndications, tax shelters, franchises, licensing agreements for distribution in a different geographical area, and spin-outs from existing corporations. Licensing technologies from universities or research labs are not excluded and are encouraged assuming the technology have not been previously commercialized. All ventures must be seeking outside equity capital. A business entity must be formed to receive cash and in-kind awards.

5. Prior Activity

 Ventures with revenues in prior academic years are excluded.

 Ventures that have raised equity capital from sources other than the members of the student team before the current academic year are excluded.

 Ventures that have legally set up a venture identity or have undertaken any other formal startup activities prior to the current academic year are excluded. However, both student and other team members may have worked on an idea or new technology in previous academic years or in the case of the student team members even prior to entering graduate (undergraduate) school, provided that their venture had no revenues and raised no outside equity capital., and/or did not undertake any other formal startup activities prior to the current academic year.

6. University Sponsored

Teams are encouraged to seek the involvement of Ohio State faculty, alumni, post-docs, researchers, staff, students from other universities, and people from outside the Ohio State community. Ideally, the business plan will be prepared for credit in a regularly scheduled course or as an independent study. The business plan must represent the original work of members of the team.

7. Intellectual Property

Submitted ideas are protected in the spirit of non-disclosure, where all entry materials will be treated as company confidential. The only persons with access to the entry materials will be judges and select members of the organizing committee. Materials will not be distributed to any other party, unless requested by an entrant team. No other special provisions are made to protect intellectual property.

8. Appeals

Any prospective team can ask for special consideration on any rule described herein. The appeal; must be made in writing directly to the Program Coordinator of the Ohio State Business Plan Competition, Nikki Modlich ([email protected]). The appeal must state clear evidence for why a particular ruling should be reconsidered. The Program Coordinator and the Executive Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship will review and decide each appeal on a case to case basis. The decision of the Program Coordinator and the Center is final.

1. Registration

1. Each team leader must register via the Ohio State Business Plan Competition link of the Center for Entrepreneurship’s website and invite other team members to join the team prior to participating in the competition. 2. Further, at registration, all teams must review the Official Rules and Submission Requirements. Registration to the competition constitutes compliance with the eligibility requirements. There must be at least one current Ohio State student member of the team.

2. Conceptual Business Case: Round 1 (see specific Judging Criteria below)

1. Conceptual Business Cases need to clearly communicate the project’s opportunity in a way that those unfamiliar with the project will have sufficient information to make an informed decision on it. 2. The Conceptual Business Cases should be no more than three pages long and should provide a concise outline of the team’s business idea. 3. Judges will review the Conceptual Business Cases, selecting approximately 35 teams to receive an invitation to compete in the Business Plan Round (Round 2). 4. Conceptual Business Cases must be submitted via the website and can only be done after a team has fully registered for the competition. 5. Advancing teams will be notified via email. 6. Conceptual Business Cases will be judged based on the overall fundability of the business idea, with the following specific judging criteria:

 The Problem – What problem do you solve and how significant is the problem?  The Solution - What is your solution and how is it unique?  Market & Opportunity – What market and target segments are your trying to reach? What is its size and scope?  Go to Market Strategy – What is your plan to reach your primary target markets and why do you believe it will be successful?  Implementation Plan – Specify the necessary steps to move your concept from idea to business (or market) in the next 12 – 24 months.

3. Business Plan: Round 2

1. The completed business plan must start with a one-page executive summary. 2. Plans must be limited to 10 pages (typed and double-spaced, #12 font, and 1-1-1-1 margins) of text, including the executive summary and summary financial data. Detailed spreadsheets and appropriate appendices may follow the text portion of the plan but will be limited to five pages. In total, the plan should be no longer than 15 pages. 3. Plans should include a description of a working model or prototype, if appropriate. 4. Financial data should include a cash flow statement, income statement, and balance sheet. Accompanying tables should include an explanation of the offering to investors indicating how much money is required, how it will be used, and the proposed structure of the deal, i.e., stock, debentures, etc. The team is not required to reveal its desired deal, although the judges may ask questions about it. 5. Delineate the possible exit strategies. 6. Appendices should be included only when they support the findings, statements and observations in the plan. Because of the number of teams in the competition, judges may not be able to read all the material in the appendices. Therefore, the text portion of the plan (20 pages) must contain all pertinent information in a clear and concise manner. 7. All plans submitted for the Business Plan Round will receive written feedback from at least three judges. 8. Business plans will be reviewed based on the following criteria: viability, overall quality of the opportunity, management team strength, market dynamic, financial projections, market analyses, identification of customers, and other investment criteria. 9. Final business plans must be submitted via the website by the deadline. 10. Advancing teams will be notified via email.

4. Final Presentation Final Round

1. During the Final Round, each team will be given 12 minutes to orally present its business plan followed by a 10-minute question and answer session between the presenting team and the judges. THESE TIME LIMITS WILL BE STRICTLY ENFORCED. 2. The teams will present their business plans to a panel of expert judges made up of entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, private investors, faculty, and leading consultants. 3. Judges will select three finalists, identifying first-, second-, and third-place winners.

Awards must be redeemed within one year of the announcement of the winners of the competition and a business entity must be formed to receive the award.