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Company/Team Name 19th Annual Edward L. Kaplan, ’71, New Venture Challenge (NVC) and 5th Annual John Edwardson, ’72, Social New Venture Challenge (SNVC) 2015 FEASIBILITY SUMMARY COVER SHEET COMPANY/TEAM NAME: Please consider our application for (check all that apply): __✓ Traditional New Venture Challenge (NVC) ___ Social New Venture Challenge (SNVC) Team Members (Please list main contact for your team first): Name Email Address Booth Class Year or Affiliation Evening/Weekend (if non-Booth) Expected Date David Rabie 2015 Aubrey Donnellan 2015 Trina Assur 2015 Katarina Karottki 2016 Emily Theis 2015 Anqi Wang IIT Institute of Design Please list all the participants who contributed significantly to the Business Idea. Attach additional sheets if necessary. Business Description The Maestro is a smart countertop appliance that cooks a fresh, complete meal. We mail our customers fresh grains, vegetables and proteins in our custom pods, specially designed for the Maestro. Using induction heating, the machine then coordinates timing and temperature to boil, steam and roast meals to perfection. Problem This Business is Addressing: For young professionals and dual-working households, making fresh, healthy and tasty food on a daily basis is complicated and time consuming. Supplying fresh meat and veggies, preparing recipes and seasonings, juggling the cooking of multiple dishes, and doing the cleaning can be impossible with only 30 minutes to spare in a hectic day. Social Impact of Business: (For Social NVC applicants only) Initial Target Customer Segment: 1. Primary Target Market: Young Achieversi o US Households: 12,418,238 © 2015 The University of Chicago Booth School of Business Last Revised 2/8/15 www.chicagobooth.edu/entrepreneurship o Median Household Income: $52,931, Ages: 26-45 o Description: This middle-to-upper income group lives in metro neighborhoods or near suburbs and shares the same life stage. They are focused on progressing in their careers, so efficiency in all areas of their lives is important. They have a progressive sensibility in their tastes and are increasingly health conscious. 2. Initial Target Market/Brand Figurehead: Young Digeratiii (subset of Young Achievers) o US Households: 1,542,616 o Median Household Income: $91,183, Ages: 26-45 o Description: This customer shares the life stage of the Young Achiever and is the most tech savvy and highly educated of that group. They can be found scouting the latest juice bars, coffee shops, and clothing boutiques thanks to their eye for trends and additional disposable income. Potential Market Size: (if available) Maestro is positioned to be at the intersection of three important trends affecting our target customer: the growth of smart appliances, increasing demand for convenient meals, and a heightened focus on health. We believe that we will be competing for overall share of our target customer’s monthly food budget, which they allocate into two buckets: at-home and out-of-home. Looking specifically at our Young Achiever target market (12.4 million), an estimate for their monthly food spending is $543/monthiii, which is a $6.5 billion market. Competing or substitutable products: (if available) There are no direct competitors that offer an end-to-end solution to cook fresh meals at home automatically. Based on the market opportunity (above), below is a breakdown of what primary parts of the food budget we plan to capture: • At-Home iv o Grocery o Frozen Food (i.e. Lean Cuisine, Amy’s, etc.) o Prepared Foods (i.e. “Heat and Eat”) • Away-From-Homev o Quick Service Restaurants - QSRs (i.e. Subway, Chipotle, etc.) o Grocery Delivery (i.e. Blue Apron, Plated, Instacart) o Delivery/Takeout Key milestones or estimated time to market: (if available) We have completed engineering requirements for our Maestro prototype and preliminary design for our beta app and website. The first Maestro prototype has a planned delivery in March by our partner engineering firm, Kyosay. Our chef, Helen Geddes, will have finalized the recipe for the prototype by March as well. The beta app and website should be finalized by end of March. From there, we will test the product & recipe with our target customers, finalize design, then launch our website and Kickstarter campaign in late May. We are actively seeking a partnership with a co- packing company and/or a professional food service company to help source, prep, pack and ship our ingredient pods to our customers. After completion of the Kickstarter campaign, we hope to spend our summer in an accelerator program as we prepare to go to market at the end of Q4. © 2015 The University of Chicago Booth School of Business Last Revised 2/8/15 www.chicagobooth.edu/entrepreneurship Why is this the right team to launch this business? Maestro has a very well-balanced team with diverse backgrounds and experiences ideally suited to launching our business: • David: Food operations with experience launching a business • Aubrey: Mechanical engineering and consulting • Trina: Finance • Kati: Business Development & Marketing • Emily: Merchandising & Marketing • Anqi: Industrial Design • Helen: Chef They are driven by the potential to help solve a big problem, plaguing a lot of people. It’s not easy to eat healthy. Maestro aims to fix that - and has a dedicated, smart and diverse team working to make that happen. © 2015 The University of Chicago Booth School of Business Last Revised 2/8/15 www.chicagobooth.edu/entrepreneurship CERTIFICATIONS AND AGREEMENTS 19th Annual Edward L. Kaplan, ’71, New Venture Challenge (NVC) and 5th Annual John Edwardson, ’72, Social New Venture Challenge (SNVC) The University of Chicago Booth School of Business Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation and Social Enterprise Initiative 5807 South Woodlawn Avenue, Chicago, IL 60637 By submitting a Business Idea (“the Idea”) to the University of Chicago Booth School of Business - New Venture Challenge or Social New Venture Challenge (“the Competition”), each Contestant listed below agrees to the following conditions: Originality of Plan. The ideas and concepts set forth in the Idea are the original work of the Contestants and that the Contestant is not under any agreement or restrictions which prohibit or restrict his or her ability to disclose or submit such ideas or concepts to the Competition. Compliance with Guidelines of the Competition. Each Contestant has reviewed the Entry Guidelines ("the Competition Guidelines") and by his or her signature below certifies that this entry and the team or individual it represents complies with the Guidelines and agrees to abide by the Guidelines. Recognition of Prize Money (New Venture Challenge only). As a condition to receive the Prize Money, each winning team must agree to provide Chicago Booth with equity in the Company (that was the subject of its business plan) in an amount equal to its respective award if the company receives funding or otherwise enters into a business combination transaction wherein the surviving entity receives financing or equity in another entity, within three years of the agreement date. Waivers and Releases. Each Contestant understands that the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, each of the co-sponsors, judges, mentors, co-organizers (the “Competition Officials”) and its directors, officers, partners, employees, consultants and agents (collectively “Organizer Representatives”) are volunteers and are under no obligation to render any advice or service to any Contestant. The views expressed by the judges, co-sponsors, co-organizers, and the Organizer Representatives are their own and not those of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business or any person or entity. Each Contestant also understands and agrees that although the Competition Officials have taken and will take the steps described in the Guidelines regarding confidentiality of the ideas and plans submitted by the Contestants, the legal protection of the ideas and plans submitted by the Contestants to the Competition is otherwise the sole responsibility of the Contestant. In consideration of the time, expertise and other resources provided by the Competition Officials and Organizer Representatives to the Competition, each Contestant hereby voluntarily releases each Competition Official and each Organizing Team Member from any further liabilities, responsibilities, and accountabilities relating to or arising out of such Competition Officials or Organizer Representative's participation in the Competition. Business Plan Name: Maestro Contestants (Team Members): List principal contestant (point-of-contact) first Name(s): Signature(s) (Check Box to sign electronically): Date(s): David Rabie ✓ 2-8-15 Aubrey Donnellan ✓ 2-8-15 Trina Assur ✓ 2-8-15 Katarina Karottki ✓ 2-8-15 Emily Theis ✓ 2-8-15 Anqi Wang ✓ 2-8-15 © 2015 The University of Chicago Booth School of Business Last Revised 2/8/15 www.chicagobooth.edu/entrepreneurship Mission Our vision is to make it easy to enjoy a fresh-cooked meal at home. To do so, we are building the Maestro - a machine that will boil, steam and roast ingredients automatically. Problem 1. For our target customer, it is very difficult to find the time to cook and/or eat healthy. 2. For others (i.e. people with diet restrictions), it is difficult to meet their nutrition needs. 3. For some (i.e. males, baby boomers), they don’t know how to cook or don’t have the energy to cook. Take Kevin. He’s in his early thirties, lives on the fringes of downtown and has a career that’s starting to take off. As he is warming up to the idea of a settled home life, he’s noticed some creaking in his knees, has cut back on his nights out and turned his attention to eating healthy. But between time with his fiancé, work, sleep and exercise, Kevin often finds himself resorting to quick options like Chipotle, Lean Cuisine, delivery or the Whole Foods salad bar. Kevin wishes he had more time, energy and knowledge to enjoy fresh-cooked meals at home.
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