Founded in 1999, the UC Berkeley Business Plan Competition has continued to evolve as a leading Bay Area event and one of the nation’s foremost business plan competitions.
Rules of the Competition
Last Modified: Thu Apr 08 13:15:50 PDT 2010
Note: The Executive Committee ("EC") of the U.C. Berkeley Business Plan Competition ("BPC") reserves the right to update these rules at any time. Every attempt will be made to notify participants of any modification to this document; however, it is ultimately the responsibility of BPC participants to stay current with BPC Rules and Regulations as outlined in the Rules and Regulations section of the UC Berkeley Business Plan Competition website.
I General Requirements Each team must meet the following requirements in order to compete in the UC Berkeley Business Plan Competition.
Team
At least one team member must be a current student, faculty, staff or an alumnus/a of either the University of California at Berkeley or the University of California at San Francisco.
BPC participants may join more than one team.
No EC members may enter the BPC.
One person on the team must be designated as the team lead at the time of the Executive Summary submission and thus is authorized to make all decisions on behalf of the team.
Teams may add additional members between the Executive Summary and Semi-Final rounds, but only until Friday, April 23, 2010.
Business Plan
The proposed business should be fundable.
The proposed business plan should not be in violation of any intellectual property rights.
Teams or team members that have received any form of venture capital financing for their BPC business plan or a likeness thereof may not participate in the competition.
Teams with seed financing from non-venture capital sources totaling less than $250,000 may compete.
Any team that receives seed financing from non-venture capital sources totaling more than $250,000 at any time prior to or during the competition will be disqualified.
The amount and source of secured capital arrangements should be clearly identified in the team's executive summary.
Competition participants are not to contact BPC judges from any round and judges are not to contact any BPC participants during the course of the Competition.
Documents
Margins must not be smaller than 3/4 of an inch on any side.
Document text must be single-spaced.
II Tracks Teams will be asked to select the most appropriate track for their business plan. However, the BPC reserves the right to reclassify submissions if an alternate track is deemed more appropriate. The 2010 Competition will be judged in three tracks:
IT and Web: Ideas focused on meeting diverse consumer and enterprise needs through web-based solutions, productivity tools, mobile devices, hardware and software.
Life Sciences: Ideas related to medical devices, instrumentation, biotechnology, therapeutics, and diagnostics.
Products and Services (including Energy & Resources entries): Ideas focused on meeting diverse non-technical consumer and business needs and / or ideas focused on the next generation of energy-related products or services.
III Prizes
Panels of venture capitalists will select the best business plans from those submitted to BPC. Prizes will be awarded to the top two teams in each of the three tracks outlined above during the Semi-Finals Private Presentations on Wednesday, April 28, 2010.
The top two teams from each track (“finalists”) will move on to compete in the Final Public Presentation on Thursday, April 29, 2010, where the Grand Prize winner will be determined by a panel of venture capitalists.
All finalists will also be eligible for a People’s Choice Award, which will be presented to the team that garners the most audience votes in the Final Public Presentation on Thursday, April 29, 2010. It is possible for one team to win the People's Choice Award and the Grand Prize.
All Semi-Finalist teams that do not advance to the Final Round will be eligible to compete on Thursday, April 29, 2010 for an Elevator Pitch Award. The Elevator Pitch Award will be presented to the team that garners the most audience votes in the Final Public Elevator Pitch Presentation. Prize amounts are outlined on the “Prizes” tab of the BPC website.
IV Executive Summary Round
Each team is required to submit a first-round package to the UC Berkeley Business Plan Competition. The first-round package must be submitted via younoodle by 11:00 PM ONWEDNESDAY, JANUARY 27, 2010. No late documents will be accepted, and incomplete submissions will be disqualified. Follow these steps for completing the first-round requirements.
Join the UC Berkeley BPlan YouNoodle Site
Download the Executive Summary Package, and follow the enclosed instructions to submit two files through YouNoodle(“Submit an Entry" on the right-sided menu):
Non-Disclosure Agreement, signed by each team member (The NDA is included in the Executive Summary Package).
A 3-Page Executive Summary Document, followed by a 1-page resume for each team member.
Note: The two files above can be submitted in doc or pdf format.
Note: You can also add a link for a 3-minute optional video with your team’s pitch. We recommend using http://vator.tv/ or http://posterous.com/ for video uploads. While optional, the video provides your team with a valuable opportunity to introduce your team members to the executive summary round judges and showcase your idea and / or particular aspects of your plan.
On YouNoodle, agree to the Competition Terms. Please note that if your team chooses to request a mentor, at least one representative from your team must attend the UC Berkeley Business Plan Competition Mentor Mixer on Thursday, February 18, 2010. Additional details can be found in the “Terms” document on YouNoodle.
First-round submission will be judged according to the following criteria:
Is the business fundable?
Quality of product(s), service(s) and/or solution(s)
Market opportunities and competition
Team qualifications
Overall attractiveness of the venture
No more than 50 teams will be invited by email or telephone to compete in the Semi-final Round. Teams selected to move on to the Semi-Final Round will be notified by Wednesday, February 10th.
V Draft Business Plan Development & Refinement
All Semi-Final Round teams arerequired to submit a draft business plan that meets the requirements listed below. Each team is required to prepare and submit the draft business plan file to Kirsten Berzon at berzon@haas.berkeley.edu by 5:00 PM ON MONDAY, MARCH 15, 2010. The BPC will send the draft business plans to each team’s designated mentor for feedback that should be considered and incorporated, as deemed appropriate by the team, prior to the Semi-Final Round. Follow these steps for completing the draft business plan requirements.
The draft business plan should:
Represent an expansion of concepts outlined in the executive summary
Outline relevant financial projections, including pro forma cash flow and budget analysis
Describe relevant working models or prototypes
Not exceed 30 pages in length, inclusive of appendices and attachments
Following submission of the draft business plan, each team should independently coordinate a feedback session with their designated mentor
All Semi-Final Round teams should also plan to send at least one representative to the Launchpad Event: “How to Win a Business Plan Competition and Get Funded,” held at the Haas School of Business on April 1, 2010. This workshop will provide teams with the opportunity to receive feedback and refine their plans with the assistance of Venture Capital and Legal professionals.
VI Semi-Final Round
The business plan for this round should be a refined version of the initial draft submitted and incorporate the feedback gained through mentor discussions.
Each team is required to submit a semi-final round package to BPC that meets all of the requirements listed below. Should semi-finalist teams advance to the Final Round, modifications to business plan will not be allowed. Teams that submit incomplete packages will automatically be disqualified. The semi-final round package must be submitted via younoodle AND delivered to the Lester Center (Room F450 at the Haas School of Business) by 5:00 PM ON MONDAY, APRIL 19, 2010. Absolutely no late documents will be accepted. Follow these steps for completing the semi-final round package requirements.
Prepare the semi-final round package materials:
One revised executive summary, which must not exceed three pages in length
One revised business plan, inclusive of appendices and attachments- should not exceed 30 pages in length
Team member resumes, wherein each individual's resume must not exceed one page in length
Format the executive summary, business plan, and resumes into one Microsoft Word document. Use the following file name: "TeamName_semi-finalround.doc" (e.g., "ABCteam_semifinalround.doc")
All hard-copy materials must be submitted in an envelope addressed to "UC Berkeley Business Plan Competition, Semi-final Round." Include the team lead name and contact information on the package.
The envelope must include ten 3-hole punched booklets of the semi-final round package. Each booklet must contain the executive summary, business plan, and resumes.
DO NOT staple or bind the documents. Use only paper clips or binder clips.
Be sure to obtain a receipt from the Lester Center noting the date and time of delivery and the team name.
No application materials or copies of materials will be returned to the applicant.
Each team must submit a semi-final round presentation document by 9:00 AM ON MONDAY, APRIL 26, 2010 to Kirsten Berzon via email at berzon@haas.berkeley.edu for the private semi-final round of judging, which will take place on Wednesday, April 28, 2010. All teams should use the following naming conventions for the private presentation file: “TeamName_semifinal_privatepresentation.ppt”. Each team will have 15 minutes to present to the panel of judges. Do NOT upload your presentation to YouNoodle.
