2009 Darden Entrepreneurial Concept Competition

Eligibility:
Any team with a current UVa graduate, undergraduate, doctoral, or post-doctoral student, faculty or staff member may enter the competition. Alumni are encouraged to participate by partnering with any of the above. Note that "new business ventures" excludes business ventures that have placed in the competition in a previous academic year or already have significant operations from participation in the Darden Business Incubator.

Submission Requirements and Awards:
The Business Concept Competition requires a business proposal in general terms and should outline the business idea, the market, the competition, and competitive advantages. Specific market and financial forecasts are not required, although participants should have a basic idea of the level of financing they would need to start the business. Concepts are evaluated on their viability in the current marketplace.

The submission should be in the format of an Executive Summary. The Executive Summary should be a maximum of two pages text and two exhibits plus resumes, 10- or 12-point font and one-inch margins. Some additional thoughts on the Executive Summary are as follows:

Concept Summary:
• Write a short paragraph describing your business concept.
• Start with a one-sentence description of the underlying idea.
• Determine the customer/market.
• Decide how the business will generate revenue.
• State what makes the concept unique.

Value Proposition:
• Determine the "Pain" or problem that the business concept addresses.
• Explain the solution the concept provides.
• Discuss why these product/service benefits are real and valuable to customers.

Market Opportunity:
• Calculate the total revenues for the target market. (This can be expressed in terms of total revenues or total expenditures by customers, or can be expressed in terms of total customers multiplied by the average amount spent per customer annually.)
• Discuss your current or anticipated competition.

Product/Service Description:
• Describe the attributes of any product or service.
• Explain how the product will be produced or how the service will be performed.
• Determine how much or what types of resources would be generally required.

Management Team:
• Who are members of the team?
• What are their backgrounds?
• What are their intended roles within this proposal?

Contact Information:
• Name of Team Captain
• Address
• Telephone Number
• E-mail Address

What the Winners Receive:
• First Prize: $3,000
• Second Prize: $ 1,500
• Third Prize: $ 500
• Guidance and mentoring by an advisory board consisting of Darden alumni, faculty, and others as appropriate.

Disclaimer:
The Business Concept Competition will be open-session. Information deemed highly proprietary or sensitive should not be included or disclosed in either submissions or presentations. Concept documents will not be published or distributed except as described above. Participation in, submissions, and information disclosures for the competition are wholly voluntary. Participants should note that they alone control the content of their disclosures. The Darden School, Batten Institute, and the University of Virginia assume no responsibility whatsoever for accidental or third-party breaches of confidentiality.