Competition Overview

Each participant must register to submit competition materials.

Two tier competition with an event in every quarter:

• Fall Quarter- $1k Business Concept Competition (1-page, 550 words or less)
• Winter Quarter- Executive Summary (2-3 pages)  and Spring Quarter $50k Business Plan and Presentation Competition (15 slide Powerpoint)

Each team must consist of at least one full time UCSD student (enrolled in a degree-granting program) or recent UCSD graduate. To be considered a recent graduate, the team member must have graduated from UCSD after August 1, 2007. The UCSD student must be an active, contributing team member who is the founder or co-founder.

The following $50K Competition organizers are not permitted to compete; CEO, CFO, VP of Programs, and any member of the Judging Division.

The $1K Business Concept Competition and the $50K Business Plan Competition will be treated as two separate competitions. Teams may compete in one or both competitions.

Business Plan Competition Finalist teams will deliver oral presentations of their business plans to our panel of distinguished judges. A grand prize of $30,000 will be awarded to the winning team, and $10,000 will be awarded to each of two runners up.

2006-2007 1st Annual $50k Entrepreneurship Competition Overview

Providing a collaborative environment, the UCSD Entrepreneurship Competition facilitates relationships that intend to lead to successful business ventures. The competition is open to everyone as long as there is at least one member that is a UCSD student. The competition features two stand-alone phases: Phase 1 - Business Concept Competition in the Fall, and Phase 2 - the Executive Summary Competition in the Winter and Business Plan Competition in the Spring Quarter.

In the Fall Quarter, $50K events support the idea of entrepreneurship to students on campus, encouraging those people that might not normally think to commercialize their ideas to meet people with expertise in commercial areas. Concepts of intellectual property and regulatory processes are covered. Individuals are encouraged to start forming teams, facilitated with our online team-matching database. At the end this quarter, the teams submit their one page business concepts and undergo a live "elevator pitch" round of judging.

In the Winter Quarter of the competition, the competitors further develop their ideas and the educational seminars focus on marketing and the commercialization process. At the conclusion of this quarter the competitors present a three page Executive Summary. Finalists from this phase of the competition are encouraged to apply to the CONNECT Springboard program, for more intensive business mentoring and coaching.

In the third and final phase of the competition occurring during the Spring Quarter, teams undergo intensive business plan education, including one-on-one sessions with their Mentors. Teams submit a detailed business plan slide deck and the semi-finalists present their plans to our panel of distinguished judges at a fi nal live-judging ceremony. Through several rounds of judging, the most promising team is selected and receives the first prize of $30K, with two other promising teams receiving $10K each.