Policy and Procedures for ICT Business Incubator Hosted By Society for Technology Incubation & Development of Entrepreneurs (STIDE) Central University of Rajasthan Central University of Rajasthan BandarSindri, (NH -8, Jaipur- Ajmer Highway), Dist. Ajmer, (Rajasthan)
Introduction Society for Technology Incubation & Development of Entrepreneurs (STIDE), a society registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1958 is set up to promote innovation and entrepreneurship by converting and translating technology ideas and innovation in various disciplines of science and engineering into products, processes and services for commercial exploitation and the benefit of society. To accomplish its goal, STIDE runs and manages an ICT Business Incubator (BI) at CURAJ to facilitate incubation of new enterprises with innovative technologies by admitting them in BI and providing them physical, technical and networking supports and services. This document contains policy and procedures for operational matters related to BI at STIDE. It covers the following processes: 1. Eligibility 2. Admission process 3. Intellectual Property 4. Seed Loan 5. Infrastructure 6. Common infrastructure 7. Other services 8. Periodic assessment 9. Information submission 10. Consideration 11. Tenure in BI 12. Exit (Graduation) 13. Conflicts of interest 14. Disclaimer 15. Agreements 16. Action flow Chart 17. Guideline for Business Plan 18. Format for Business Plan 19. Pre Application Questionnaire 20. Appendix A
The policy is subject to periodical review and amendments. It will be the responsibility of the companies admitted to BI to update themselves from time to time on amendments in BI policy and procedures. STIDE reserves the rights to make an exception of all or any of the terms of policy for a particular company or a promoter on a case to case basis. 1. Eligibility 1.1 Admission to Business Incubator (BI) is open to: i. Faculty members (current and in the recent past), ii. Students and alumni, iii. CURAJ's Research & Development (R&D) partners (sponsors of R&D and consultancy projects), iv. CURAJ's partner universities (having R&D collaborations in place), and v. Government agencies associated with CURAJ's research and innovations. vi. Any outsider with innovative and viable project (decided by experts). The proposals for business incubation must meet with one or more of the following parameters: i. Proposals with Intellectual Properties (IP) generated within CURAJ and transferred to the company for a consideration, ii. Proposals with IP belonging to faculty, student or alumni (created outside CURAJ), iii. Proposals with potentials for strong identifiable involvement or interaction with CURAJ faculty with/without usage of CURAJ facilities, iv. Proposals which will have social and strategic impacts, v. Proposals with potential for large resource generation, impact value and visibility to CURAJ, STIDE and incubation activities, 1.2 Applicants must fulfil all the above criteria for making an admission in the BI, for making an application for STIDE s virtual incubation programme or pre-incubation programme. 1.3 Applications for admission to BI will be made in the name of registered unlisted companies within the meaning of the Companies Act, 1958. If a company has not been registered, an application may be made in the names of all promoters/ founders; however, the promoters/ founders must ensure that the company is registered within a period of three months from the date of approval of the application for admission in BI.
2. Admission Process At the opening level, applicants for admission in BI will be required to submit a Pre-Application Questionnaire (PAQ), which can be availed from the STIDE office or downloaded from its website. The PAQ will be scrutinized internally by the STIDE team. While submitting PAQ, applicants will also disclose information on executive involvement of the promoters/ founders in other companies or commercial entities. Based on the initial scrutiny of PAQ and affirmative assessment, applicants will be asked to submit a formal application for admission in BI along with a detailed proposal comprising of the following documents: 1. Business Plan. 2. Details of IP/ technology based on which a company is proposed to be promoted/ founded. In case the IP/ technology, is developed at CURAJ, a copy of letter of approval from CURAJ for transfer of / licensing of/ permission to use IP in favour of prospective incubate companies. The business plan is expected to cover the basics of the business, namely, value proposition, products and services, market analysis, competition analysis, funding requirements, capital structure, milestones and timelines, development and marketing plan, organizational structure, team, risk analysis and projected financials. An illustrative template for a business plan may be obtained from the STIDE office or may be downloaded from CURAJ website. Applicants may give such additional information as they think would help in the assessment of their proposal. Based on the documents submitted, the Business Plan will be screened by the STIDE team for assessing the suitability of the proposal for further evaluation by expert members regarding its potential for incubation. Detailed scrutiny including financial and technical due diligence of the proposal shall then be carried out by the expert members for evaluation of the proposal. Applicants may be invited with their teams to make a presentation on their proposal. In order to enable the expert members to take an appropriate decision, members may ask for any additional information from the applicants and/or revision in the proposal. Business Plan will be reviewed by experts having technical, business and financial expertise. These members will be other than STIDE employees. The expert members would be invited/
identified depending on the nature of the proposal. The proposal will be handled in terms of STIDE s Policy on Conflicts of Interests and Confidentiality appended hereto as Appendix A. Some representative criteria to be applied for evaluation (not limited to these) 1. Strength of the product idea in terms of its technology content, innovation, timeliness and market potential 2. IP already generated and the potential of the idea for IP creation 3. Extent of involvement of CURAJ faculty, employees and students 4. Strength of the core business team 5. Funds requirement and viability of raising finance 6. Break-even period STIDE will have a sole discretion whether to admit or reject a proposal for incubation and the decision of STIDE in this regard shall be final. STIDE is not bound to give any reason in case a proposal is rejected. 3. Intellectual Property (IP) Intellectual Property (IP) can be a patent, software code, tools, copyright, design registration, developed product, or alike. IP for incubation purpose will be assessed based on the following details: 1. Whether any seed grant (from public or private sources) has been used in developing the technology which will go into the product(s) of the proposed company. 2. If yes, details of the understanding with the funding agency in terms of sharing of the IP. 3. Whether any people other than the applicants have worked on the technology and if their work will be incorporated in the product(s). If yes, whether such other person has a right in IP ownership. 4. If the IP is developed at CURAJ, whether any CURAJ infrastructure (hardware, testing setup, instrumentation, computing resources, processes) has been used in developing the technology that will go into the product(s). 5. If the IP is developed at CURAJ, whether any consultancy projects were executed in the proposed area. 6. A statement from the owners/ innovators/ creators of IP to the effect that they are the owners/ innovators/ creators of IP as the case may be.
Applicants, who are current faculty or students of CURAJ, aspiring for incubation shall first approach CURAJ for transfer of / licensing of/ permission to use IP in favour of prospective incubatee companies. They will initiate a letter to Director, STIDE, Central University of Rajasthan and Registrar CURAJ, requesting the transfer of CURAJ IP in favour of a start-up company in the Business Incubator intended to be promoted/ supported by the inventor. The companies or promoters/founders will pay consideration in lieu of the transfer / licensing of/ permission to use IP in their favour, which will be decided by STIDE as mentioned in section 10 hereinafter. IP transfer/ IP licensing/ permission to use IP will be in favour of only the registered companies. 4. Seed Loan STIDE may provide seed loan subject to the availability of funds/ grants/ schemes meant for this purpose. Seed loan will be sanctioned only to the registered companies and shall be based on merits of each company. Promoters/ founders whose companies are not registered at the time of application shall not be eligible to apply for seed loan until their companies are incorporated. Further, admission to BI shall not automatically entitle the companies to seed loan. A company desirous of getting seed loan may submit an application for seed fund on admission in BI. Sanction of seed loan will be decided based on the eligibility criteria as decided by STIDE. It would be also subject to the terms stipulated under specific grant or scheme as the case may be. Though seed loan may be sanctioned, disbursement shall be linked to the milestones. One of the criteria for approval of the seed loan will be to help the company reach a level of maturity in terms of product development or go-to-market stage. Preference will be given to companies with strong commitment and contribution from their promoters. STIDE will have sole discretion to sanction or reject an application for seed loan and the decision of STIDE in this regard shall be final. STIDE is not bound to give any reason in case an application for seed loan is rejected.
5. Infrastructure BI Infrastructure: Upon admission to BI, the following infrastructural facilities will be offered to the incubatee companies on an individual basis, apart from a set of shared/ common infrastructure mentioned hereinafter: Office space: Company specific Personal Computers up to eight, depending on the team size Internet connection Two telephone lines one line through internal exchange for communication within CURAJ campus, and one external line. BI will do the processing and acquire the lines. Each company will pay the rentals and bi-monthly bills CURAJ Infrastructure: Besides, STIDE will facilitate the incubatee companies to access departmental laboratories and other resources of CURAJ for their products development purposes. Access to departmental resources is possible through R& D cell of CURAJ and usage of such resources should be with permission of the concerned department to avoid conflict with departmental activities and objectives. Further usage of such resources shall be on commercial basis and in conformity with the policies of R& D cell at CURAJ for consultancy/sponsored projects prevailing from time to time. The consideration payable to R& D cell for usage of departmental resources will generally be in the form of cash (payable by cheque or demand draft), though STIDE may recommend to R& D cell for acceptance of consideration in the form of equity. However, decision as to whether to accept such consideration in form of equity will be solely rest with R& D cell. Augmentation of resources in the department on account of such usage shall be the properties of the concerned department. Irrespective of requirements of departmental facilities for usage, all incubatee companies will primarily locate into BI.
6. Common infrastructure Apart from company specific infrastructure as stated above, STIDE will provide certain facilities be shared by all incubatee companies which would include: a. File Server b. Fax machine c. Laser Printer d. Photocopier e. Scanner f. Teleconferencing facilities g. Meeting/Conference room with projection equipment h. CURAJ/ STIDE Library facilities i. Pantry facilities j. Common secretarial pool/staff (depending on availability of such staff with BI) 7. Other Services Apart from physical infrastructure as stated above, BI intends to create certain other supports and services which would include: i. Pool of mentors, experts in technology, legal, financial and related matters, with or without consideration, ii. Organising events to help companies in networking and showcasing their technologies, iii. Meetings with visitors of CURAJ (such as alumni, VCs, industry professionals). Incubatee companies can avail of the above support and services when offered by STIDE. In addition, STIDE will also build up information and knowledge pool to be useful generically for start up companies. STIDE will coordinate with Department of Management, School of Management & Commerce for management education and training programmes designed for start up companies.
8. Periodic assessment STIDE/ BI will evaluate the performance of incubatee companies periodically. Incubatee companies will submit information to STIDE/ BI on quarterly basis in a prescribed format. The companies may also be subject to an annual assessment by a committee comprising of external experts. A company which has taken seed loan will have to submit additional information as may be asked by STIDE/ BI. The un-disbursed portion of the seed loan will be adjusted subject to the performance of the company. Incubatee companies will have to submit their annual reports within a period of 7 days from the date of their approval. 9. Information Submission Incubatee companies will submit information to STIDE about all material changes or developments taking place in their companies from time to time. Such information could be (but not limited to) change in name of the company, change in business or product profile, change in directors, promoters or shareholders, acquisition of a new office, additional equity or debt investments. STIDE may require incubatee companies to submit other information as it deems fit. Prior concurrence of STIDE should be obtained for effecting such changes. 10. Consideration In lieu of support and services to be provided by STIDE/ CURAJ, the incubatee companies will be subject to consideration on following accounts to the extent applicable: - Monthly rent/ facilities charge at discounted rate for physical infrastructure to be paid to STIDE. - Consideration in the form of equity and/or revenue sharing of the respective companies for transfer/ licensing of / permission to use IP in favour of the incubatee companies and the facilities provided by BI/ STIDE. The percentage of Equity and revenue sharing will be decided by STIDE and is to be given in favour of STIDE. STIDE may ask for additional equity from the companies to whom STIDE has supplied specialised equipments.
- Consideration as per R&D cell/ STIDE policy for usage of departmental laboratory facilities to be given to CURAJ. The indicative range of the equity holding by STIDE for infrastructure and IP will be 6-8%. The percentage of the equity holding of STIDE shall be maintained by issuing additional shares or diluting the shares of the Promoters or in any other manner) till the Company exits from the BI or the Company and Promoters raise investment from an Angel Investor, Venture Capital Fund or any other source. If the company fails to raise investment from an Angel Investor, Venture Capital Fund or any other source for a period of Three years from the date of the last issuance of shares in favour of STIDE, STIDE will have a right to sell its holding to the promoters of the Company at a value which will be higher of book value and fair value, and promoters of the Company will be bound to buy the shares from STIDE as stated above. Investment for the purpose of this section means an investment received in form of equity by the Company from any sources other than its promoters the value of which as well as premium thereon are at least three times more than paid up capital and premium amount respectively. The above will be subject to change from time to time by STIDE/ CURAJ. The equity shall be issued in favour STIDE. 11. Tenure in Business Incubatee (BI) Companies will be permitted to stay in BI, to begin with, for a period of 18 months. A nominal monthly charge will be levied to a company for the period of first 18 months. STIDE/ BI may, at its own discretion, permit companies to extend their stay for a maximum period of another 18 months. Companies will have to pay the charge at the prevailing market rate for the extended period, which would be for: Office space Personal Computers Internet connection Electricity charges including air-conditioning Any other facility as may be provided at that time If a company is provided with specialised capital equipment, rent on the same will be decided on a case-by-case basis. This would, however be finalised prior to approval of a proposal for admission to BI or at the time of procurement of the equipment as the case may be.
12. Exit (Graduation) Incubatee companies will leave the incubator under the following circumstances: 1. Raising substantial investment from angel investor / Venture Capital Fund / any other investor Rs. 2 crores or more. 2. Completion of stay for eighteen months, unless the stay is extended by STIDE. 3. Underperformance or unavailability of the business proposition: criteria for the same will be decided and applied by STIDE on the case to case basis. 4. Irresolvable disputes between promoters/ founders. STIDE will decide the position or point when disputes are deemed to be irresolvable. 5. When the number of employees of the company exceeds 20. 6. When the annual revenues of the company exceeds Rs. 2 crores or when a company achieves a Profit before Tax of Rs. 60 Lakhs. 7. When the company enters in an acquisition, merger or amalgamation deal or reorganisation deal resulting substantially a change in the profile of the company, its promoters, directors, shareholders, products or business plans, or when a company plans for a public issue. 8. Change in promoters'/ founders' team without concurrence of STIDE. 9. Any other reasons which STIDE may find it necessary for an incubatee company to leave BI. Notwithstanding anything written elsewhere, STIDE's decision in connection with the exit of an incubatee company shall be final and shall not be disputed by any incubatee company. 13. Conflicts of interest and confidentiality of information When a person plays two separate roles in two different positions and he/ she uses one position for his/ her personal benefit in the other role, a situation leading to conflict of interest arises. STIDE endeavours to draw a line between appropriate and inappropriate interactions among its board members, employees, mentors, consultants, affiliates, incubatee companies, their employees, persons connected to them or their promoters, employees and staff, various service providers and suppliers. Conflicts between private interests and official responsibilities of all stakeholders must be handled in a transparent manner, and STIDE/ BI considers the full voluntary disclosure as the best mechanism for managing conflicts of interest.
Since situations leading to conflicts of interests are inevitable, a transparent policy, based on full disclosure of relevant information by the concerned parties, and discouraging their influence on decisions and activities to avoid personal benefit to them, is appended hereto as Appendix A. The policy is not exhaustive, and hence situations having potentials for conflicts of interest though not covered in the policy will nonetheless be subject to the policy. The policy makes all stakeholders related to STIDE, BI and incubatee companies aware that no one should use his/ her position in one role for the personal gains in the other role, and when necessary, explicit permission of relevant stakeholder may be obtained. Appropriate judgement should be applied by all concerned parties while assessing the genuineness of conflicting interests. This policy also deals with maintenance of confidentiality of proprietary information. A committee may be set up by STIDE to resolve any dispute over such situation causing conflicts of interests. 14. Disclaimer The incubatee company will understand and acknowledge that STIDE intends to provide supports and services to the Company in good faith to pursue its objective to promote entrepreneurship by converting innovative technologies developed in the Institute to commercialization by incubating and supporting new enterprises. It is understood that by agreeing to provide various supports and services, STIDE does not undertake responsibility for: Ensuring success of an incubatee company, its products/ process/ services or marketability, Ensuring quality of support and services provided by STIDE and BI to the complete satisfaction of the incubatee companies or their promoters/ founders. Ensuring quality of services of the consultants engaged by the incubatee companies through BI/ STIDE/ CURAJ network. Incubatee companies will have to apply their judgements before getting in to a relationship with them. The incubatee companies agree that BI/ STIDE/ CURAJ or their employees shall not be held liable for any reason on account of the above.
15. Agreements The following agreements are required to be signed by the companies to the extent applicable: Service agreement: Between STIDE & an incubatee company for admission of the company in BI. Equity agreement: Between STIDE, an incubatee company and its Promoters for STIDE's equity holding in the incubatee company. Transfer of technology Agreement/ Technology License Agreement: Between CURAJ (R& D cell) & an incubatee company for transfer of technology from CURAJ in favour of incubatee companies. Loan Agreement: Between STIDE, and Incubatee Company on sanction of seed loan to the incubatee company in BI. Usage of Departmental Lab: Between CURAJ (R&D Cell) / Department & an incubatee company for usage of departmental resources of CURAJ by the incubatee company as per the prevailing policy of (R&D Cell) of CURAJ. 14. Action Flow Chart Applicants for admission in the Business Incubator of STIDE with technologies the Intellectual Property (IP) of which either belong to or developed in CURAJ (CURAJ IP) or belong to or developed by full time employees of CURAJ (Private IP), may follow the process as below: 1. An inventor of a technology being a CURAJ IP will initiate a letter to Director STIDE & Registrar, CURAJ requesting the transfer of CURAJ IP in favour of a start-up company in the Business Incubator intended to be promoted/ supported by the inventor. In the said letter, the inventor waives his/ her share of IP consideration equivalent to 70% of CURAJ as modified from time to time) to be received from CURAJ. a. Similarly, a faculty who is an inventor of a technology which is a Private IP will also initiate a letter to Director STIDE & Registrar, CURAJ indicating his/ her intention to promote/ support a start-up company with the said technology. In the said letter, the inventor will also inform that it is his/ her private IP which he/ she agrees to transfer it to the proposed start up company.
b. Simultaneously, a faculty or a student will also approach to OSD (Acd.) Academic programme respectively seeking their approval to apply to STIDE for starting a venture and business incubation in STIDE. 2. Simultaneously, the applicant will submit a Pre-Application Questionnaire (PAQ) with STIDE. An applicant may be an individual or a registered company. 3. Based on affirmative response to the scrutiny of PAQ, the applicant will be asked to formally submit an application for admission in the Business Incubator, and business plan, along with other relevant documents, of the proposed company. 4. On approval for admission in the Business Incubator STIDE, CURAJ will transfer CURAJ IP in favour of the incubatee company promoted/ supported by the inventor. a. In case of a Private IP, CURAJ b. Will give its no objection for the said IP for incubation in STIDE. 5. If the applicant is not a registered company, the applicant will have to register a company within a period of three months from the date of approval for admission in the Business Incubator. 6. Incubatee Company will enter into various agreements on the approval of the admission in the Business Incubator. 7. Incubatee companies will be subject to continual reporting as per the Business Incubator policy. 15. Guideline for Business Plan Most guides to writing an executive summary miss the key point: The job of the executive summary is to sell, not to describe. The executive summary is often your initial face to a potential investor, so it is critically important that you create the right first impression. Contrary to the advice in articles on the topic, you do not need to explain the entire business plan in 250 words. You need to convey its essence, and its energy. You have about 30 seconds to grab an investor s interest. You want to be clear and compelling. Forget what everyone else has been telling you. Here are the key components that should be part of your executive summary:
1. The Grab: You should lead with the most compelling statement of why you have a really big idea. This sentence (or two) sets the tone for the rest of the executive summary. Usually, this is a concise statement of the unique solution you have developed to a big problem. It should be direct and specific, not abstract and conceptual. If you can drop some impressive names in the first paragraph you should world-class advisors, companies you are already working with, a brand name founding investor. Don t expect an investor to discover that you have two Nobel laureates on your advisory board six paragraphs later. He or she may never get that far. 2. The Problem: You need to make it clear that there is a big, important problem (current or emerging) that you are going to solve. In this context you are establishing your Value Proposition there is enormous pain out there, and you are going to increase revenues, reduce costs, increase speed, expand reach, eliminate inefficiency, and increase effectiveness, whatever. Don t confuse your statement of the problem with the size of the opportunity (see below). 3. The Solution: What specifically are you offering to whom? It may be a software, hardware, service, or combination of these? Use commonly used terms to state concretely what you have, or what you do, that solves the problem you ve identified. Avoid acronyms and don t try to use this opportunity to create and trademark a bunch of terms that won t mean anything to most people. You might need to clarify where you fit in the value chain or distribution channels who do you work with in the ecosystem of your sector, and why will they be eager to work with you. If you have customers and revenues, make it clear. If not, tell the investor when you will. 4. The Opportunity: Spend a few more sentences providing the basic market segmentation, size, growth and dynamics how many people or companies, how many dollars, how fast the growth, and what is driving the segment. You will be better off targeting a meaningful percentage of a well-defined, growing market than claiming a microscopic percentage of a huge, mature market. Don t claim you are addressing the $24 billion widget market, when you are really addressing the $85 million market for specialized arc-widgets used in the emerging wocket sector. 5. Your Competitive Advantage: No matter what you might think, you have competition. At a minimum, you compete with the current way of doing business. Most likely, there is a near competitor, or a direct competitor that is about to emerge (are you sufficiently paranoid yet??). So, understand what your real, sustainable competitive advantage is, and state it clearly. Do not try to convince investors that your only competitive asset is your first mover advantage. Here
is where you can articulate your unique benefits and advantages. Believe it or not, in most cases, you should be able to make this point in one or two sentences. 6. The Model: How specifically are you going to generate revenues, and from whom? Why is your model leverage able and scalable? Why will it be capital efficient? What are the critical metrics on which you will be evaluated customers, licenses, units, revenues, margin? Whatever it is, what impressive levels will you reach within three to five years? 7. The Team: Why is your team uniquely qualified to win? Don t tell us you have 48 combined years of expertise in widget development; tell us your CTO was the lead widget developer for Intel, and she was on the original IEEE standards committee for arc-widgets. Don t just regurgitate a shortened form of each founder s resume; explain why the background of each team member fits. If you can, state the names of brand name companies your team has worked for. Don t drop a name if it s an unknown name, and don t drop a name if you aren t happy to give the contact as a reference at a later date. 8. The Promise: When you are pitching to investors, your fundamental promise is that you are going to make them a boatload of money. The only way you can do that is if you can achieve a level of success that far exceeds the capital required to do that. Your Summary Financial Projections should clearly show that. But if they are not believable, then all of your work is for naught. You should show five years of revenues, expenses, losses/profits, cash and headcount. It might also make sense to show a key driver, such as number of customers or units shipped. 9. The Ask: This is the amount of funding you are asking for now. This should generally be the minimum amount of equity you need to reach the next major milestone. You can always take more if investors are willing to make more available, but it is hard to take less. If you expect to be raising another round of financing later, make that clear, and state the expected amount. You should be able to do all this in six to eight paragraphs, possibly a few more if there is a particular point that needs emphasis. You should be able to make each point in just two or three simple, clear, specific sentences. This means your executive summary should be about two pages, maybe three. Some people say it should be one page. They re wrong. (The only reason investors ask for one page summaries are that they are usually so bad the investors just want the suffering to be over sooner.) Most
investors find that there is not enough information in one page to understand and evaluate a company. Please remember that the outline above should not be applied rigidly or religiously. There is no template that fits all companies, but make sure you touch in each key issue. You need to think through what points are most important in your particular case, what points are irrelevant, what points need emphasis, and what points require no elaboration. Some other general points: Do not lead with broad, sweeping statements about the market opportunity. What matters is not market size, but rather compelling pain. Investors would rather invest in a company solving a desperate problem for a small growing market, than a company providing an incremental improvement for a large established market. Don t acronym your own name. Sun Microsystems did not build its brand by calling itself SMI. (Of course, if you know where the name Sun came from, you understand this is an inside joke.) Drop names, if they are real; don t drop names if they are smoke. If you have a real partnership with a brand name company, don t hide your lantern under a bushel basket. If you consulted for Cisco s HR department one week, don t say you worked for Cisco. Avoid purple farts adjectives that sound impressive but carry no substance. Next generation and dynamic probably don t mean anything to your readers (unless you are talking about DRAM). Everybody thinks their software is intelligent and easy-touse, and everyone thinks their financial projections are conservative. Explain your company the way you would to a friend at a cocktail party (after one drink, not five). State your value proposition and competitive advantage in positive terms, not negative terms. It is what you can do that is important not what others cannot do. With the one or two most obvious competitors, however, you may need to be very explicit: Unlike Cisco s firewall solution, our software can operate. Use simple sentences, not multi-tiered compound sentences. Use analogy, as long as you are clarifying rather than hyping. You can say you are using the Google model for generating revenues, as long as you don t say you expect to be the next Google.
Go back and reread each sentence when you're done: Are they clear, concise and compelling? Finally, one of the most important sentences you write will not even be in the executive summary it is the sentence that introduces your company in the email that you or a friend uses to send the executive summary. Your summary might not even get read if this sentence is not well-crafted. Again, it should be specific and compelling. It should sell your company, not just describe it. 16. Format for Business Plan The following format should provide a good overview of a prospective investment. It usually works best when limited to around 15-20 pages: 1. Business o Company s business (description short enough to fit on a business card) o Mission statement 2. Products o Product description o Development schedule o Differentiation o Price point 3. Market o Trends o Historic and projected sizes in dollars o Product match to market definition 4. Distribution o Sales channels o Partnerships o Customers 5. Competition o Competitors o Competitive advantages 6. Team o Background of management o Board composition 7. Financials o Historic and projected P&L (first two years by quarters) o Projected cash flow (first two years by quarters) o Current balance sheet o Projected head count by functional area (R&D, sales, marketing, G&A) o Capitalization schedule 8. Deal
o Amount raised o Valuation asked o Use of proceeds 9. Complete Business Proposal report (BPR) submitted 17. PRE-APPLICATION QUESTIONNAIRE STIDE (Central University of Rajasthan) Name of Applicant Company: ------------------------------------------------------------ Names of All Promoters/ Directors: ----------------------------------------------------- Company Registration no.:---------------------------------------------------------------- GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS (Provide detailed information. Attach extra sheets or business plan if necessary. However please do not write See business plan. ) Ownership of IP (Whether CURAJ or CURAJ Faculty owns it?) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CURAJ has given permission to use IP / NOC in case of IP owned by CURAJ faculty --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- How IP has been generated & future plans for further R&D on the IP: (With details of Consultancy/ Sponsored Research/ Student projects involved in it.) Does your business require any governmental or regulatory approvals? Describe management and technological expertise of your key personnel, experience that relates to your product / services and the length of that experience (attach resumes):
Description of products/ services to be offered: What unmet market need or demand your products/ services fulfil (end usage)? Details of your potential customers: Details of market research activities for the product/ service that have been performed: Details of your major competitors: What are your competitive advantages? Describe your pricing strategy: How will you promote/ advertise your products/ services?
How will you distribute your products? Who are your major suppliers? What sales volume is needed to break even and in what timeframe? Investment requirements for first 36 months of operations (indicate amount and sources of finance): Complete the attached monthly cash flow projection form for the next 36 months Major business activities planned for the next 36 months: Attach recent balance sheet and income statement if available. If not then give reasons there for: What are the major risks attached with your business?
Job creation: (Provide detailed basis for the number, type, and wage amounts for each year within tenancy period and projected employment statistics for two- year period following incubator tenancy. Indicate precisely how jobs will be created/ retained.) Other factors that you wish to provide for consideration of your proposal: FACILITIES REQUIREMENTS IN BUSINESS INCUBATOR: Why do you want to locate in the STIDE Business Incubator at CURAJ? Infrastructure requirement for space, workstations or PCs: List any special requirements for usage of CURAJ laboratory facilities: Specify requirement of Mentoring and other professional services/ support: Indicate how your business might benefit from access to CURAJ s human and physical resources?
If accepted as an incubatee, when would you want to start occupancy in the Incubator? How many total employees will be occupying space? (Give details year wise) Full- Time--------------------------- Part-Time -------------------------------------------- Are you currently occupying a facility (either in your home or at a commercial location)? If yes, what is your current occupied area in square ft.? What is your approximate monthly cost for this facility? Rent: Rs. ---------------------------------Utilities: Rs. --------------------------------- BUSINESS SERVICE REQUIREMENT: Do you currently have an accountant? If no, do you need accounting assistance? Yes/ NO Do you currently have a legal counsel? If no, do you need legal assistance? Yes/ NO Do you need management assistance? If yes, what type? Yes/ NO Do you need marketing assistance? If yes, what type? Yes/ NO
18. Appendix A Policy on Conflicts of Interests and Confidentiality 1. Introduction: Society for Technology Incubation & Development of Entrepreneurs (STIDE) has been founded to promote innovation and entrepreneurship and to administer a Business Incubator for start-up companies with emphasis on technologies developed in CURAJ. STIDE is hosted by Central University of Rajasthan (CURAJ) a premier academic and research institute with a significant contribution in science and technology. In recent years, CURAJ has been encouraging its faculty, employees and students to convert their technology ideas and innovation in various disciplines of science and engineering into commercial ventures for personal, institutional and social benefits. This process of translating knowledge in various disciplines of science and engineering into products, processes and services for commercial exploitation will also benefit the society. In this process, however, complexities surrounding actual and potential conflict of interests and commitment are also involved. While CURAJ supports its faculty, non-faculty employees and other members in the commercialisation of technologies developed in various departments and laboratories, there are several key values that call for protection from conflicts that may arise from such activities because of their commitment in CURAJ to: o Student education, o Objective research, o The society by bringing benefits of knowledge arising out of such research and education When an individual holds two positions in different roles, and when he/she tries to use one position for personal benefits of his/her aspirations in another, a situation of conflict of interest arises. Certain positions held by employees of STIDE which are of trust and confidence owe a fiduciary responsibilities to those to whom STIDE and its Business Incubator provides supports and services. Any significant, direct or indirect, financial interests held by STIDE employees in any of companies supported by STIDE and its Business Incubator could involve possible conflict of interests. Persons associated with STIDE in various capacities other than for employment may also face situations leading to
conflict of interests. The avoidance of such conflict is important to the integrity and philosophy of STIDE and CURAJ. Further during the process of incubation, certain proprietary information may also be exchanged between various parties which are of confidential or sensitive nature. The confidentiality of such information needs to be maintained. 2. Policy objective: The intent of this document is not to eliminate all possible situations leading to conflict of interests, an obvious impossibility. Rather, it is to enable an interested person to recognise situations that may be subject to question, to take steps to minimise such conflicts and to ensure that such situations are properly reviewed and, if necessary, corrected. All potential conflict of interest situations should be handled in a manner and all relevant activities are conducted in a manner consistent with the values of STIDE, CURAJ and public values and interests. This policy makes all stakeholders related to STIDE and Business Incubator aware that no one should use his/her position in one role for personal gains in the other role, and when necessary, explicit permission of relevant stakeholder may be obtained. Conflict of interest s policy and operating guidelines of CURAJ, if any, must be reviewed and followed by all faculty, employees and students of CURAJ who aspire to set up a company to be incubated in the Business Incubator administered by STIDE. A key requirement for them is that care must be taken to separate clearly and cleanly the personal financial aspects of the entrepreneurial activities from their respective roles, duties and responsibilities in CURAJ. On admission in the Business Incubator, such entrepreneurial activities should not be confused with assigned duties of CURAJ. The use of CURAJ facilities and equipment must be free from unauthorised or conflicting uses and must be compensated for as per the policies of CURAJ. Appropriate judgement should be applied by all concerned parties while assessing the genuineness of conflicting interests. Also, each party in receipt of confidential information should restrict the use of such information for the purpose for which it is disclosed. Concerned parties should safeguard and protect confidentiality of information by using the same degree of care as they would use to protect their own information of like nature to prevent unauthorised disclosure.
3. Definition: a. Associates/ Affiliates - means any person or entity directly or indirectly controlling or controlled by the other party or two parties are under a common control of one Party. b. Confidential information - means any information, whether in written, visual or oral form, disclosed by a disclosing party to the receiving party based on discussion or understanding between them, and- - which is clearly labelled or marked as confidential, sensitive or its equivalent if disclosed in tangible form, or - which is concerning / provided by the disclosing party and is not known or generally available to the public at large, or - The nature of which should reasonably have been understood by the receiving party as being proprietary and confidential to the disclosing party. Notwithstanding the above, Confidential Information shall not include any information which: i. is or becomes publicly known through no wrongful act on the receiving party s part; or ii. is already known to the receiving party at the time of disclosure; or iii. is rightfully received by the receiving party from a third party without breach of obligation to maintain confidentiality by the receiving party, or iv. is furnished to a third party by the disclosing party without a similar restriction on such third party s rights; or v. is independently developed by the receiving party without breach of any agreement with the disclosing party; or vi. is explicitly approved for release by the disclosing party; or
vii. Is required to be disclosed by the receiving party under any prevailing law or to a court of competent jurisdiction or any appropriately empowered governmental agency. c. Conflict of interest - in this policy refers to a situation in which financial or other personal considerations compromise, or have an appearance of compromising an individual s professional judgement and ability to perform his/ her responsibilities to CURAJ, STIDE or Incubatee companies as the case may be. This also includes certain gray situations or gray areas that might involve the appearance of conflict. d. CURAJ/ STIDE members - means faculty members and non-faculty employees, student and staff of CURAJ, e. Incubatee Company - means a company admitted to the Business Incubator administered by STIDE. f. Interested person - means any person having any direct or indirect, actual or potential, financial or personal interest because of their relationships with STIDE, Business Incubator or Incubatee companies in the Business Incubator. g. STIDE associates - means persons and entities associated with STIDE in their respective professional capacities. This will also include board members, mentors, consultants, various service providers and suppliers who are associated with STIDE their respective professional capacities. h. STIDE employees - Those who are in employment of STIDE or hired by STIDE on contractual position. 4. Scope: This policy applies to all interested persons. This will include:
- CURAJ members who have actual or potential interest in entrepreneurship activities in the Business Incubator, - STIDE employees and STIDE associates who can have actual and potential interest which are conflicting with the activities of the Business Incubator or incubatee companies, - Incubatee companies, their promoters, employees and staff, or their affiliate or associate company. 5. Situations leading to Conflict of Interests: Certain situations leading to conflict of interests are explained herein below. However the list is not exhaustive, and hence situations having actual or potentials for conflicts of interest though not covered in this document will nonetheless be subject to this policy. A CURAJ/ STIDE member is in a position to influence a departmental decision for acquisition of laboratory and other equipments which could benefit an incubatee company in which he/ she is an interested person. A CURAJ / STIDE member is in a position to circumvent prevailing policies for making use of CURAJ s various facilities for the benefit of an incubatee company in which he/ she is an interested person. A CURAJ/ STIDE member is in a position to make use of the suppliers and service providers of CURAJ for undue advantage of an incubatee company in which he/ she is an interested person. A CURAJ/ STIDE member procures consultancy assignments or other business in name of CURAJ and out sources them to the incubatee company in which he/ she is an interested person.
When a CURAJ member or a STIDE member is in a position to influence policy decisions of CURAJ or STIDE with an intention to benefit an incubatee company in which he is an interested person. Use of CURAJ students or employees to perform a work for an incubatee company without any compensation when the work is not related in any way for their academic pursuits. A person who is interested in one incubatee company and also involved in a decision making process affecting other incubatee companies leads to situation of conflict of interest. When an incubatee company, its promoters, employees and staff or any interested person acts in manner to benefit the incubatee company at the disadvantage of CURAJ or STIDE. An incubatee company, its employees and its staff having access to CURAJ resources are in position to exploit them by bypassing CURAJ s policies. When CURAJ members, STIDE employees and associates, promoters, employees and staff incubatee companies are neglecting their respective commitments to CURAJ or STIDE for their association with incubatee companies. CURAJ / STIDE employees and associates are in position to use sensitive information pertaining to incubatee companies for their personal advantage. 6. Confidentiality of information: CURAJ members, STIDE employees and associates, incubatee companies, their promoters, employees and staff may come in possession of proprietary information which may be of confidential or sensitive nature. Recipients of such information should make all efforts to
preserve confidentiality of such information. They should not disclose or use it for their financial or personal benefits without explicit approval of the disclosing party. 7. Management of conflict of interest: Since situations leading to conflict of interests are inevitable, it is expected that the interested persons follow transparency in their actions based on full disclosure of relevant information by them. Following guidelines are suggested for management of actual or potential conflict of interests and to address disputes arising out of conflict of interests and maintenance of confidentiality: - Appropriate disclosure of the conflicting situations involved in a decision or transaction, - Abstaining from participating in decision making process or transactions involving such situations, - Obtaining appropriate approvals to avoid conflicts, - Reporting of the breach of the policy without deliberate intention or knowledge. If any dispute arises in terms of this policy, the same should be reported to: - If it pertains to STIDE or Incubatee company, it should be reported to the Chief Operating Officer/ Professor-in-Charge (STIDE), - If it pertains to CURAJ, it should be reported to the Head of the concerned department of CURAJ. If required, Chief Operating Officer/ Professor-in-Charge (STIDE) or the Department Head of CURAJ will refer the matter to the Chairman, STIDE or the Director CURAJ as the case may be, whose decision in the matter shall be final.