ACU STARTUP 1 0 0 + S C H OO L S $ 5 0 K I N P R I Z E S Virtual Entrepreneurship Competition Organized by ACU CEO
TABLE OF CONTENTS OVERVIEW............................................................................... 1 PRIZES..................................................................................... 1 TEAM SELECTION..................................................................... 1 COMPETITION STRUCTURE....................................................... 2 MATERIALS TO SUBMIT............................................................... 3 ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS..................................................... 4 JUDGING................................................................................... 5 IMPORTANT DATES................................................................... 6 DISTRIBUTION OF PRIZES.......................................................... 7 INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY......................................................... 7 CONFIDENTIALITY... 7 SOCIAL MEDIA.......................................................................... 8 SPONSORS................................................................................. 9
OVERVIEW ACU Startup Madness is a new entrepreneurship competition organized for students attending universities and colleges across the nation with 5,000 or fewer students. The competition is organized by ACU CEO, which is the primary student organization focused on entrepreneurship at Abilene Christian University in Abilene, TX. The goal of the competition is to give student entrepreneurs at targeted schools a chance to highlight their ventures. The competition format mirrors that of the NCAA s annual basketball tournament. Teams from all of the invited schools will compete against each other for the right to advance to later rounds. At the end of the competition, the final four teams will compete for $50,000 in seed funding. The competition is completely virtual and will not require any travel. The early rounds of the competition will be judged based on written materials and video presentations submitted by teams. The last two rounds will include a live presentation and Q&A with the judging panel through the competition s online portals. PRIZES The winning team of this year s competition will receive $30,000 in seed funding for their venture. The remaining prize money will be divided equally among the other finalists. TEAM SELECTION Each university or college that is invited to participate may nominate one team for the competition. A faculty member or other school representative must complete a brief registration form no later than April 1, indicating the school's intent to enter a team in the competition. If your school has an existing entrepreneurship competition (e.g., elevator pitch, business model, business plan), then we recommend the winning team be selected to advance. However, faculty or school administrators are free to select their representative team based on any criteria they deem appropriate. 1
COMPETITION STRUCTURE The competition will consist of four to five rounds depending upon the number of schools represented. In each round, a group of four teams will compete against each other and one or two teams will be selected to move forward to the next round. The early rounds of the competition will be judged based on written materials and video presentations submitted by teams. R E G I S T R AT I O N SUBMISSION EARLY ROUNDS AU G U S T 1 - A P R I L 1 APRIL 1 - APRIL 30 M AY 1 - M AY 1 4 Invited schools will register with the intent to submit a team. Teams will work on their concepts and finalize their submissions. Up to 32 teams of 4 will advance to the early rounds. The final two rounds of the competition will include live presentations and Q&A with the judges through the competition s online portal. The competition is completely virtual, so no travel is required of any teams. SWEET 16 FINAL ROUND M AY 1 7 - M AY 2 4 M AY 3 1 4 GROUPS OF 4 TEAMS 1 TEAM ADVANCES FROM EACH GROUP 2 WINNER SELECTED
MATERIALS TO SUBMIT Each team will be asked to provide the following information about their venture as part of the online registration process. All documents should be submitted in PDF format. 1. Team Overview Team/Venture Name Names and classifications of all team members Description of any prior capital investment Description of any revenue generated to date Email address for team Phone number for team 2. Video Pitch / Written Executive Summary Teams will be asked to submit a 6-8 minute video pitch and a 2-3 page written executive summary. Teams will be able to submit their video pitch by uploading a link to an accessible YouTube or Vimeo video. The video pitch and executive summary should be prepared for investors and together should address the following topics (in no particular order): Product or Service Offered Problem or Need Solved Solution Size of Opportunity Revenue Model Go-to-Market Strategy Customer Validation Projected Return on Investment Team Competitive Environment Capital Needed 3. Business Model Canvas Teams will be asked to submit a completed version of the Business Model Canvas. Copies of this business model tool that teams can use can be found online at http://stratagyzer.com/canvas/business-model-canvas 3
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS TEAM MEMBER ELIGIBILITY Teams may only include full-time undergraduate students or recent graduates (within past six months) from invited colleges and universities. All team members must be 18 years of age or older. If a team has outside investors and/or non-student co-founders within the guidelines described below, those individuals are still not eligible to participate in the competition.this includes preparation of all materials to be submitted as well as the live presentation and Q&A session during the final two rounds. VENTURE ELIGIBILITY Students may enter (1) a new business concept that is not yet operational as well as (2) startup companies that are in the early stages of launching the business. Any companies that generated revenues prior to April 1, 2017 or have already raised more than $100,000 in funding are not eligible to compete. In addition, the following types of ventures are not eligible for the competition: Buy-Outs Entity Expansions Real Estate Ventures Not for Profits Subsidiaries Recapitalizations Teams that promote illegal, illicit, unethical, or other types of activities which may be considered unworthy of association with ACU Startup Madness or Abilene Christian University may be excluded and/or disqualified. OUTSIDE INVESTORS AND NON-STUDENT CO-FOUNDERS The student competition is for ventures created and managed by students. As a result, students are expected to: Be the driving force behind the new venture Have played the primary role in developing the business model Have key management roles in the venture, and Own significant equity in the venture In general, a member of the student team should be CEO, COO, or President of the venture or members of the student team should occupy a majority of the senior management roles. Students should also own a majority of the equity that is allocated to the management team. Please note that the team managing the competition has full and sole discretion in determining whether teams meet these requirements and reserves the right to exclude and/or disqualify any teams that violate these requirements and/or the spirit of the competition. Disqualified teams shall forfeit any and all prizes awarded to them. 4
JUDGING Judges in the competition will consist of experienced entrepreneurs, active investors, and/or professionals who routinely work with early stage companies. The judges will use the following criteria to evaluate teams during the competition: Quality of Concept Attractiveness of Model / Strategy Market Opportunity Team Quality of Submission Materials / Presentation and Q&A Answers Investor Interest Level 15% 15% 15% 15% 10% 30% Each judge will provide a numeric score for each of the above criteria and will provide comments for each submission they review. This feedback is to provide an educational opportunity and is not utilized in the competition ranking process, although it may influence the judge s scoring decisions. Comments from the judges will be available to teams through the online competition portal after the completion of each round. Judges are not allowed to have any vested interest, equity stake, or other financial stake in any of the teams in the competition. Any judge that stands to gain financially or otherwise from the success of any team is strictly prohibited. Any such associations will result in the disqualification of the team and/or removal of that individual from his or her role as a judge with the competition. 5
IMPORTANT DATES The following schedule includes important dates for this year's competition:. August 1 - April 1 April 1 - April 30 May 1 - May 14 May 17 - May 24 May 31 6 Registraton portal is open to all teams Submission portal is open Early Rounds Sweet 16 (4 Teams Advance) Final Round (Winner Selected)
DISTRIBUTION OF PRIZES Cash prizes for ACU Startup Madness will be awarded and paid to the legal entity where one exists. If no entity exists then the prizes will be awarded to individual student team members in proportion to the equity percentages listed in the team s submission. Cash prizes will not be paid at any time to non-students outside of an entity. If a non-student holds an equity position where there is no entity present, the cash prize will be paid on a pro-rata basis to only the student co-founders on the team. Recent alumni allowed to compete within the team member eligibility guidelines are considered current students for prize distribution. Prize awards may be subject to taxation and are the sole responsibility of the entity or person to whom the awards are distributed. Each entity or individual will be required to provide a W-9 before receiving any prizes. All non-entity prize payments will be reported on a Form 1099-MISC. CONFIDENTIALITY AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY All submitted information is deemed the property of the participating teams and licensors that it has. All of our judges are entrepreneurs, investors, and working professionals who routinely evaluate new business ideas and protect the property of others in the process. However, they do not sign any non-disclosure agreements to participate in this competition. Teams are strongly encouraged NOT to provide any specifics or details that are considered to be intellectual property or the key to intellectual property. 7
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SPONSORED BY ORGANIZED BY ACU CEO ACU CEO is ACU s chapter of the Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization, which includes chapters at over 250 colleges and universities in the U.S. ACU CEO is the largest student organization on ACU s campus, with more than 250 active members. ACU CEO promotes an entrepreneurial spirit across campus through its speaker series, Startup Week, networking events, and much more. ACU Startup Madness is the next evolution in ACU CEO s mission to spread entrepreneurship to our members and college students across the nation. 9