Submission requirements for CMUQ Business Plan Competition 2010

The Registration Deadline is May 10. Please note that registration does not guarantee a spot in the competition: there will be a selection, based on what is submitted here. Teams will be notified of their acceptance by May 13, and if accepted, they will have until May 17 to make minor changes to their business plan and presentation. Teams are also required to submit a 1-page executive summary for the judges by May 17.

Confidentiality and Intellectual Property Guidelines

• The authors of the business plan will retain all rights to the plan regarding its use at all times prior to and following the competition except as stated below. We do not ask judges, reviewers, staff or the audience to agree to or sign non-disclosure statements for any participant, but we do ask them to respect the confidentiality of the business plans.

• Carnegie Mellon University may make photocopies, photographs, videotapes and/or audiotapes of the presentations including the business plan and other documents, charts or material prepared for use in presentation at the Competition. Students retain all proprietary rights. The University may use the materials in any book or other printed materials and any videotape or other medium that it may produce, provided that any profits earned from the sale of such items is used by The University solely to defray the costs of future competitions. The University has non-exclusive world rights in all languages, and in all media, to use or to publish the materials in any book, other printed materials, videotapes or other medium, and to use the materials in future editions thereof and derivative products.

Business Plan Guidelines 

• Business plans and presentations should be written and delivered in English.
• One electronic plan is due May 10, 2010. Teams not meeting this deadline may be disqualified. 
• Plans are to be submitted as a single, printable .PDF file. 
• All pages must be numbered excluding the cover page. The cover page must include the venture name and university affiliation. 
• Plans must be limited to 16 pages (typed and double-spaced, #12 font, and 1-1-1-1 margins) of text, including the executive summary and summary financial data. The 16 pages are limited to a maximum of 10 pages of text and 6 pages of appendices. The 16- page amount does not include a single cover page or single table-of-contents page, so the total amount of pages cannot exceed 18. 
• Financial data should include a cash flow statement, income statement, and balance sheet. Include an explanation of the offering to investors indicating how much money is required, how it will be used, and the proposed structure of the deal, i.e., stock, debentures, etc. The team is not required to reveal its desired deal, although the judges may ask questions about it. Also, delineate the possible exit strategies. 
• Plans should be e-mailed to gmwhite@qatar.cmu.edu in .PDF format. Plans will be e-mailed to the judges for this competition.

Presentation Guidelines

• In all rounds, each team will be given 15 minutes to present its business plan followed by a 15-minute question and answer session between the presenting team and the judges. THESE TIME LIMITS WILL BE STRICTLY ENFORCED. 
• Teams may not observe other teams' question and answer sessions in their division until after they have presented their own plan. A team, once it has finished its presentation, may observe both the presentation and Q&A session of the teams that follow it. 
• Equipment needs: Each presentation room will be set up with a LCD projector and screen. Each team will need to bring its own laptop computer(s).
• Please turn off all cell phones, pagers and electronic devices during the presentations.