2010 OWOB Idea to Business (I2B) Competition

General Description
You want to convert your idea into a business but before you can seek funding you need to prove that your idea can be turned into a valid business. In order to do this you have decided to implement a proof-of-concept. The I2B competition is to select the team that has done the best job in designing, implementing, and analyzing the results of this proof-of-concept. The competition will be done completely on line through the submission of a report on the OWOB web site and replying to questions from the judges via email. There is no presentation required.

Competition Requirements

Be a student in the Colorado State University's Global Social and Sustainable Enterprise program.
Have formed a team based on a business idea.
Have a faculty advisor for the team.

Phase 1 - Enter the plan - Deadline May 28, 2010 (online submission)

Member, team, and plan is posted to the OWOB web site at www.owob.org.

Team member and faculty advisor join OWOB.
Team leader posts the team profile on the OWOB web site that describes the business idea.
Teams identify what they need to prove to demonstrate their business idea will lead to a valid business.
Teams plan the work that needs to be done to prove what they have identified.
The plan is entered using the Post a Project form under the Projects menu on the OWOB web site.

Phase 2 - Implement the plan and submit report - Deadline September 10, 2010 (online submission)

Teams implement the plans that they entered in phase 1, write a report and post it on the OWOB web site.

Implement your plan in the field
Monitor progress and make changes to the plan as necessary.
Document results of activities.
Complete the report required for the competition using the guidelines described below. If there are parts of the report considered proprietary, these can be omitted using a statement such as "this information is proprietary".
Upload the report in pdf format using the Edit Project feature under the Projects menu.

Phase 3 - Answer questions - Deadline September 24, 2010 (email to contest@owob.org)

The judges will review the report and prepare questions by September 17, 2010. The questions will be emailed to the team leaders for the teams to answer. Answers to the questions must be emailed to contest@owob.org prior to September 24, 2010. The winning team will be announced by the end of September 2010.

What is the difference between the I2B report and my business plan?

A business plan is more comprehensive than the I2B report. The I2B report could be plugged into the market research and analysis section of a business plan or it could be used to support your business plan when you are seeking funding to document the due diligence performed.

Report Guidelines

The I2B report should not be larger than 5 pages plus the appendix and it should include all of the information specified below:

Executive Summary and Report quality (25 points): Clear and concise executive summary, compelling and well written, good use of graphics and supporting documents to backup results.
Well defined plan (15 points): Purpose and outcomes clearly stated, appropriate methodologies selected, human and other resources outside of the team identified, team member activities specified.
Well implemented plan (15 points): Was progress being monitored, were needed changes identified and made, were resources such as interns and local contacts effectively used, were significant activities completed?
Well presented results (15 points): Are there concrete results obtained, are these results clearly stated, are changed made to the plan clearly explained?
Well defined follow up based on lessons learned (15 points): were there significant lessons learned during the implementation and were these lessons effectively converted into follow up activities? Was there missing needed information and a plan to obtain it?
Well written conclusions (15 points): Compelling argument on how the work completed either did or did not verify that the idea could be converted into a valid business.
How will the prize money be used to advance your business? Be specific.
How was the prize money actually used and what were the results obtained? This section is to be submitted by the winning team within six months of the receipt of the award.

Prize

The winning team will receive a prize of $2,000 which will be awarded to the CASE incubator earmarked for the winning team. The funds will be made available to the team to use as described in the I2B report submitted for the contest. The winning team agrees to request approval from OWOB for any major changes to how the prize money will be used. If the changes are not approved or the business is no longer being developed, the team agrees to donate the remainder of the funds to CASE. The winning team also agrees to submit an updated report on the OWOB web site indicating how the prize money was actually used and the results obtained within six months of receipt of the award.