Tulane Business Plan Competition » Rules & Eligibility

The Tulane Business Plan Competition is divided into business entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship tracks with the following eligibility requirements:

Eligibility Criteria – Business Entrepreneurship & Social Entrepreneurship

The following criteria rule the eligibility of teams willing to participate in Tulane’s Business Plan Competition. They apply to both tracks of the competition, Business Entrepreneurship and Social Entrepreneurship.

1. All business ventures must be seeking outside equity capital.

2. All teams must consist of at least two (2) and no more than six (6) people.

3. All teams must have at least one full-time or part-time student as an integral member. The student can be either an undergraduate or a graduate student, and must be enrolled for the Academic Year of 2008 – 2009 at an accredited college. The student must have deeply contributed to the process of developing the business idea, must have a management position within the venture, and must be an equity owner.

4.Teams must have a faculty sponsor. This sponsor will be required to sign a document as part of the application form, guaranteeing the student’s full-time enrollment at an accredited college for the Academic Year of 2009.

5.The Judging Panel of the Tulane Business Plan Competition reserves the right to disqualify any team that, in its judgment, violates the letter or spirit of the Competition Guidelines. If a winning team breaks any of the rules stated herein, it will be deprived of its cash prizes.

Certification: Enrollment must be certified by providing a current class schedule or a letter from the registrar’s office.

ENTRANTS MAY ONLY ENTER ONE PLAN PER TRACK.

Competition Structure

Qualifying Round:

The first round of competition is the Qualifying Round. Qualifying Round judging is based solely on the evaluation of the executive summaries submitted by February 15, 2009. The executive summary is a maximum of six (6) pages:

1 page executive summary
1 page industry analysis
2 page market analysis (including assumptions that lead to financials)
2 page financials

Second Round:

Teams selected for the second round will be notified by February 27, 2009, and will be asked to have their full business plan submitted by March 10, 2009. Judging is based on the evaluation of the entire business plan.

Championship Round:

Three (3) business entrepreneurship track and three (3) social entrepreneurship track teams will be selected to advance to the Championship Rounds, respectively. In addition, we will select one (1) alternate team for each track, in case a team is unable to make the competition. Selected teams will be notified by March 20, 2009. The six teams selected from the Qualifying Round will each have 15 minutes to make an oral presentation to a panel of judges, after which the judges will have 15 minutes to ask questions. Each team will be allotted 5 minutes prior to their presentation for set-up. All time limits will be strictly enforced. Presentations that go over the time limit will be cut off.

Business Plan Requirements

The following requirements apply for all of the business plans submitted in the Business Entrepreneurship track or the Social Entrepreneurship track:

1. Business plans must be for a seed-stage, start-up, or early stage venture and must address the entire business concept (including financing and implementation). Proposals for the buy-out or expansion of an existing company, franchise or licensing agreements, real estate syndication, tax shelters or introductions of new products of an existing company are not eligible.

2. Plans are to be limited to 30 pages (typed, double spaced) of text. This includes the executive summary, financial information and appendices. Violating these rules may result in disqualification.

3. Financial data should include a three-year (3) pro forma including a statement of cash flows and income statement. Statements should be monthly for the first year and quarterly for years two and three. Financial strategies must include an explanation of the offering to investors, including how much money is required, how it will be used, the proposed structure of the deal and the potential exit strategies. In addition, financials must include a clear statement of revenue assumptions.

Other Considerations

1. All presentations are open to the public. Therefore, participants must realize that any information disclosed in the business plan or presentations of the business plan may become public knowledge. Tulane Entrepreneurs Association (TEA), the Tulane Business Plan Competition (TBPC), its judges, and its spectators will not be asked to sign confidentiality or non-disclosure agreements of any kind. Participants should not assume confidentiality of any materials presented at the TBPC.

2. TEA requests that competitors submit (1) copy of their plan to the TBPC after the competition is over, to be kept for educational purposes only. This copy will be kept in the Levy-Rosemblum Institute and students may view it there. Copies used by judges to evaluate the business plans will be returned to the participating teams, along with the judge’s comments.

3. Teams agree that their participation in TBPC may be videotaped, and that such videotapes become property of the A.B. Freeman School of Business. Accordingly, teams will be required to sign a “Talent Release” waiver. However, entrants have the right to request that the question and answer portion of their presentation not be recorded, in the event they need to disclose proprietary information to fully answer a judge’s question.

4. The Freeman School retains the right to make copies (print, video, audio, or otherwise) of all business plan materials submitted after the competition, and retains non-exclusive rights (in all languages and media forms) to utilize such materials in a promotional and educational capacity.