Utah Valley University Executive Summary Competition

Student Competition Packet

2012-13

 

 Woodbury School of Business

Entrepreneurship Institute

Utah Valley University

800 W. University Parkway

Orem, UT 84058

www.uvu.edu/woodbury/entrepreneurship

 

Sponsored by:

 

 UVU OPPORTUNITY QUEST OVERVIEW

Opportunity Quest is an executive summary business plan competition open to all students within the Utah Valley University.  Individuals or teams can submit entries, but each submission must include at least one current Utah Valley University student in a prominent leadership role. 

The competition fosters and promotes experiential learning by giving students a chance to organize, direct, and pitch a business idea to both a group of their UVU peers and to a panel of judges.  Opportunity Quest provides teams with an educational forum to prepare them for the competition and aid them in the creation and implementation of their business plan.

A cash prize of $3,000 will be awarded to the team judged to have presented the most plausible and promising business executive summary.  The first-place team is also automatically entered as a finalist in the Utah Entrepreneurial Challenge.  Secondary prizes will also be awarded including cash prizes of $2,000 and $1,000 for 2^nd and 3^rd place teams respectively.

Opportunity Quest involves UVU student volunteers working alongside the UVU Entrepreneurship Institute.  UVU Opportunity Quest is made possible by generous support from sponsors, mentors, judges, and faculty members of Utah Valley University.

ELIGIBILITY

Each participating team must be organized and directed by a student at the Utah Valley University enrolled in a least nine credit hours during the Spring 2013 semester of the competition (student standing will be verified by Opportunity Quest staff.)  There are no restrictions regarding other team members.  Teams may include students, faculty, family, or professionals, and they need not be residents of Utah.  Successful teams typically have a strong combination of accounting, finance, marketing, and technology skills.

Company formation is not a requirement to enter the competition.  Additionally:

• Teams may present more than one plan; however, each plan must be registered separately.
• At least one Utah Valley University student must hold a prominent leadership position in the team
• The business cannot be more than 24 month old as of August 1, 2012
• The business cannot have generated revenues in excess of $100,000 as of August 1, 2012
• The business cannot have any external equity funding as of August 1, 2012, (funding from Venture Capital investors, Angels investors, grants, etc.)

THE COMPETITION PROCESS

Round 1:  Executive Summary and Video

This phase is open to all students.  Begin by registering your team online at  www.uvu.edu/woodbury/OQ .  You and your team will then be invited to join Open Canvas at https://canvas.instructure.com/courses.  You’ll find some tremendous resources there that will help in the preparation and presentation of your executive summary.

Prepare an executive summary that could be of interest to potential investors.  Teams should also create a 2-minute video.  Both should highlight the most important and interesting elements of the business that lead a potential investor to understand why your venture will succeed.  The UVU Entrepreneurship Institute has retained the assistance of a professional videographer who will be available to provide up to 3 hours per team in coaching you through the process of creating a professional video suitable for posting on the web.

For more specific information about the executive summary and video, please refer to the “Executive Summary” and “Video” sections. 

Finalists from the written submissions will be announced via UVU Announcements as well as on the  www.uvu.edu/woodbury/OQ  website.  In order to be eligible for the competition, the executive summary and video must be submitted online by midnight on Thursday, January 24, 2013.

Round II:  Final Presentation

Each of the finalist teams will make a presentation to a panel of judges on Wednesday, January 30, 2013 between 2:00 and 4:00 PM in the UVU Sorensen Center, SC 206A.  Since the presentation time is limited to ten minutes, the presentation must be well-organized and emphasize only the most important features of the business.  An additional 5 minutes will be allotted for questions and answers from the judges’ panel.

WHAT IS THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY?

The executive summary is a brief document that outlines the plans to form and manage a company.  The purpose of the document is to convince the reader that the business is viable and could operate in the real world.  The most interesting and important aspects of the business, as well as the student involvement should be highlighted and explained.

The executive summary with cover page should be no longer than 4 pages.  The document must have one-inch margins and a 12-point font size.  All pages, except the cover page, should be numbered.  Compressed type is not permitted.

Executive Summary Outline

The executive summary should briefly describe:

• The company history
• Product or service the business will provide
• Market need (pain point)
• Target customers
• General business strategy (how the company will sell the product or service and make a profit.)

The executive summaries will be uploaded to the UVU Canvas Opportunity Quest website.

WHAT SHOULD MY VIDEO LOOK LIKE?

The videos will also be uploaded to the UVU Canvas Opportunity Quest website. Videos are also due on Thursday, January 24 at midnight.

Videos should help the judges better understand your concept.  There are no set criteria of what videos should contain.  Teams should decide what ideas they feel are most applicable for judges to know.   Videos will give an opportunity to set your team’s ideas apart.  For example, your video could be used to:

• Give a personal ‘elevator pitch’ for your idea
• Show your passion for your idea
• Let your creativity, personality, and the idea shine through

Clearly demonstrate and explain the product, service, or idea

 Follow these simple guidelines when creating your video:

• Videos must be no longer than 2 minutes in length
• Keep it professional. No inappropriate sounds, language, or images.  Videos containing content deemed inappropriate by Opportunity Quest staff will result in disqualification.
• The video should be submitted as a .mp4 or a .wav file.

UVU CROWD PITCH

During Wolverine Wednesday, Jan. 30 from noon – 1:00 PM in the Centre Stage of the Sorensen Center, teams will give a three-minute pitch to the assembled crowd.  UVU students attending the OQ Crowd Pitch will be given ‘Entre-bucks’ that they can use to ‘invest’ with the teams they believe to have the best presentation and plans.  A special award will be given to the winning team.  This is also an excellent opportunity to practice for the judges and to get feedback on the business concept and presentation in preparation for the Final Presentation to the judging panel.

FINAL PRESENTATIONS

The top ten teams moving on to the final round will be asked to give a final presentation and answer questions from the panel of judges regarding their presentation and executive summary.  Ten minutes will be given for the presentation, with an additional five minutes allotted for the question and answer session. 

Business dress is required.  Presentations should have impact and be brief.  Most teams will not be able to present all of the aspects of their executive summary during the allotted time.  The presentation should reinforce and augment the executive summary.  Emphasize the most important features of your business in the time allotted in order to persuade the judges that your business will be successful.  A projector and laptop will be available, but each team will be responsible to bring their presentation slides on a thumb drive.  Please bring any HDMI/DVI adapter cords, prototypes, posters, etc., needed to present your business concept effectively.

JUDGING

The judging panel may consist of investors, attorneys, accountants, bankers, entrepreneurs, or other successful and knowledgeable business leaders.  Judges will not be affiliated with nor be involved in the preparation or funding any participating team.  The decision of the judging panel will be final and will not be subject to appeal.  The overall selection of winners is based on the perceived viability and likely success of the business.

Judging Criteria

Judging is based on the written executive summary, posted video presentation, and final oral presentation.  Teams must be ready to answer questions on both their executive summary and video during the final round Q&A session. 

PRIZES

The grand prize, in the amount of $3,000, will be awarded to the team with the best final presentation.  Two runners-up will be selected and will receive $2,000 and $1000 respectively.  Prize money and in-kind prizes will be awarded during the final awards reception, immediately following the judges’ decisions.

NO CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENTS will be signed by mentors, coaches, or judges during this competition.  Contestants should be careful about disclosing information concerning proprietary concepts.  Protect any intellectual property or 'secret sauce' by telling only what it does, not how it does it.   As a competitor, you are responsible to protect any information concerning your plan that you share with advisors, team members, and fellow participants of the competition.  UVU Opportunity Quest takes no responsibility for unintended disclosure in these instances.

Competitors concerned about the protection of intellectual property may contact Utah Valley University Technology Commercialization Office or look up answers to technology protection questions at http://www.joneswaldo.com/practice-groups/49/intellectual-property.

RESOURCES

OQ Website:    www.uvu.edu/woodbury/oq    and the 2013 Opportunity Quest Canvas website each contain helpful links, instructional videos, templates, and other resources.  Although a plan that flows from one concept to another is preferable to the one that simply adheres to a template.

 

UVU OPPORTUNITY QUEST staff and student directors

Director of OQ	Richard Stapler	President,  UVU Startup Group	Richard.stapler3@gmail.com
Director of Judging	Caleb Light	Manager, UVU Startup Lab	Caleb.light@powerpractical.com
Director of Mentors	Don Watkins	Entrepreneur-in-residence	DonW@uvu.edu
Staff support	Shauna Theobald	Director, Entrepreneurship Institute	Shauna.theobald@uvu.edu

 

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