Growing interest in Business Plan Competition

In 1998, the UW Business School's Center for Technology Entrepreneurship (CTE) began an event designed to promote student ideas and venture creation -- the Business Plan Competition. With this year's kick off on Dec. 3, Susan Wilson, co-chair of the competition, has been keeping busy with the increased success of the program.

In four year's time, the annual Business Plan Competition has expanded from 23 business plans and 81 student competitors to 52 plans and 202 competitors, while awarding over $230,000 in seed funding and legal services since inception. The competition is open to all college students in the state of Washington.

Teri Snyder, assistant director of Center for Technology Entrepreneurship, says that the competition is really all about the students.

Wilson explained, "The competition is a really great way for students of business to put together all of the skills that they learn in school and to apply them to a real-world application."

"Many MBA students have said that participating in the Business Plan Competition is the best thing they do during their two years at business school."

Students in the competition have the opportunity to win a $25,000 grand prize, receive free help preparing their business plan, network with local business professionals, and work with other students and a mentor.

There are five rounds of the competition in which participants move up - a screening round, the investment round, a trade show forum, the long presentation, and the final round of four.

Judges for the 2003 competition come from a diverse background of venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, attorneys, business consultants and business media professionals. Different judges examine each round of the competition.

In the final round, judges examine each of the four finalist's business plan in terms of its viability, strength of management team, and details of the plan.

Interested students should consult the CTE website, http://depts.washington.edu/cte.