The May 4, 2012, Monterey Bay Regional Business Plan Competition and our educational, government, business and institutional partners have put together a process that we hope serves you and your new or emerging business, and at the same time helps to showcase the vibrant start-up environment of the Monterey Bay Crescent and its tri-county region.
Our investor and business-school partners have provided a tool that they use to help determine the readiness of a company for funding. That tool is a 1-page assessment of the fundamental elements of the business development process, ergo, the business plan.
We have made that 1-page business-idea overview available to all potential business-plan competitors, and it serves as our initial application. These applications will be submitted by you and reviewed by a panel of business coaches and angel and venture capital investors. Based on this 1-page application and the "Fever Pitch" presentation on March 9th, a number of companies will be asked to submit full and complete business plans and present to investor panels at the May 4th event at the Monterey Institute of International Studies. *NOTE: No Slides Will Be Used During 5-Minute Fever Pitch Presentation.
Complete the application and submit it in person to Adam Davis or Natalie Macdonald at the Marina Technology Cluster by 5:00 pm on Monday, February 27, 2012, 3180 Imjin Road, Suite 149, Marina, California, 93933,
*Or via email to: Natalie.Macdonald@MarinaTechnologyCluster.org
*Or in-person to Iris or Grace at NextSpace, 101 Cooper Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95060
*Forms must be submitted by the February 27 deadline or applicant will be disqualified. Participation in the March 9th "Fever-Pitch" Event at CSUMB is mandatory.
Application Deadline By: 5:00 pm on February 27, 2012
• Attend application workshop (optional)
• Review eligibility requirements
• Create 1-page overview application
• Complete 3-page entry form
• Develop 5-Minute Fever-Pitch to compete at CSUMB Event
*NOTE: No Slides Will Be Used During 5-Minute Fever Pitch Presentation.
5-Minute Fever-Pitch Event At CSUMB On: March 9, 2012
• Finalists for the Business Plan Competition will be selected at the CSUMB Fever-Pitch Event and invited to develop and submit their 12-page business plan and presentation (see details below). *NOTE: No Slides Will Be Used During 5-Minute Fever Pitch Presentation.
Business Plan Due Date: By 5:00pm April 27, 2012
* Before April 27, call the Marina Technology Cluster (831) 582-9718 and ask for any mentoring help you need to complete your plan . Identify yourself as a competition finalist.
Submit your 12-page Word document by mail or in person to Adam Davis or Natalie Macdonald at the Marina Technology Cluster, 3180 Imjin Road, Marina, CA 93933, or via email to: Natalie.Macdonald@MarinaTechnologyCluster.org, by 5:00 p.m. on April 27th. The plan must not exceed 12 pages, including financials. You may have a cover page.
Full Business-Plan Format Requirements
* All plans are not to exceed 12 pages, including the financials. You may include a separate cover page.
* Use a highly readable
font like Times, Arial, Helvetica or Garamond. Margins should be
no less than .75 inch, not including header and footer. Font
size should be 10 to 12 points. Remember, you want this to be
easy to read.
* Number all the
pages
* Include the business or business-concept name in the header or footer of all pages.
Competition Event Date: By May 4, 2012
* Practice, practice, practice the delivery of your presentation.
On Friday, May 4, applicants will present their pitch to a panel of experienced investors at the Business Plan Competition's presentation event at the Irvine Auditorium at the Monterey Institute of International Studies in Monterey from 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Venture Play Businesses:
There will be three preliminary panels of four presentations each. The judges will then pick one from their panel to compete in a second round of presentations for the final winner. Judges and investors will select the competition's winners based on both the written plans and the live presentations.
Student and Main Street Businesses:
Four Student and Four Main Street Businesses will compete only once during the May 4th event. The final winners will be chosen from that presentation, but not announced till after the second round of Venture Play finalists present. All final winners will be awarded at the end of the competition.
Who Is Eligible:
• Start-ups (not yet operational) and emerging businesses may apply.
• Existing early-stage businesses must be located in the Monterey-San Benito-Santa Cruz Tri-County Area or must re-locate to the area.
• If the plan is for a start-up business, that business must commit to locating to or creating jobs in the Tri-County Area.
• Businesses must have plans to grow to at least 3 full-time employees in addition to the founder(s) within 3 years.
• The business idea must be your original work that you can fully disclose.
Good luck!
NOTE: Non-Profit Organizations Are Note Eligible To Compete
For More Information Call: (831) 582-9718