Application and Registration for the inaugural:

Business Launch Competition at

The Entrepreneurship Center, UMass Boston
The goal of our competition is to support you a UMB student who is currently starting a new
venture to make huge progress on your venture. In contrast to every other competition
youve seen, we do NOT want a business plan! What we want to see is genuine forward
progress and momentum toward actually launching your enterprise. The top three ventures
that make the most tangible progress in starting up their business will win money and other
outstanding resources.
Start-Ups will be measured, and prizes will be awarded, based on the progress made and
viability of its business. You will give a description of your current situation, and the progress
youve made over the past two months (i.e. December 2012 and January 2013), and your goals
for the next two months: March and April, 2013. This is to take into account the fact that all
Start-Ups are entering this contest at different levels of maturity. The contest will formally
begin on March 5th and conclude with final submissions of actual progress, due on May 1st,
2013.
At UMass Boston, entrepreneurship is something that you enact, not a plan to consider. Thats
why this business launch competition emphasizes your real-time interactions with your potential
customers, suppliers, distributors, and mentors, and focuses on how much progress youve
made from where you are now.
In order to begin the process, please fill out the following questions. These will be evaluated by
the Business Launch team. The top 15 ventures will be chosen to participate in the
competition. Final reports and presentations will be judged by seasoned and successful
entrepreneurs in the Boston region. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask Prof.
Benyamin (benyamin.bml@gmail.com) or Chris Aronis (caronis@gmail.com).
Final presentations and awards will take place:
May 8th, 2011, from 4:30 pm 6:00 pm.
Venture Development Center 3rd floor, Wheatley Hall

Application for the Business Launch Competition

(please save onto your computer, fill out using Word, and send back as an attachment. Please
limit the entire application to THREE pages (starting with this one).
Name of Start-Up Enterprise:
Name of Start-up team members: (Add as many rows as you need)
Team Member
Role in the organization

U-Mass Boston affiliation

(college, program, specialization)

Contact Information:
e-mail, phone number

YOU:

1) Briefly describe your business. Basically, give the 1-paragraph elevator speech that
describes what the enterprise does, your unique value proposition, the product/service you
offer, and the key competitive edge you have (or for social ventures, the key contribution you
make) in your industry and region.
2) How do you define your market and go to market strategy? How much interaction
have you had with this target specifically, how many people have you talked with,
interviewed, engaged with as potential customers up to now?
3) What is your product or service? What is the description, features and functions? Have
you received market feedback relative to product or service requirements?
4) What is your financial model? i.e. what are your key sources of revenue, and what are
your key costs. You can attach an excel spreadsheet if you like, but you do need to summarize
in one paragraph the basic business model for your enterprise. (In part youll be judged by
how much more clear you are about your business model in two months vs. now, as well as
your willingness to change your business model if thats necessary in your start-up process).
5) What goals do you have for the coming two months? Be as specific as you can,
paying attention to the importance of doing live test marketing of your value proposition and
marketing strategy and doing live tests of your product/service delivery effectiveness. Goals
could also include a re-design of a business model that hasnt worked, the activation of a new
product/service offering, generating a certain number of new customers or revenues, etc.
5) Develop your own metrics that will show how youve made progress from now until May
1st. Your metrics will be tangible measures of goals such as: number of customers, number of
successful sales, market measures, and so on. And be inventive: How could you measure the
evolution of your business model? What metrics could you design to show how youve
narrowed down your target market, or improved the quality of your product/service and its
delivery? You will present these now (in outline form), and then in your final report you will
show how those metrics changed from their initial measures on February 1st, and then in the
two-month sprint from March 1st to final measures on May 1st. Although each start-up will

have its own measures, judges will analyze changes in rates, momentum, and growth potential
of each metric that you develop.
The Process:
Between now and May 1st, continue your efforts to organize your enterprise and get real market
feedback on your business idea and/or product offering. Make as much progress as you can
toward launching and building your viable business. Document your progress along the way.
On May 1st you will deliver to the Entrepreneurship Center vdc@umb.edu:
1) a short report with answers to the questions above, based on the progress made over
the last two months.
2) the results relative to the metrics you created at the beginning of this process, with your
brief analysis as to what you think were the drivers of change.
3) your slide presentation for the final competition, articulating the process, evolution, and
progress you achieved with your start-up relative to questions 1 - 5.
Each Enterprise will present their progress at the Business Launch Event, May 8th, 2013, from
4:30 pm 6:00 pm. (Contestants must be at this event to participate).
Seasoned Entrepreneurs are available to mentor you along the way. If you would like mentor
assistance please request via vdc@umb.edu.
Good Luck, Bon Courage, and Enjoy the Game!