This year's $10K Entrepreneurial Business Plan Competition will be launched Thursday, Nov. 16, 6-7:30pm, with the introduction of a $1K Warm-up Business Idea Competition. The meeting will be held in Edgerton Hall (Rm 34-101).
In the new competition, contestants can win prizes from the $1,000 prize fund by presenting a two-page idea statement summarizing the business concept, the customer market and the competitive advantage of the idea. The deadline for the $1K competiton is Thursday, Dec. 7.
At the kickoff event, contestant information kits will be available for the main competition and distinguished speakers will share tips for winning $10,000 for a plan written by an MIT student or team proposing a new product or service business. Refreshments will be served.
The $10K Competition is organized and run by students and members of the MIT Entrepreneurs Club and the MIT Sloan New Ventures Association. The MIT $10K Business Plan Competition was inaugurated in 1989-90 to foster entrepreneurship, promote cross-campus team-building, and provide students with a solid, real-world educational experience. Since then, the Competition has become a major extracurricular component of the broader MIT entrepreneurship program aimed at educating and inspiring the next generation of new venture founders and leaders.
In the MIT $10K Business Plan Competition, contestants submit proposals for new business ventures in a two-phase judging process. A preliminary entry, due in February, should be a brief five-page executive summary of the business idea. From these entries, finalist teams will be selected and asked to prepare a well-developed business plan. Cash and in-kind awards, including a $10,000 grand prize, will be presented to the winning teams in May.
After the kickoff, contestant information kits will be available in the MIT Sloan Educational Services Office, Rm E52-101, the Dean of Engineering's Office, Rm 1-206, and the larger MIT Libraries. For further information, e-mail 10k-request@mit.edu> or visit the MIT $10K Web site at
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on November 15, 1995.
