Competition Stages

Competition Stages

All materials submitted by contestants is subject to the Confidentiality Statement. The contestants make a number of submissions as per the following schedule:

Stage	Due Date
1. Launch Event	Dec 08, 2011
2. Intention to Participate, along with $100 entry fee	Jan 31, 2012
3. Project Profile	Feb 05, 2012
4. Mentoring Workshop	Feb 23, 2012
5. Elevator Pitch	Mar 03, 2012
6. Written Business Plan	Mar 13, 2012
7. Presentations - Semi-Final	Mar 31, 2012
8. Presentation - Final	Mid-April, 2012

Launch Event and Info Sessions

The Launch Event is an introduction to TiEQuest. For TiEQuest 2012 the launch event was held on Dec 8, 2011. Following the launch event a number of information sessions are organized at university campuses, boards of trade and innovation centres of the Ministry. Some of the information sessions are available over conference call. Please check our home page for details of these sessions." under "Launch and Info Sessions"

Intention to Participate (Applications are accepted till January 31, 2012)

Intention to participate in TiEQuest is submitted online from www.tiequest.org. All submissiona should be accompanied by the entry fee of $100 per team by credit card or cheque in favour of “The Indus Entrepreneurs - Toronto Association”. The entry fee entitles the contestant(only one) to one year membership in TiEToronto. The contestants are added to the TiEToronto mailing lists and receive all TieToronto events and mentoring information. We reserve the right to limit the competition to the first 200 applicants. It is advisable to complete all formalities as early as possible. The contestants receive User ID and passwords to access contestants’ portion of the website. All submissions and communications are done through electronic means as much as possible.
Any contestant who has any specific concern relating to confidentiality of their venture will be provided an opportunity to discuss the matter with a legal advisor. Contestants should request this to the Chair, TiEQuest, after submission of the Entry Form and payment of entry fee. TiEQuest has enrolled services of senior legal counsel who have agreed to volunteer his time to discuss any specific situation. After discussion with a legal counsel, contestants may withdraw their entry within two business days without penalty and full refund their entry fee. Contestants will submit the names of all their participating entrepreneurs and also the name of their advisor. All team members and advisors must sign the Entry Form. All contestants will receive a confirmation (by email) if their Entry Form has been accepted on or before Feb 1, 2012.

Project Profile (completed profiles due February 5, 2012)

Contestants will submit a project profile outlining their business venture as per the format posted on www.tiequest.org. The project profile will be submitted electronically. The Project Profile should very briefly cover:

Company profile: URL, Industry, employees, year founded
Contact information
Background of entrepreneurs, management team and advisors
Brief Financial information: revenue run rate, previous capital, monthly burn, pre-money
Business Summary
Customer problem addressed
Product/service offered
Target market size and ch aracteristics
Customers and selling strategy
Business model
Competitors and Competitive advantage
Top and bottom line projections.

All contestants will receive a confirmation (by email) if they are successful in proceeding to the next stage of the competition on or before Februaury 7, 2012.

Mentoring Workshop (February 23, 2012)

All successful contestants will be invited to a mentoring workshop at a downtown Toronto venue. The purpose of this workshop is to guide the contestants to improve on their venture. Many judges of the competition will be participating in the workshop. The mentoring workshop will include:

Presentations by past winners
Discussions regarding the progress of your venture with mentors
Obtain guidance for any questions you may have
Opportunity to speak with Judges

Elevator Pitch (March 3, 2012)

Contestants will prepare an Elevator Pitch relating to their business venture. They will have an option to present the Elevator Pitch in person or electronically. In case of an electronic submission, the contestants will upload relevant video file.

Maximum time for the Elevator Pitch will be 240 seconds (4 minutes)
Contestants may use product samples, pictures or other visual or video aids for the support
The pitch should be directed to convince investors to read the detailed business plan. It should address the value proposition of the business.

All contestants will receive a confirmation (by email) if they are successful in proceeding to the next stage of the competition on or before March 5, 2012.

Written Business Plan (To be submitted by March 13, 2012)

The contestants will upload .doc or .pdf formats of the written business plan on the TiEQuest Website. The plans may be 30-50 pages long and should cover:

Cover Page detailing: Name of the venture and name of participating entrepreneurs and advisor
Executive Summary
Visual aids: Pictures, charts, graphs. Do not include any physical samples.
Value Proposition
Industry background: What is the industry like? How old? How fast is it growing?
Business model: What is the business? How does it work? How does it make money?
Customer characteristics: Who are they? What are they like? Why would they choose you? Why would you choose them?
Supplier characteristics: Who are they? What are they like? Why would they choose you? Why would you choose them?
Competitor characteristics: Who are they? What are they like? At what level are they funded? What advantage do you offer?
Threats: What are the biggest threats to your business venture? New competitors? New technologies? Price wars? How does your venture address them?
Funding: How much do you need? What would you do with the money? When would you need more? First year profit-and-loss projections by month, Five year profit-and-loss projections by year, breakeven analysis, payback, IRR, NPV
Profit Potential: When will the shareholders make a return on their investment? How much?
Risk Factors in the proposed venture
Profiles of key management members, specific roles, how strengths of team members match these roles, positions yet to be filled

All contestants will receive comments from the judges on their business plan on March 27, 2012 and are expected to address these in presentation to the judges.

Presentations – Semi-Final (March 31, 2012 and if needed April 1, 2012)

Contestants will make a 20-25 minutes private presentation to a panel of three or more judges. The judges will have already read the written business plan submitted on March 27, 2012. The focus of the presentation will be to pitch their idea to convince judges to invest in their venture. The presentation will be followed by 15-20 minutes of a question and answer session. The objective of this round will be to reduce the pool of contestants to a smaller number. All presentations will be scheduled on Saturday, March 31, 2012. Those contestants, who are not able to make the presentation on Saturday due to religious reasons, must inform President, TiE Toronto in advance along with requisite documentation. They will be eligible for presentation on Saturday, April 1, 2012.
All contestants will receive a confirmation (by email) if they are successful in proceeding to the next stage of the competition on or before April 2, 2012.

Presentations - Final (To be held mid-April 2012 in Toronto)

The finalists will make another 20-25 minutes private presentation to a panel of judges. The sponsoring funds offering expression of interest will be included in this panel. It is expected that this presentation will answer issues that were raised in Round 1 presentation. The presentation will also be followed by 15-20 minutes of question and answer session. The Winners will be announced during the TiEQuest Awards Dinner to be scheduled during mid-April 2012.