Launch Event and Info Sessions
The Launch Event is an introduction to TiEQuest. For TiEQuest 2013 the launch event will be held on Dec 10, 2012. 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, 2013)
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 TiE Toronto mailing lists and receive all TiE Toronto 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.
Entry Fee: Please read these guidelines carefully: - In addition to participation in the competition, all paid entities will receive one 1-year annual regular membership in TiE Toronto.
- The payment of the entry fee does not guarantee any project/contestant the right to progress through any stage, after the inital Project Profile round, of the competition.
- All progress from Project Profile round to next rounds will be solely based on project evaluation by panel of judges and by the contest organizers. Each stage starting with Project Profile round is an elimination stage - this means only some projects will be moved forward, not all.
- Payment of entry fee and non-completion of other mandatory stage requirements, by the mentioned deadlines, starting at Project Profile round, can disqualify paid projects by default.
- Projects which withdraw after the close of the entry application deadline (Jan 31) are not be eligible for any fee refunds under any circumstances.
- Projects who have paid the entry fee but do not show up for any competition stage forfeit the right to be moved to the next stage of the competition. There are no fee refunds due to no-shows at the competition.
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.
Project Profile (completed profiles due February 3, 2013)
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
valuation, and capital sought
- 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.
This is an elimination stage of the competition, some projects will not be moved onto the next stage of the competition. 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, 2013. Attached is a sample of the Project Profile scoring sheet (Please note that this is subject to change for the upcoming year).
Mentoring Workshop (February 21, 2013)
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 2, 2013) Supporting videos/presentations has to be uploaded by Feb 27, 2013
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 following key evaluation points: value proposition of the business, the viability/feasability of the business, traction to date (what has been achieved by the business), strength of management team and the competitive advantage of the business (IP, first mover advantage, etc.).
This is an elimination stage of the competition, some projects will not be moved onto the next stage of the competition. 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, 2013. Attached is a sample of the Elevator Pitch scoring sheet (Please note that this is subject to change for the upcoming year).
Investor Deck Submission (To be submitted by March 10, 2013)
TiEQuest has decided that the written business plan will no longer be a requirement - instead, you must ensure that you have a thorough, well-thought out investor deck in PDF format.
We strongly recommend you follow Guy Kawasaki"s pitch-deck framework, which can be found on the MaRS website here: http://bit.ly/NFTSXM
Please also review the following for tips on building a strong presentation: http://bit.ly/Y5SWgX
You may choose to submit a business plan if you wish, but this is optional. A business plan template that you may wish to follow can be found here: http://bit.ly/15pOccc
General formats of the written business plan are:
- 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.
Presentations – Semi-Final (March 23, 2013)
Contestants will make a 20 minutes private presentation to a panel of three or more judges. The judges will have already read the investor deck submission and/or written business plan submitted on March 18, 2013. 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 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 23, 2013. This is an elimination stage of the competition, some projects will not be moved onto the next stage of the competition. 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 26, 2013. Attached is a sample of the Investor Deck Submissions scoring sheet (Please note that this is subject to change for the upcoming year).
Presentations - Final (To be held April 3, 2013 in Toronto)
The finalists will make a final 10 minutes private presentation to a panel of judges. They can use the investor deck presentation from the previous round, but it has to be shortened to 10 min. 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 semi-final presentation. The presentation will also be followed by 10 minutes of question and answer session. The Winners will only be announced during the TiEQuest Awards Dinner on April 16, 2013. Attached is a sample of the Finals scoring sheet (Please note that this is subject to change for the upcoming year). |