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Competition
Eligibility
Judging
Awards
Organizers
Calendar
FAQ
This is a list of questions frequently asked about the MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition. If you have a question about the Competition that is not covered here, please send email to 50k-web at mit dot edu.
Am I eligible to participate in the MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition?
I am not an MIT student. How do I meet MIT students to form a team?
Can I get a copy of the business plans?
How big can my team be?
Can I be on more than one team?
How does judging work?
How is the prize money distributed?
What are the steps of the Competition?
Who are the judges?
How can I help organize the Competition?
What do the judges look for in a plan?
If we want to participate in the $100K, do we have to resubmit our executive summary if we entered the $1K?
Where can I find other resources to help me in writing a business plan?
How can I do market research?
How do I get on the $100K announcements list?
How do I get off the $100K announcements list?
How can I sponsor the $100K?
How will my intellectual property be protected?
Am I eligible to participate in the MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition?
All full-time and part-time MIT students at all levels of education and from any department, registered with MIT for the current semester, are eligible to enter. People who do not meet this requirement may join or form teams, provided that at least one of the principal contestants on the team is a current full-time MIT student. Teams are encouraged to seek the involvement of MIT faculty, alumni, post-docs, researchers, and staff. Always check the entry kit for the appropriate year's Competition for complete eligibility guidelines.I am not an MIT student. How do I meet MIT students to form a team?
There are many ways to find MIT students with similar interests to form teams. You should attend the team-building events (listed in the calendar). There is also a bulletin board for teams and students to post their ideas and request new members. This is accessible once you register. You can also go to other MIT entrepreneurship-related events such as conferences and classes.Can I get a copy of the business plans?
The MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition does not provide copies of the plans. We provide only a brief "public summary" of each entry on the $100K web site. We encourage you to contact the teams directly to discuss receiving copies of the plans. A few teams have allowed us to distribute copies of their executive summaries. These are available at our resources page.How big can my team be?
Teams can be of any size. We have found that the most successful teams typically have from three to seven members. You may enter a team with only one member, but you will be unlikely to be successful.Can I be on more than one team?
You can be a member of as many teams as you want, but it may be seen by the judges as a lack of commitment to making any one of them a success. Most often your efforts are best spent making one entry as strong as possible.How does judging work?
For picking $1K winners, $100K semifinalists and $100K finalists, there are three phases to each judging round. 1) Plans (or summaries) are broken into groups. Each group is read and rated by (typically) four judges individually, before the actual judging day. 2) On judging day, each group of four judges selects a subset of plans to advocate in the last phase. 3) All judges come together and select the winners or the plans that advance to the next stage in the Competition, as appropriate.For picking the $100K winners, all judges read the business plans of all finalists, then the finalist teams make 15-minute oral presentations of their plans, including demos if appropriate. The judges have about 10 minutes of Q&A with each team. After all teams have presented, the judges select the runners-up and the winning teams.
How is the prize money distributed?
After the winners are chosen by the judges they will be awarded cash prizes in the form of a check.$1K Competition: Ten $1000 prizes will be issued. A $1000 check payable to either the principal contestant or to a tax ID in the name of the team will be issued. The principal contestant must have a valid social security number or valid tax ID number for tax reporting purposes.
$100K Competition: Six awards will be given. A winner and two runners up will be chosen in both the Venture Competition and the Entrepreneurship for Development Competition. The value of a Grand Prize is $30,000 and the value of a Runner-up prize is $10,000.
In the spring $100K competition, prize money is intended to contribute to the formation and execution of a venture. Therefore awards will be paid in two installments:
1.) The first installment will be paid after the final awards ceremony (allow 30 days for processing)
2.) The second installment will be paid after the teams appear before the judging panel for a second time at a later date. This typically occurs at the $1K judging session the next fall or the $100K judging session the following spring. The judges will decide whether the team has made appropriate progress in the interim period before authorizing the final payment.
Cash prizes will not be issued to individuals in the spring $100K Competition. Teams must apply for a federal tax ID number and a check will be issued to this tax ID. Teams are not required to incorporate to obtain a tax ID number.
What are the steps of the Competition?
The $1K Warm-Up takes place in the fall. Teams submit short idea summaries in November and the winning teams are announced at the $1K awards ceremony in early December.The $100K begins in February. Teams submit executive summaries in late February and semifinalists are announced in March. Semifinalists submit full business plans in April. Finalists are announced at the end of April or beginning of May. Winners are announced at the final awards ceremony in May.
Throughout the academic year, there are seminars, workshops, panel discussions, teambuilding events and classes to help teams produce better entries.
Who are the judges?
The judges are a panel of professionals who dedicate many hours during the year to reading plans and providing feedback. They can be segmented into three general categories: venture capitalists and angel investors; successful entrepreneurs; and professional services providers working in the venture community. Most have strong ties to MIT, but this is not a requirement.How can I help organize the Competition?
The Competition organizing team is broken into a number of areas: judging; events; communications; sponsor relations; and alumni / mentor relations. Each of these areas has a student in charge. Send email to the communications team with the name of the group(s) you are interested in helping.What do the judges look for in a plan?
A panel of judges from the MIT and Boston venture communities, including experienced entrepreneurs, social entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, non-profit founders, legal professionals, and patent experts reads the entries. The following are some of the general criteria considered by the Competition judges, both in the MIT $1K and the MIT $100K Venture Competition. These criteria may also be used by industry, private investors, and venture capitalists in evaluating the attractiveness of new venture opportunities:- High growth potential
- Defensibility from competitors
- Up-front capital investment
- Short time-to-market
- Market leadership potential
- Stage of idea development
- Quality and breadth of team
- Why is this business going to be around in 5 years?
- Estimated social impact
- Quality and breadth of team
- Uniqueness of plan
- Sustainability (financial and operational)
The decisions of the Judging Panel of the MIT Entrepreneurship Competition on the semi-finalists, finalists, runners-up, winners and appropriate progress for installment payments, are final and binding on each participant.
If we want to participate in the $100K, do we have to resubmit our executive summary if we entered the $1K?
Yes The two competitions are distinct. Entering the $1K allows teams another chance to get feedback on their ideas. You must resubmit if you want to enter the 100K.Where can I find other resources to help me in writing a business plan?
How can I do market research?
Please see our resources page. Dewey Library has access to many additional market research and business planning resources.
How do I get on the $100K announcements list?
Register here.How do I get off the $100K announcements list?
Send an email to the IT team.How can I sponsor the $100K?
The $100K organizing team will be happy to discuss sponsorship opportunities with you. Donations to the $100K are donations to MIT, a non-profit educational institution, so they are fully tax-deductible for most donors. Contact sponsors team for more information.How will my intellectual property be protected?
Before submitting your business plan the MIT Entrepreneurship Competition urges you to confirm with appropriate advisors or legal counsel that any intellectual property described in your plan is protected; i.e., by appropriate intellectual property filings, notices, (patent, copyright, etc) by the owning institution and/or individuals. The MIT Entrepreneurship Competition also recommends that you determine in advance whether your plan describes a technology, invention, copyrightable work or other intellectual property owned by MIT in accordance with MIT Policy (see: http://web.mit.edu/policies/13.0.html ). The MIT Technology Licensing Office is available to answer your questions.
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