We’ve gotten this one a few times. The MIT $100K is 1 Competition and 3 Contests. Each contest is independent. What this means is that you don’t have to enter or win one to enter the others. The first is the Pitch Contest, followed by the Accelerate Contest and culminating in the Launch Contest.The MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition is a leading-edge forum for students and researchers in the MIT community to act on their talent, ideas and energy to launch tomorrow’s leading firms. A year-long educational experience, the MIT $100K brings together a network of resources (feedback from top venture capitalists and entrepreneurs, media exposure, mentoring, educational guidance, networking and more than $350K in cash and prizes) to help participants through the new venture construction process.So yes, this is a very official MIT $100K event and the first and important step to $100K greatness.

Please see the complete set of rules.

The best executive summaries should address some or all of the questions below.TeamWhy is your team the best? Give specific examples of why each person is really good at what they do. If you have any gaps in expertise on your team, address how or why you can overcome that challenge.About Your Company/IdeaTell us about the meat of your idea: What is the problem you are solving? How are you solving it? What kind of person would use this? How will you make money? (Limit 300 words)What is new about what you are doing and, if nothing, explain why, despite that, you will be successful?How do you know that your idea is good?What do you understand about your business that other companies in the industry just don’t get?Who are your competitors, and who might become competitors? Who do you fear most? Inc. magazine wrote a good article on how to write executive summaries that you may find helpful.

The Executive Summary should be no more than two pages of 12 point font with standard margins (1″ vertically and 1″ horizontally). Qualified entries will be printed for evaluation in black and white using default printer settings. Any entry that is illegible in this format will not be reviewed. Disqualified entries, including those exceeding the 2 page limit, will not be reviewed and will receive no feedback. Before you submit your Executive Summary we urge you to print it out using default printer settings, review it, and revise it if you have to squint to read it. Remember, if it looks like you are trying to cram too much into two pages it will appear that way to the judges as well.

Customer feedback for each team will vary based on the way the company operates. Feedback should be discussed with mentors and teams should get mentor advice on the feedback before the track semi-finals judging round. Please keep in mind that early stage technologies that are “new” may not be understood by customers, so that feedback should be taken with a grain of salt.In order to build a company, it is critical that a company understand its customers and gather customer feedback. In the rest of this section, teams that sell to “consumers” or “individuals” are “business-to-consumer” or B2C and teams that sell to companies or organizations are “business-to-business” or B2B companies. To be clear, you are not making a sales call, just a call to gather feedback on the product/service you are developing/selling/making available.B2CB2C teams must gather customer feedback from 50 or more potential customers. The customers you interview should be representative of your target customer. This should be conducted through in-person interviews or through online or written surveys. You must then articulate the top three key strengths and top three opportunities for improvement that comes from the customer research. This should be included in your “progress” document handed in at the end of the semi-finalist round.You can design the survey however you would like, but the survey must answer some critical questions: For a fee service/product, what are you willing to pay for this product/service? For free services/products, why would you be or not be willing to use this free product/service? What problem, if any, does this solve for you? Would you recommend it to a friend? Why or why not? What percentage of people you know would use this product/service?B2BB2B teams must gather customer feedback from three or more potential customers. This must be completed through in-person or telephone interviews. All data will be compiled digitally and reviewed by judges. You should include the name, title, and contact information of the person you interviewed. That person likely will not be contacted, but if the research raises certain questions, then the customer may be contacted. You must separately articulate the top three key strengths and top three opportunities for improvement that comes from the customer research. This should be included in your “progress” document handed in at the end of the semi-finalist round.You can design the customer call however you would like, but the it must answer some critical questions: For a fee service/product, would you buy this product/service? What are you willing to pay for this product/service? For free services/products, why would you be or not be willing to use this free product/service? What problem, if any, does this solve for your company/organization/clients? Would you recommend it to a colleague or partner company/organization? Why or why not? What percentage of people you know would use this product/service? What impact would this have on your business?