University Business Plan Competitions

The Elevator competition simulates a two-minute elevator ride with a venture capitalist where the team gets to pitch its business idea.

“Gov. Jim Doyle said during his 2002 campaign that he wanted to create a better entrepreneurial climate in Wisconsin, and he specifically mentioned a statewide Business Plan Contest as one way to do so,” said Secretary Nettles. “This first-ever contest is reaching out to entrepreneurs across Wisconsin – and tapping into ideas that can grow into businesses.

"It is all about company creation," said Tom Still, president of the Wisconsin Technology Council. "This is another way to spur technology transfer and company formation in Wisconsin."

The winners of our first annual MBA business-plan contest have fresh ideas, strong management skills, and money. So watch out. They could be your new rivals. By Elaine Pofeldt Fortune Small Business If you think…

Nine student directors from the U. run the challenge. They organize the competition, raise funds for the prizes and operating budget and coordinate efforts between the student teams and community professionals. The competition’s first year was 1999.

Ivory tower exercises? Not anymore. College business-plan contestants are all about seducing judges and launching companies.

(Advice to would-be entrepreneurs: Hone your pitches to perfection. VCs are deluged with business plans, and they’re looking for reasons to throw them onto the reject pile.)

"The five-member SmartCells team, made up of students from MIT and Harvard Business School, beat out a field of 118 teams, which had submitted plans on subjects including vehicle safety devices, semiconductors and alternative fuels. The competition has sparked the success of more than 60 companies including Akamai Technologies and others acquired by Cisco Systems, Broadcom and Ask Jeeves."

"The ideal participant is not a seasoned management team with advanced plans seeking easy access to seed capital. Universities are, after all, places of education – not ATMs for early stage financing. Rather, it is tomorrow’s entrepreneurs who look to these competitions as a way of learning through doing, with the bonus of a possibility at turning their idea into reality."

The season is still young, and already we’ve seen business plans for a medical device to treat obesity, a one-stop shop for history buffs, a voice-mail system for small businesses, and a make-it-yourself dessert restaurant….