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THE $100K INNOVATION CHALLENGE @CASE

 

 

JUDGING CRITERIA

Market

  1. The company did a good job identifying its initial target market.
  2. The company is targeting a large and attractive potential market.
  3. The company showed credible market research data to support its market size claims.
  4. The company comprehensively identified potential competitors.
  5. The company identified large and attractive secondary markets to serve over the long term.

Product or Service

  1. The company has identified a compelling initial product or service.
  2. The initial product or service has strong competitive advantages verse existing alternatives.
  3. The company has identified a robust product roadmap going forward

Customers

  1. The company has identified it is initial target customers and has given specific references.
  2. The company has articulated a strong hard-dollar customer value proposition.
  3. The company has described competitive alternatives and shown that its offerings are superior.

Technology

  1. The company’s technology will confer sustainable competitive advantages on its products or services.
  2. The company has a solid intellectual property position as well as plans to protect it.
  3. The company has presented a clear and concise overview of its technology and state of development.

Development Plan

  1. The company has outlines a credible and thorough plan for developing its first product or service.
  2. The company has clearly identified its resource requirements and these can be reasonably attained.
  3. The company has good potential for attracting corporate partners.
  4. The company has a plan to derive additional funding from alternative sources such as government grants, bank loans, etc.

Distribution Plan

  1. The company understands and has clearly articulated its business model.
  2. The company’s sales model is a good fit for its product/service and business model.
  3. The company has articulated a plan to attract corporate partners.

Team

  1. The company has a strong and complete founding management team or a plan to build such a team.
  2. The company has attracted an impressive advisory board or has a plan to develop such a board.
  3. The company clearly understands what additional people and skills it needs to build a team.

Financial Projections

  1. The company has clearly described its funding needs; these are reasonable and adequate to the task.
  2. The company is well positioned to win initial grants from various federal and state funding agencies.
  3. The company has presented attractive and credible 5-year financial projections.
  4. The company has potential to achieve significant (>$100M) enterprise valuation within 5-7 years.

Exit Strategy

  1. The company has clearly thought about its exit strategy and has articulated a strong pan to get there.
  2. The company will likely be an IPO candidate.
  3. The company has described an attractive list of potential acquirers.
  4. The company has considered exit dynamics and how it might achieve a superior outcome.