RULES

Definitions

  1. Mind the Bridge (MTB) business plan competition is a not-for-profit initiative to foster an Italian entrepreneurial eco-system creating an effective bridge between Italy and the Silicon Valley.
  2. The Mind the Bridge Venture Camp is an event to be held in Italy (in the fall 2008) where a selected number of participating projects will be invited to present to a large audience that will include potential investors. A subset of the presenting start-ups will be invited to participate to the Silicon Valley Road Show.
  3. The Silicon Valley Road Show is a week-long tour in the Silicon Valley where the selected entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to show case their idea to a pre-matched financial community. The organizing committee will facilitate a direct link between the competitor and members of the Silicon Valley financial community potentially interested in the proposed business idea.  
  4. The Silicon Valley financial community is a set of institutions that includes venture capitalists, angel investors and corporations who are interested in high-risk/high-return investments in ventures at different stages of development.
  5. The Mentors are passionate, successful entrepreneurs or managers who wish to share and mentor through their own experience. Key activities for a mentor will be to focus and develop the finalist‘s business plans and to prepare it for a successful showcase during the Silicon Valley road show.   

Objectives

The objectives of the of the Mind-the-Bridge business plan competition are the following:

  1. to select, mentor and support the best innovative ideas coming from Italian entrepreneurs
  2. to create a direct link between new entrepreneurs and seasoned entrepreneurs
  3. to use the network of renowned, successful entrepreneurs/managers to train young entrepreneurs, and help focus and professionalize high potential business ideas
  4. to provide new entrepreneurs with direct exposure to potential venture capital investors from the most experienced, entrepreneurial eco-system in the world, the Silicon Valley
  5. ultimately, to create the conditions to foster a sustainable Italian entrepreneurial eco-system, spur more ideas, and subsequently reinvigorate the complex new-venture economy

Committees

  1. The Selection Committee is the core group that will evaluate the submitted business plans. Its members, appointed by the Organizing Committee, have significant experiences as entrepreneurs, managers and investors. The Selection Committee has the following powers:
    • Supervises and coordinates the selection process
    • Appoints a minimum of 2 referees to evaluate each BP in the selection phase
    • Optionally nominates external referees (area experts) to help with the selection process

Admission Criteria

  1. Participation in the competition requires presenting a business plan for a high knowledge based company.
  2. The competitors can be individual persons or groups, or an established company.
  3. The competition is open to both new projects/companies and established companies with high growth potential. However, precedence will be given to companies who have been already established.
  4. If the competitor is a company, it must be incorporated in Italy in order to participate, or, if the competitor is not incorporated, the project proponent must be an Italian resident.

Application Rules

  1. Participation in the competition is free.
  2. Each competitor must submit his/her executive summary and business plan in the required format via email to SELECTION.2008@MindTheBridge.org before the final deadline.
  3. The competitor will receive a confirmation email within 3 days. If the confirmation email is not received, please contact INFORMATION@MindTheBridge.org
  4. All the documentation presented must be submitted in English in all its parts.
  5. By submitting the business plan, the competitor declares that all the information provided is truthful and that he accepts any decision of the Selection Committee.
  6. The lack of information or any failure in complying with the required format (including the length of the documentation submitted) will cause the exclusion of the competitor from the competition.
  7. If selected, the participant must present the business plan during the Mind the Bridge Venture Camp event.

Deadlines

The complete documentation must be received no later than:
September 4th, 2008.
No business plan will be accepted later than the deadline.

Evaluation Process

The Selection Committee and the Referees will evaluate each proposed project. The evaluation will be based on the following factors.


Business plan evaluation factors

  1. Technical feasibility considering the proponent team skills.
  2. Stage of technical development already achieved.
  3. Product/service originality.
  4. Size of the target market.
  5. Fulfillment of a market need/requirement.
  6. Competition level in target market.
  7. Potential international appeal.
  8. Competitive advantage sustainability.
  9. Financial/economic growth potential.
  10. Entrepreneurial team quality and competences.
  11. Business Plan quality and completeness.

Confidentiality

The only individuals who will have access to your business plans will be the judges who are assigned to read your plan. These judges are largely professional venture capital investors or entrepreneurs, who regularly deal with confidential information in the course of their work. We have asked them to treat your work product with the same care and respect for confidentiality. We also ask them to remove themselves from judging your plan if they have a real conflict of interest. Feel free to mark your plan—or particular piece of it—as "confidential." Note that the short description of your idea (5 lines maximum) may be used in public documentation relating to the contest.

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Downloads

    Required Format [DOC]
 Rules [PDF]