new year round competition usasbe

[chris macrae]

http://www.usasbelaunch.com/

The mission of the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship® ... is to provide the network to advance knowledge and foster business development through entrepreneurship education and research.

USASBE Launch! is an exciting global student startup competition designed to provoke and reward undergraduate or graduate students from any discipline who can

1. design an impactful idea,
2. identify, test and validate business model hypotheses using customer development tools and
3. show traction which measures how well a startup is delivering its business model and how well the target demographic is accepting that business model

Please register your team (or yourself if you’re working individually) by clicking the “Registration” button.  There are no required fees or purchases, there is no required format or procedures. We will recommend a process and tools, and students can engage as much or as little as they desire. The ultimate goal of student participants should be to start a sustainable business and tell an engaging story . . . plain and simple.

This competition brings together the network of USASBE, the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA), the Collegiate Entrepreneurship Organization (CEO), the National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship (NACCE), the International Council for Small Business (ICSB), and Self-Employment in the Arts (SEA), among others, in an annual competition that seeks to foster business development through entrepreneurship and to create a global mentor network to assist student entrepreneur teams.

Chosen in early spring, USASBE Launch! competition finalists, in addition to receiving prize packages and extensive mentoring from leading experts, may opt to engage in a yearlong continuing education and acceleration program with their mentor teams. Competition Sponsors, Mentors, Judges and Investors are being courted for their time, resources, council, and money (please contact Doan Winkel directly at [e-mail]).

HOW USASBE LAUNCH! WORKS

It’s time to highlight students who have taken a chance!

Here is our process to motivate students to pursue their passion.

Virtual Idea Modeling Boot Camp

September 2013

This is a competition. This competition is for undergraduate and graduate students – they can be business students, arts students, technology students, science students. It doesn’t matter – as long as they are students who want to create their future. This competition is about action. We will empower students to take entrepreneurial action – to begin with an idea and build that into a scalable business model.

As a first step, students can participate in a virtual boot camp where they will learn details about tools that will help them progress through the idea modeling process to deliberately develop their idea into something impactful and feasible. Details and specific guidelines will be released soon.

Virtual Business Model Boot Camp I

October 2013

Michael Issa, CEO and Co-Founder of QuipuApps, and Doan Winkel will conduct a virtual boot camp to introduce students to the customer development and business modelling process. Not all students will be ready for this step at this point, but it is important to introduce them to the toolkit as early as possible.

Details and specific guidelines will be released soon.

Full Pitch Submission

December 2013

Students will submit a 2 minute video pitch. These pitches will not be used to eliminate any students or in any way screen them. The point is for students who are interested to submit a video pitch and receive feedback from mentors, industry experts, faculty, entrepreneurs, and investors. This is purely a developmental opportunity. Details and specific guidelines will be released soon.

Next Steps Workshop

January 9-10, 2014 (at USASBE Conference), Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, Texas

Students can attend an interactive startup bootcamp to engage with leading experts on various topics, including Lean UX, Customer Development, Business Model Canvas, Interviewing and Networking, Revenue and Cash Flow Projections, Pricing, and many more.

The Showcase

March 2014

Students will have a chance to showcase their new venture progress to a panel of experienced investors and entrepreneurs.  Finalists will receive prize packages centered around mentoring from the world’s top subject-matter experts in various components of the lean methodology and the startup process.

The Experts

Winners Receive Mentoring From These Brilliant Folks

Eric Ries

Jeff Gothelf

Laura Klein

Chris McCann

Salim Virani

Marvin Scaff

Francisco Palao

Shane Reiser

Brennan Loh

Tristan Kromer

Ryan Sullivan

Ann Hauer

Jason Hauer

Kevin Dewalt

 

Tony Zambito

 

Karl Shaikh