2015 Shocker New Venture Competition Rules and Guidelines
The following rules are binding throughout the entire duration of the Shocker New Venture Competition (SNVC).
Participating in the SNVC indicates that teams accept these rules and regulations and agree to abide by them. The
Center for Entrepreneurship and the SNVC staff reserve the right to disqualify any team and/or team member they
believe are not abiding by the rules of the SNVC.
Confidentiality
The Shocker New Venture Competition honors the confidentiality of all participants’ business concepts and plans.
Business concepts, abstracts and plans will not be released for any purposes other than use in the SNVC. The judges
also recognize the sensitivity of the materials being presented.
What the judges will be looking for in entries:
Teams will be judged based on their ability to succinctly encapsulate their business concept through a market
analysis, a clear value proposition, and a sustainable competitive advantage. The SNVC staff requests that all judges
provide constructive feedback, strengths, weaknesses & recommendations, on the business summaries, plans and
during the Trade Show. Their feedback provides teams the opportunity to further develop, grow, and advance their
new venture concept.
Start-up capital will be awarded to the winning teams from a prize pool of more than $30,000, aiding in the launch of
new ventures.
Contestants should strive for ideas that will produce revenue and/or investments to employ at least three people
within a year and many more over time.
Ask yourself and your partners:
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What's the value proposition: What problem are we solving for customers and what makes our idea special?
What's the market we're trying to serve and is it big enough to matter?
How will we reach it?
What's our sustainable competitive advantage?
Your entry should answer these questions:
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How you have tested this idea with potential customers?
How you arrived at your costs, pricing, and expected profit margin?
How long will it take you to get to profitability?
How will you finance the work before it becomes profitable?
What are your qualifications for pursuing and managing this business and who else are you going to rely on
for help?
How serious are you about turning this idea into a business you will run?
Definitions used in the 2015 rules:
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Team: A team consists of one to five members. At least one of the members must be enrolled as an undergraduate or
graduate student taking at least six credit hours in the 2015 spring semester at a Kansas college or university.
December 2014 graduates are also eligible. Email addresses and postal mailing addresses must be provided for
each team member. Winning teams will have checks mailed to the primary contacts designated mailing addresses.
Primary Contact: Each team must designate a primary contact. That primary contact must be enrolled as a student
taking at least six credit hours during the spring 2015 semester at a Kansas college or university. All official contest
communication will be sent to the primary contact from cfe@wichita.edu. It is the primary contact's responsibility to
communicate with other members of the team.
Faculty Advisor: Each team must have a faculty adviser with an .edu email address. For a team to be officially
registered, the faculty member must complete the faculty advisor form.
Payment of Awards: The Wichita State University Foundation will issue checks in the full amount of the award. Tax
payments on the awards will become the responsibility of those receiving the checks.
Competition Timeline and Guidance:
Intent to Compete & Faculty Advisor Forms
Intent to Compete forms must be submitted online, including a brief description of your business idea.
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Deadline: 4:00 p.m. Friday, February 27, 2015
Submit to: cfe@wichita.edu
Forms: www.wichita.edu/SNVC
The primary contacts and faculty advisors of teams eligible to compete will receive emails acknowledging receipt of
their Intent to Compete forms.
A teams Faculty Advisor must submit their registration by Friday, February 27. Faculty Advisors are welcome to
sponsor multiple teams in the competition. Faculty Advisors must be employed by a Kansas college or university and
have an .edu email address.
Screening Round 1: Two-Page Business Summary
Business Summary due
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Guideline: Summaries of no more than two pages (not counting cover page)
Deadline: 4:00 p.m. Friday, March 6, 2015
Submit to: cfe@wichita.edu
Your team's summary should address these questions:
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What's the value proposition?
What problem is this business solving for customers?
What makes this idea special?
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Why is your team especially well-suited to address this problem?
What's the market you're trying to serve and is it big enough to matter?
How will you reach the market?
What's your sustainable competitive advantage?
Judges will select up to 32 teams to continue to Round 2. Primary contacts and faculty advisors of teams advancing
will be informed via email by Monday, March 16.
Screening Round 2: Ten-Page Business Plan
Business Plan due
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Guideline: Each team selected must submit a business plan of up to 10 pages.
Deadline: 8:00 a.m. Friday, April 3.
Submit to:cfe@wichita.edu
Your team's plan should answer these questions:
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How have you tested this idea with potential customers?
What are your expected costs, pricing and eventual profit margin and how have you arrived at those
numbers?
How will you finance the work before it becomes profitable?
What are your qualifications for pursuing and managing this business and who else are you going to rely on
for help?
How serious are you about turning this idea into a business you will run? You should convince the judges
your team plans to pursue this business if you are a winner.
Judges will select up to 16 teams to continue to the Trade Show. Primary contacts and faculty advisors of teams
selected will be informed via email by Tuesday, April 14.
Teams advancing to the Trade Show will need to email a one page abstract and their company logo to
cfe@wichita.edu by 5 p.m. Monday, April 20.
Trade Show:
Trade Show at Charles Koch Arena
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Date: Friday, April 24
Student set up: Beginning at 10:30 a.m. Charles Koch Arena
Judging takes place: 3:00 - 6:00 p.m.
The Trade Show will be held in the Preferred Health Gym of Charles Koch Arena on the WSU campus, at 21st and
Hillside.
Judges and the public may visit the Trade Show exhibits from 3 - 6 p.m. Teams may set up exhibits beginning at
11:30 a.m. Each team will have an assigned spot on the concourse with an 8 x 2.5 foot table and access to an
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electrical outlet. Teams may also create backdrops for their tables. Teams are responsible for supplying the materials
needed for their exhibit.
Teams should present a visual representation of their ideas and be prepared to brief judges and other onlookers. That
will involve repeatedly offering pitches about your business idea and responding to questions and comments.
During the Trade Show round, teams and judges are to adhere to the following rules:
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Prizes and drawings are not allowed as part of a team display.
Disruptions, such as noisemakers or anything that may cause a distraction, are not permitted.
Team displays set up and ready by 1:30 p.m.
Teams will be allowed to accept business cards from judges and vice versa.
Attend the Mentoring Session following the Trade Show to qualify for prizes
All teams selected for the Trade Show round will receive a minimum of $100. In addition, there will be Director's
Awards to recognize excellence in presentation of new venture ideas.
Judges will select eight teams advancing to Finals. Primary contacts and faculty advisors of teams advancing will be
informed via email by Friday, April 24.
Mentoring Session:
The Mentoring Session will immediately follow the Trade Show.
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Date: Friday, April 24
Time: 6 – 7:30 p.m., Preferred Health Practice Gym, Koch Arena, 21ST & Hillside
Participants: Trade Show teams & judges from all rounds of the competition
The Shocker New Venture Competition Mentoring Session provides a forum for students and industry leaders to
exchange ideas, foster relationships, and enhance students’ new venture concepts. Insights from the judges aid the
students in the development of key skills needed to further advance the commercialization of their idea. Students
who participate in the Trade Show are required to attend the session to qualify for prizes. Students are expected to
come prepared with questions, thorough knowledge of their business model, and we strongly recommend bringing
business cards for networking purposes.
Finals:
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Date: Friday, May 1
Presentations: Open to all teams who competed in the competition, judges, faculty advisors & the public
o Teams 1 – 3
 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m., Devlin Hall
o Teams 4 - 6
 1:45 – 3:45 p.m., Devlin Hall
o Teams will arrive at 8 a.m. at Devlin Hall, 2ND Floor
o Teams will have breakfast provided but will be on their own for lunch
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Deliberation:
o Time: 4 – 4:45 p.m., Devlin Hall, 2nd Floor Conference Room
The eight teams will be assigned a presentation time by blind draw.
Starting at 9 a.m. teams 1 -4 will give their business pitch of about 20 minutes, treating the judges as potential
investors. There will be up to 10 minutes additional for judges' questions and feedback. A slide presentation and/or
demonstration is required. There will be a projector and screen available.
Starting at 1 p.m. teams 1 – 5 will give their business pitch of about 20 minutes, treating the judges as potential
investors. There will be up to 10 minutes additional for judges’ questions and feedback. A slide presentation and/or
demonstration is required. There will be a projector and screen available.
Teams in Finals can qualify to win a minimum of:
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First Place: $10,000
Second Place: $5,000
Third Place: $2,000
Fourth Place: $750
The teams will also be eligible for special awards for Technology Innovation, Healthcare Innovation and Director's
Awards for Trade Show excellence. Those awards may also be presented to teams eliminated in earlier rounds.
Awards Ceremony:
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Time: 5 – 6 p.m., Devlin Hall Lobby
Winners announced: 5 p.m.
Open to the public
At the conclusion of the final presentations around 4:00 p.m., there will be a public reception in the lobby of Devlin
Hall to honor all contestants, judges and sponsors in the 2015 Shocker New Venture Competition.
Once judges have reached their decisions, awards will be announced, approximately 5:00 p.m. Winners will be
announced for first, second, third and fourth places, plus the Technology Innovation Award, Healthcare Innovation,
Director’s Award and KWCH App Creation Award.
General Rules:
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Shocker New Venture Competition entries must represent original work of team members.
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The entry must be for a new business (e.g. opening a franchise of an existing chain is not considered a new
venture).
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At least one member of each team must be a current student, or December 2015 graduate, of an accredited
Kansas college or university.
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Each team must have a faculty advisor from the same college or university as the primary contact. Faculty
members may advise more than one team.
An individual may only be a member of one team
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No team may have more than five members, but not every member needs to be from the same college or
university, or needs to be a currently enrolled student.
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Only one entry per individual or team is permitted. The entry must be submitted as a Microsoft Word
document, with 12 point text, one inch margins on top, bottom and sides. Pages must be numbered at
bottom right.
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No more than 10 pages may be included in the entry, but an additional 10 pages of appendices are
permitted of tables, spread sheets or other supporting materials.
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No submission longer than the specified length will be considered.
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The only persons with access to the entry materials will be judges and members of the organizing committee.
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Materials will not be distributed to any other parties, unless requested by the participating team. Judges,
reviewers, and staff will be asked to make a good faith effort to preserve the confidentiality of each plan.
However, no other or special provisions are made to protect intellectual property. Teams should take
measures to protect their own intellectual property.
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All deadlines and guidelines for submissions must be adhered to. Materials must be submitted by deadline
by the announced due dates and times to cfe@wichita.edu
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The Center for Entrepreneurship may select alternates for any round if selected teams are unwilling or
unable to continue in the competition.
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The Center for Entrepreneurship reserves the right to disqualify, in its sole and absolute discretion, any team
from the competition at any time. Reasons for disqualification may include, but are not limited to,
plagiarism and any other form of dishonesty, misappropriation or infringement of the intellectual property of
others, and any failure to comply with these rules and regulations. Disqualified teams shall forfeit all prizes
awarded to them.
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Prize money is intended for team members to support their venture idea.
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The names and photographs of contestant's and brief descriptions of their entries may be used in news
coverage or promotion of the Center for Entrepreneurship or the Shocker New Venture Competition.
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The Center for Entrepreneurship reserves the right to amend or change the rules or organization of the
competition.
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No staff member or student worker of the Center for Entrepreneurship may participate in the competition.
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