VENTURE SUMMARY TEMPLATE
A Venture Summary should contain:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Summary
Market Opportunity
Product/Service
Strategy/Business Model
Management
Finance
Public Summary
what is your idea/concept the venture is based on?
what need are you meeting in the market?
what are you selling?
how will you sell the product/how does the venture make money?
who is running the venture?
how much money do / will you make? how much capital do you need?
a short paragraph on your venture (do not include anything confidential)
Please state in your venture summary whether your idea is a social or commercial enterprise.
IMPORTANT: Please stick to the 3,000 word limit. Feel free to fill it in using the boxes below. The website
(www.spark.auckland.ac.nz) contains a Venture Summary Guide and other resources you may find useful in assisting you
completing this. Submit your entry at www.spark2015.istart.org/
Due: Monday 10th August, 12pm (midday)
Venture Name (Please use the same name in iStart)
Team Lead #1 Full Name
Team Lead #1 Degree & Stage of Study
Team Lead #1 University of Auckland UPI
Team Member #2 Full Name
Team Member #2 Degree & Stage of Study
Team Member #3 Full Name
Team Member #3 Degree & Stage of Study
Team Member #4 Full Name
Team Member #4 Degree & Stage of Study
Team Member #5 Full Name
Team Member #5 Degree & Stage of Study
Queries? Contact the Spark administrator: admin@spark-challenge.com or 09 923 2042
Summary
Describe the idea/concept. This should have a strong, inspiring impact on the reader (keep brief!)
Note: The summary is included in the 3000 words limit.
Market Opportunity (30)
Clearly establish that there is a definite and substantial need in the target market and quantify the nature and size of this
opportunity and identify who your competitors are. For a social venture it is necessary to comment on the impact the venture
will have on the community or environment and present your case in these terms
Product / Service (30)
Describe in simple and clear terms what the product/service is, how it is made and what state it currently is in.
Strategy / Business Model (15)
Explain how the venture generates revenues, produces, creates or acquires its product(s) or service(s) and the channels
through which it/they will be distributed it and what profits will be generated (ie. what is your business model and how will
you make money).
Management (20)
Outline the management team and their experience and describe the venture’s structure and history.
Note: Include mention of advisors and mentors the team has access to.
Finance (5)
Information necessary to establish a picture of the venture’s financial situation. How much money will you make? How
much capital (money) do you require? Where might you source the funding from? Try to give as clear an indication as
possible but don’t spend hours on this - you are not expected to be a financial expert at this stage!
Public Disclosure Summary (30 words maximum, not included in 3,000 word limit)
A brief paragraph that describes the venture but does not include any confidential or commercially sensitive information.
Queries? Contact the Spark administrator: admin@spark-challenge.com or 09 923 2042
VENTURE SUMMARY GUIDE
The following document is a guide to writing a Venture Summary for entry into the Spark $100k Challenge
MAIN POINTS
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Use no more than 3,000 words and use the section structure below as your outline.
Use the issues listed in each section as a guide but don’t feel you have to cover every point or respond to them in the
order they are written – just cover the main issues for your venture in each of the sections.
Make sure you “sell” your vision and why you think that you (and your team) can achieve it.
Please include a paragraph (not more than 30 words) at the end that can be used for “public” circulation. This should
be detailed enough that it describes the venture but should not disclose any confidential or commercially sensitive
information about your venture.
VENTURE SUMMARY DOCUMENT $100K CHALLENGE
Introduction
A Venture Summary is a 3,000 word document that summarises the major aspects of your venture. It is not a full Business Plan
(20 pages) but is longer than an Executive Summary (1‐2 pages).
The Venture Summary should include six sections. Each section addresses a key question regarding the venture:
1. Summary
What is your idea/concept the venture is based on?
2. Market Opportunity
What need are you meeting in the market? Who are your competitors?
If Social Venture – what will be the impact on community/environment
3. Product/Service
What are you selling?
4. Strategy/Business Model
How will you sell the product/How does the venture make money?
5. Management
Who is running the venture? (Mention any advisors or mentors the team
has access to)
6. Finance
How much money do / will you make?
How much capital do you need?
7. Public Disclosure Summary
A short paragraph on your venture (do not include anything
confidential)
Note: Submissions for the Spark $100k Challenge close on Monday 10th August 2015, 12pm (midday)
Queries? Contact the Spark administrator: admin@spark-challenge.com or 09 923 2042
Note
Please stick to the 3,000 word limit and to the section structure outlined above.
A brief guide to writing each section appears below, including some key questions to guide you.
The questions here should not be treated as a ‘list’ – as they are a guide only.
You will not be able to answer each individual question in your summary.
Write each section in a normal paragraph style ‐ do not simply answer each question separately
The Vision 2 Business Seminar and Ideas 2 Business resources found on www.spark.auckland.ac.nz can also be used to prepare
the sections of the Venture Summary.
1. Summary section
The purpose of the Summary section is to clearly and succinctly describe the idea/concept. This should have a strong,
inspiring impact on the reader.
2. Market Opportunity
The purpose of the Market Opportunity section is to clearly establish that there is a definite and substantial ‘need’ in the
target market and to clearly quantify the nature and size of this opportunity.
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For a social venture it is necessary to comment on the impact the venture will have on the community or environment
and present your case in these terms
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What is the target market? (who is the market? / where is the market?)
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Why will the customer buy the product? (what is the value proposition?)
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How big is this market? (quantitative assessment)
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What are the key features or trends of this market? (qualitative assessment)
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What is the competitive situation in the target market? (Who are your competitors? / How are you different to them? /
How will you compete?)
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How much will the venture sell into this market? (what is the expected market penetration?)
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Does the market demonstrate the opportunity for sustainable margins and growth in the long term?
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What are the mid to long term plans for expansion into other markets?
3. Product / Service (WHAT)
The purpose of the Product section is to describe in simple and clear terms what the product is, how it is made and what
state it is currently in.
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What is the product?
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What does the product do? What are the product’s key features?
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How does the product work?
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What are the product’s key benefits?
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How is the product made? What resources are required to produce the product?
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What state is the product in now? (idea / prototype / beta tested / in market)
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How much time and money will be required to complete product development?
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What is the feedback on the product to date?
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Does the venture own intellectual property in the product? What is this intellectual property? Can you register it in the
future? If not are there other factors that will enable barriers to entry for others to be created?
4. Strategy / Business Model (HOW)
This section should clearly define ‘how’ the venture will create value and how it will respond to the market
environment.
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What is the venture’s Business Model? (how does the venture make money?)
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What is the venture’s ‘route to market’ (what does the venture need to do to sell its product? Does this differ for
different markets or customer segments?)
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What is the pricing model and the basis for this?
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Will the venture have partners? Who?
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What key milestones have been achieved to date?
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What are the venture’s key milestones in the next 6, 12 and 24 months?
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What are the key risks to the success of the venture? How can these be mitigated?
Queries? Contact the Spark administrator: admin@spark-challenge.com or 09 923 2042
5. Management (WHO)
The Management section should outline the experience of the management team and describe the venture’s structure and
history (however brief).
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Who is on the venture’s management team?
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What experience do they have? What are their levels of commitment (financial + workload)
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Where are the gaps in the team and how will you fill them?
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What is the equity structure of the venture? (has a formal company structure been established? who are the
shareholders?)
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Mention any advisors or mentors the team has access to
6. Finance
The Financial section should contain information necessary to establish a clear picture of the venture’s financial situation
(current and projected). This may include some of the following:
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Projected financial results (sales, expenses, profit/loss for years 1 and 2)
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Current and projected capital requirements (money needed to start and grow business)
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How much funding will be required? From where will it be sourced? How much funding have you got now?
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Assumptions that the forecasts are based on
Try to give as clear an indication as possible so the judges can determine your businesses potential. Don’t spend hours on
this ‐ you are not expected to be a financial expert at this stage!
7. Public Disclosure Statement (30 words maximum, not included in 3,000 word limit)
This brief paragraph describes the venture but does not include any confidential or commercially sensitive information.
Please think carefully about what you write since the information will be published in our prize giving booklets and also
made available to the media.
Queries? Contact the Spark administrator: admin@spark-challenge.com or 09 923 2042