2017 competition 1 - kickoff overview - alabama...

2017 Overview

1 Alabama Launchpad is a program of the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama.

ALABAMA LAUNCHPAD START. STAY. GROW.

Alabama Launchpad is a program of the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama. Alabama Launchpad helps high growth companies start, stay, and grow in Alabama while supporting, advocating, and recognizing entrepreneurship statewide.

Table of Contents

Written Business Plan: ...................................................................................................................... 2

Pitch Presentation: ............................................................................................................................ 2

Commercial Assessment: ................................................................................................................. 3

Judges: ............................................................................................................................................... 4

Location & Schedule: ......................................................................................................................... 6

Directions: .......................................................................................................................................... 7

Accommodations: ............................................................................................................................. 8

Program Benefits ............................................................................................................................... 8

2017 Overview


Written Business Plan: Prior to each submission, teams are encouraged to address any issues noted in feedback from the judging panel and make changes to their plans as they see fit. Teams should also ensure that their business plan is consistent with the provided guidelines. Teams must submit their business plan using the approved template format using YouNoodle no later than: 1st Submission - Monday, February 6, 2017 (9:00 am) Revised Business Plan - Monday, March 6, 2017 (9:00 am) (To be assessed for commercial viability, applies to advancing teams only) Finale Submission - Monday, April 3, 2017 (9:00 am)

Pitch Presentation: Teams will have 8 minutes to make their presentation for the first pitch event and 8 minutes for the finale event. This will be followed by a twelve minute question and answer and feedback period for the first pitch event and a ten minute question and answer for the finale event. A few minutes will be given between each presentation to allow the teams to set up and give the judges time to write notes for themselves. There are no limitations on the number of slides that can be shown. Presentations will be rigidly timed, and signals will be given at different intervals by a competition official indicating how much time is remaining. Presentations will not be allowed to continue beyond the allotted 8 minutes. The order in which teams will present will be determined by random drawing prior to start of the pitch event. Teams are invited and encouraged to watch the other teams make their presentations.

A laptop computer and a projector will be provided. Other visual aids such as prototypes or samples are allowed. Teams may use any of the following presentation formats. Alabama Launchpad will have installed the latest version of the desktop presenter program for each of the presentation formats listed.

Microsoft PowerPoint (version 2007 or higher) Keynote version 6.5.3

2017 Overview


If you would like Alabama Launchpad to test your presentation file on the computer used for the pitch events, the file must be submitted via email to [email protected] by: 1st Pitch Event Submission Wednesday, February 22, 2017 (3:00 pm) Finale Submission Tuesday, April 25, 2017 (10:00 am) All teams should bring their presentation on a flash drive “memory stick” to load the latest version of their presentation onto the computer used for the pitch event.

Only those individuals who are listed on the Alabama Launchpad registration form and who have signed the Alabama Launchpad Terms & Conditions form will be allowed to present at the finals. Teams may use as many or as few presenters as they choose, as long as they are currently listed as official team members. At this point, teams are no longer allowed to add new team members.

Commercial Assessment: Alabama Launchpad will purchase for each team advancing after the first pitch presentation a commercial market assessment based on their business plan. Alabama Launchpad has engaged qualified vendors who use well-developed methodologies and criteria for market analysis of technologies. Each team will receive a standardized template-based report that is market-oriented and seeks to determine real market demand and potential for a particular technology/product. The goal is to find those technologies and business ideas which have the greatest likelihood of a successful commercialization opportunity. This early stage screening tool identifies any significant barriers to commercialization, determines whether a similar competitor already exists or is under development, potential IP conflicts, the estimated market size and potential targets or development partners.

The commercial assessment will be provided to both the teams and judges. Teams are asked to respond to the feedback received through the report in the final version of their business plan submitted prior to the finale event and to incorporate their response to the feedback within their finale presentation.

2017 Overview


Alabama Launchpad will not make a cut based on the market assessment, but will expect each team to incorporate the findings of the report into their business plan. Alabama Launchpad does not expect or require teams to wholly agree or accept all of the findings of the market assessment but to simply explain through their business plan and presentation their response to the report.

Judges: Alabama Launchpad will use a judging panel comprised of five individuals representing the investment/angel community, entrepreneurs, and corporate stakeholders. This judging panel will evaluate each phase of the proof of commercial relevance competition. Each of the judges has considerable experience in business startups, particularly technology related businesses. Special effort is made to have judges from different geographies within the state, with varied domain expertise and significant business experience.

Judges for the competition are:

Chris Beaman, Founder and Chairman, New Leaf Digital

Josh Girvin, CEO, O3 Insight

Gwen Fewell, Chief Commerical Officer and Co-Founder, transOMIC Technologies

Nik Martin, Founder, Open Frame

Boyd Stephens, Founder, Netelysis

2017 Overview


Scoring: Value Proposition, 20 points – Does this idea address a real problem or unmet need? Is it innovative but practical? Does the plan make a strong case for the idea?

Market Opportunity, 20 points – Is the market real? Can it be profitable? Is it growing? What about the competition, present and future? Is the strategy for reaching this target market viable?

Management Team, 20 points – Is this group capable of leading the company at this particular stage? Are future needs addressed?

Financial Information, 20 points – Are the projections thorough? Are the revenue projections realistic? Are the cost projections realistic?

Presentation, 20 points – Was the plan clear and well presented? Did the presentation effectively make the case for the team’s plan?

Please notice that the presentation is worth 20%. As stated before, the judges will be provided with your written business plan approximately 10 days before the finale. They may very well assign tentative scores on the first four categories before hearing the presentation and may already have formulated questions.

2017 Overview


Location & Schedule: 1st Pitch Presentation – Friday, February 24, 2017 Evonik Degussa Corporation - Auditorium 750 Lakeshore Parkway Birmingham, AL 35209 9:00 am to 4:00 pm The drawing to determine the order of presentations will take place at 9:00 am **Following the judges deliberation the names of the advancing teams will be announced. Finale Pitch Presentation – Thursday, April 27, 2017 Mobile, AL 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm Venue Location TBD The drawing to determine the order of presentations will take place at 4:00 pm **Following the finale pitch presentations each team will have a 10 minute debrief session with the judge panel All pitch presentations are free events and open to the public.

2017 Overview


Directions: FIRST PITCH EVENT

Evonik Degussa Corporation (750 Lakeshore Parkway, Birmingham, AL 35209) Exit I-65 at EXIT 255, and turn west onto Lakeshore Parkway. Turn right onto Industrial Drive. Turn right into Evonik Degussa parking lot. NOTE: There is no access to Evonik from Lakeshore Drive

2017 Overview


Accommodations: Nearby Hotels Birmingham Embassy Suites 2300 Woodcrest Place, Birmingham, Alabama, 35209 Tel: 1-205-879-7400 Fax: 1-205-870-4523 Hilton Garden Inn Birmingham/Lakeshore Drive 520 Wildwood Circle Drive North, Birmingham, Alabama, 35209 Tel: 1-205-314-0274 Fax: 1-205-314-0275 Hampton Inn Birmingham I-65/Lakeshore Drive 30 State Farm Parkway, Birmingham, Alabama, 35209 Tel: 1-205-313-2060 Fax: 1-205-313-2070 Holiday Inn Express – Birmingham/Homewood 492 Wildwood Circle North Homewood, Alabama, 35209 Tel: 1-800-315-2621 Tel: 205-942-6070 For other hotel options, contact the Birmingham Convention and Visitors Bureau at Toll-Free: 800.458.8085 or 205.458.8000 and http://birminghamal.org/

2017 Overview


Program Benefits (Available to Finalists)

Amazon Web Services Program The program, AWS Activate, provides you with the following:

$5,000 in AWS credits valid for 2 years Free access to web-based and instructor-led training (normally ~$600/course), plus

tokens for multiple hands-on labs (normally ~$30/lab) One year of premium AWS Business Support A new Startup Forum for knowledge sharing among startups Special offers from other companies that help startups – initial partners include

Opscode, AlertLogic and SOASTA with more coming soon

Access link to application provided to all finalists at the conclusion of each round. Amazon Fine print: Generally available to companies that have raised less than $1.5M in capital. Some rational judgment will be made in cases where multiple redemption have been requested.

Incubator Office Space Program (Available to Funded Companies Only) Innovation Depot (Birmingham, Alabama)

3 months free rent

Fine Print: Offered to one winner per round; Smallest office space or an equivalent discount off a larger space

Business Plan Guidelines and template See following pages

Business Plan Guidelines and Format

Please read these instructions carefully. Use a 10-point “Arial” font. Set pages to standard, 8.5 x 11 inch, letter size paper. Margins should be no less than one inch on all sides, not including header and footer. Please put your company name and page number in the header. Plans that do not meet these requirements will be asked to reformat.

Charts, tables and diagrams can also be used. It is highly recommended that submissions be made in Adobe PDF format. This will ensure that judges will see your document as you intended. The only other acceptable format will be Microsoft Word.

Total size of the entire document CANNOT EXCEED ELEVEN PAGES (including cover page) and CANNOT EXCEED FIVE MEGABYTES.

All submissions must be sent through your YouNoodle account. Please check deadline dates in YouNoodle or the Launchpad calendar at http://alabamalaunchpad.com/events/.

Questions?

Greg Sheek 205-943-4724 [email protected] Mary Hope Garmon 205-943-4727 [email protected]

http://alabamalaunchpad.com/events/

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

Business Plan Format for Reference 1. Executive Summary

a. Overview of Idea b. Mission/Objectives c. Keys to Success

2. Products/Services and Key Problem to Solve a. Product/Service Overview b. Relevant Technology or Expertise c. Key Opportunity

3. Market Analysis a. Market Overview (Current size, growth rate, etc.) b. Target Market c. Main Competitors (Present and future) d. Distribution Strategy e. Market Entry f. Pricing Strategy g. Scalability/Ramp Up

4. Management Summary a. Organizational Structure b. Current Management Team c. Future Management Team d. Board of Directors (Proposed BOD if applicable) e. Personnel Plan

5. Defensibility (Intellectual Property and/or “Know-how”) a. Patents, Trademarks, Copyrights (if applicable) b. Expert Knowledge and Trade Secrets (if applicable) c. Competitive Advantage and Defensibility d. Barriers to Entry

6. Financial Information a. Current Sources of Funding b. Funding Needs c. Use of prize money if granted d. Breakeven Analysis e. Proposed Milestones f. Exit Strategy for Investors (if applicable)

Helpful Tips:

• Tip: Within the “Marketing Analysis” section, teams should address the current and potential size of the whole market and their target market (if different). Teams should also provide details regarding how they intend to enter the market and production ramp-up.

• Tip: In the “Management Summary” section, teams should list a proposed Board of Directors and should outline the current management team and future needs.

• Tip: Be sure to address your company’s competitive advantages and how it is defendable from current and future competitors and imitators.

• Tip: Teams should address how they will use the prize money if awarded. This is very important. For teams that expect to need additional funding, the future funding sources should be addressed.

• Tip: Obviously the 11 page limit prevents the team from submitting a full set of financial statements and projections. Highlight the financial information that you believe is most important and incorporate this into the financial section.

Welcome

Kick-Off Meeting

Established 1991Private sector leadership for Alabama’s economic development

Who is theJob Creation and Capital Investment

A Program of the EDPA Foundation

•Statewide focus•Key Metric - Job creation•Integral part of Accelerate Alabama strategic plan

Investing in Startups

Building Networks

Accelerating Development

Investing in Startups

Successes

Launched July 2013Based at Innovation Depot

Factory in BessemerContract with HCA – TexasLaunching Line 2 – Summer 2014

2 part time jobs createdReceived an additional $26k in invest

Vulcan Analytical2012 winner

SBIR/STTR Program

Alabama Based Companies Only

The purpose of the Alabama SBIR/STTR Support Program is to increase the success rate and competitiveness of SBIR/STTR applicants in the state.

Agency Specific

Proposal Strategy

Writing Assistance

Workshops

Phase 0 Awards

Competition

Network Building

Reception

InnovationAwards

Keynote: Andrew Yang

Impact

Since 2007$24 Million in follow-on funding$24 Million in follow-on funding

Direct jobs created 365Direct jobs created 365

$2,357,207 in investments made$2,357,207 in investments made

Market Driven

Viable Market• A clear and realistic market identified• Manageable competitive landscape

Speed to Market• Reasonable time frame and understanding of

steps • Need for basic research undesirable

Qualified Management• Is this the right person, at the right time

Submission

Pitch Presentation

Assessment

FinalePitch

Awards

Competition Funnel

Competition Summary - 2017

19 teamsApplied

9 teams

PitchX

teamsFinale

Pitch EventsPitch Events

Birmingham• Feb. 24th

– Evonik Auditorium

Mobile• April 27th

– Location TBD

• Things to remember– 8 minutes max– 360° coverage– Back-up slides

encouraged– Co-presenters

allowed– Presentation

Testing– Final versions

accepted day of pitch event

Assessments

• Provided at no cost• Focuses on commercial

market• Shared with judges–Incorporate your response into

final plan and finale presentation

Business Plans

• A total of (3) submitted–First–Revised–Final

• 10 pages max, plus cover• Must follow guidelines

Budgets• Feedback provided after 1st pitch event• Conference call ahead of 2nd submission• Used as funding tracking mechanism if

you are funded• Changes between application phase, 1st

pitch and finale are Ok and expected

Budgets

• Intellectual property and legal expenses not desirable

• Marketing expenses must be clear in scope and in anticipated results

• Stipends or pay for entrepreneurs involvement is not allowed

Budgets

• Clearly communicate independence or interrelations between milestones– i.e. does a milestone depend on

another being completed first• Looking to fund work that clearly

advances your business toward launch or scaling up

Budgets

• Awards may not be equal to the amount requested for milestones

Mentoring

Questions?

Greg [email protected]

Mary Hope [email protected]

2017 competition 1 - kickoff overview - alabama...

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