University of Chicago GSB

NVC

The NVC is intended to encourage the founding of high-potential new ventures and to reward the developers of promising business plans.

Eligibility

Each team is required to have at least one student on the team currently registered at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. This includes Full-Time, Evening, Weekend, and Executive MBA students. Students must be registered as of the Phase I deadline, Monday, February 11, 2008. The student should be an integral part of the team, and should have equity in the company and/or a role on the management team.

Team Composition

All registered University of Chicago undergraduate and graduate students, from any department, are eligible to fill out the rest of the team. In addition, teams may have members who are not affiliated with the University of Chicago. The GSB Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship encourages teams to identify individuals, within and outside the University, who may contribute the additional expertise and experience to help the team succeed.

Entries must be the original work of the entrants and may be made by a single-student or by multiple-student teams. Each team or student may submit as many entries as they wish. However, it is unlikely that multiple entries from the same team will be successful given that the plans are judged partly on the ability of the team to execute the plan.

Originality of Business Ideas

The new venture idea should be original and have commercial promise. The entry may be developed in conjunction with a course or research project, and students may enlist faculty aid. Business plans that have participated in the past as part of other university business plan competitions are not eligible unless approved by one of the NVC faculty or coaches.

Business plans for very early stage ventures may be acceptable if the company has not already received funding from venture capitalists and/or other institutional investors. Outside funding from friends, family, and other individual investors up to $500,000 is acceptable. Teams that have secured arrangements for capital from any source must disclose the amounts and sources in their Phase I executive summaries. Entries which have received outside investment from venture capital firms, private investors or other industry sources, may be considered ineligible to compete and should contact the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship in advance for confirmation.

Mathew Maloney