2008 Woodie Awards
Registration deadline approaching for Business Plan Competition
Winning business venture will earn $10,000
Liza Atamy
Issue date: 4/24/08 Section: News
The sixth-annual Silicon Valley Business Plan Competition, hosted by the Silicon Valley Center for Entrepreneurship, is offering a first-place award of $10,000 to the best SJSU participant for the creation of a new business venture.
"We hope that the incentive of winning $10,000 will motivate entrepreneurial students with business ideas to write business plans," said business professor Anuradha Basu, director of the Silicon Valley Center for Entrepreneurship. "We also want to build a track record of fostering successful business startups, which would enhance our reputation."
The goal of the competition is to provide an impetus for entrepreneurship at SJSU and to recognize the writing of excellent business plans, according to the College of Business Web site.
Basu said she has been director of the competition since 2006.
"The competition is primarily funded by Wanda Ginner, an SJSU alumna," Basu said. "We have 36 applicants so far."
Basu said the judges look for business ideas that help to fill a compelling need in the market that potential customers would be willing to pay for and that are feasible commercial propositions.
Cortland Klein, a senior business management major, said he won first place for his business plan, Ripoki.com, in the Executive Summary award in the Fall 2006 competition.
"(Ripoki.com) is a time-management service able to automatically reschedule meetings as needed, much like a real life administrative assistant," said Klein, 21. "My resubmission of Ripoki.com in the Fall 2007 competition had significant updates to the site's model over the year."
Klein also said he won second place in Best Exhibit award at the 2007 SJSU Neat Ideas Fair for Ripoki.com, which earned his team $500.
"In the Neat Ideas Fair, we do not have a business plan but merely a neat idea and some basic business models on how we might take it," he said. "The Business Plan Competition is where the business plans are actually developed."
"We hope that the incentive of winning $10,000 will motivate entrepreneurial students with business ideas to write business plans," said business professor Anuradha Basu, director of the Silicon Valley Center for Entrepreneurship. "We also want to build a track record of fostering successful business startups, which would enhance our reputation."
The goal of the competition is to provide an impetus for entrepreneurship at SJSU and to recognize the writing of excellent business plans, according to the College of Business Web site.
Basu said she has been director of the competition since 2006.
"The competition is primarily funded by Wanda Ginner, an SJSU alumna," Basu said. "We have 36 applicants so far."
Basu said the judges look for business ideas that help to fill a compelling need in the market that potential customers would be willing to pay for and that are feasible commercial propositions.
Cortland Klein, a senior business management major, said he won first place for his business plan, Ripoki.com, in the Executive Summary award in the Fall 2006 competition.
"(Ripoki.com) is a time-management service able to automatically reschedule meetings as needed, much like a real life administrative assistant," said Klein, 21. "My resubmission of Ripoki.com in the Fall 2007 competition had significant updates to the site's model over the year."
Klein also said he won second place in Best Exhibit award at the 2007 SJSU Neat Ideas Fair for Ripoki.com, which earned his team $500.
"In the Neat Ideas Fair, we do not have a business plan but merely a neat idea and some basic business models on how we might take it," he said. "The Business Plan Competition is where the business plans are actually developed."
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