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Judging for the 50k Competition
Judging criteria
- Size of market opportunity
- Realism of market opportunity
- Competitive position
- Defensibility of position
- Product/service reality
- Operational plans
- Team skills
- Financial consistency
- Clearness of presentation
For examples of some more detailed questions that the judges may ask when considering your idea, see the MIT $50k website: http://50k.mit.edu/about/judging.html
The Judging Process
The judges are a mixture of entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and professional experts, invited by the Coventry Entrepreneurship Centre. They volunteer to spend time applying their experience to judge the many student plans in their spare time. The plans are sent to all the judges for review, before decisions are made at a meeting chaired by Professor Mike Gregory, Head of Manufacturing Engineering.
Committee Entries
The judging process of the CUE competitions is managed and organised entirely by the Coventry Entrepreneurship Centre to the aims as set by the CUE Steering Committee. In this way, the CUE student committees cannot read the plans or influence the judges. This allows committee members to compete in the competitions.
Confidentiality
All judges sign confidentiality agreements before seeing any plans. The CUE student committees cannot read the plans or influence the judges since this the entire process is organised by the Coventry Entrepreneurship Centre. This allows committee members to compete in the 50k competition.
Judge's Confidentiality Agreement
I would like to participate in and be supportive of the 2000-2001 CUE £50K Entrepreneurship Competition (the "Competition"). The purpose of the Competition is to choose the best business plan prepared by members of Coventry University Entrepreneurs (CUE) and to foster entrepreneurial activities within the University and surrounding area.
I understand that in the course of my participation in the Competition I may have access to executive summaries of business plans of each contestant and to the full business plans of the finalists (collectively, "Plans") whether in hard copy or electronic form. These Plans may contain the ideas, inventions and concepts (collectively "Ideas") of contestants in the Competition. I understand that all intellectual and other property rights of all entrants will remain unaltered as a result of entering the Competition. I also understand that some of these Ideas may constitute trade secrets and that contestants may not have yet taken appropriate steps to patent or otherwise protect their Plans or Ideas. In consideration of my participation in the Competition, I agree for the benefit of Coventry University and the individual contestants involved in the Competition that only I will review the Plans submitted to the Competition and that I will take all reasonable effort to hold the Plans and Ideas which I may receive in the course of the Competition in strict confidence, in a safe place and will not copy, reveal, or disclose such Plans or ideas to others and that I will not use any such Plans or Ideas for my own benefit or the benefit of any organization with which I am affiliated. At the conclusion of the Competition I will return the Plans to the Contestants via the Competition Organizers.
The above restrictions shall not apply to any Plans or Ideas which are in the public domain at the time of disclosure or becomes publicly known through no wrongful act of mine, are known to me at the time of disclosure or are independently developed by me, are used or disclosed with the approval of the contestants involved, are furnished to a third party without similar restrictions on the third party's rights, are received by me from a third party who has a lawful right to disclose them to me, or are disclosed pursuant to the requirement or request of a governmental agency provided that in such event I shall inform you of the nature and extent of an disclosure so required and limit in so far as is possible. I also waive all proprietary right, title and interest in and to any plans or ideas and any improvements thereof.
The above restrictions will apply during the time that the Competition is occurring and for a period of six (6) calendar months after the winners are publicly announced.
I am pleased to support the Competition and during my involvement with it I agree to abide by such other rules and guidelines which Coventry University may reasonably impose.
Very truly yours, |
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