Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Wyoming $10K Entrepreneurship Competition?
How many people can be on a team?
Can I be on more than one team?
How do I submit the summary and business plan?
What is expected in the executive summary?
What are the screening interviews?
What is the business plan requirement?
Are past plans available for review?
Who can help me put together my executive summary and business plan?
What is expected for the final presentations?
What is the Wyoming $10K Entrepreneurship Competition? - Top
The University of Wyoming $10K Competition is designed to encourage students in the UW community to act on their talent, ideas and energy to produce tomorrow’s businesses. A network of students, mentors, investors, and potential partners, as well as mixers and workshops featuring tips and guidance from successful professionals, will give you the boost you need to make your entrepreneurial dreams a profitable reality.
What are the prizes? - Top
As in the past, the $10K competition awards $10,000 in cash to an outstanding team of student entrepreneurs who submit a business plan for a new venture showing significant business potential. In addition, a second and third place team will be awarded $5,000 and $2,500 respectively, to apply toward the establishment of their business venture.
Additional prizes this year!
Up to 10 teams will earn $200 for their executive summary submission, and one team will win $1000 from Venture West for a top summary selected by their members!
In addition to the $10,000 first prize, a bonus of $2,500 will be awarded to the first place team upon approval of the progress report. Runner-ups will receive $500 per team. One team will earn a one-year, rent-free stay in the new Wyoming Technology Business Center incubator to get their business started.
When are prizes awarded? - Top
Executive summary awards will be paid in full in December.
First, Second and Third place winners in the final competition will receive ½ of their prize in early March. A progress report must be submitted in August and if approved, the second installment will be paid.
Other cash awards will be paid in March as well.
Who is eligible to compete? - Top
Students from all Colleges at UW at the undergraduate and graduate levels are welcome to enter the competition. You do not have to be a full time student but must be currently enrolled to be a team leader. Teams may have one non-student member but should be made up primarily of UW students.
How many people can be on a team? - Top
Teams can be any size. Judges strongly encourage more than one student per team to provide a broad base of knowledge and strengths, but probably not more than 7 members.
Can I be on more than one team? - Top
You can be a member of as many teams as you want, but it may be seen by the judges as a lack of commitment to making any one of them a success. Most often your efforts are best spent making one entry as strong as possible.
When do I have to register? - Top
Team leaders must register by October19th. Team members can be added through February 1.
How do I submit the summary and business plan? - Top
The team leader will submit the documents via email to the uw10k@uwyo.edu email, or the documents can be brought in on a disk or CD to the Management and Marketing office, BU 228.
What is expected in the executive summary? - Top
You should consider addressing some of the following questions: What problem are you solving? How big is the market? How does your product/service solve the problem? Who are your customers? What is the competitive advantage of your product or service? How will you develop and sell this product/service?
The team leader submits the executive summary and a bio from each team member. The executive summary cannot exceed five pages or 1650 words. This submission consists of seven distinct sections:
• Company/Product/Service
• Market/Need
• Competition
• Sales/Marketing
• Operations
• Management
• Financial Projections (must use templates provided on 10k website)
Up to 10 teams will receive $200 for a winning executive summary.
In addition, Venture West will award $1000 to the top executive summary selected by their members!
What are the screening interviews? - Top
30 minute team interviews will be conducted by a panel of local business experts. Five to seven finalists will be selected to move to the final competition. The panel will also assign a group of mentors to the finalist teams.
What is the business plan requirement? - Top
The plans must no longer than 40 pages (including figures, appendices, charts, financials, etc.) and submitted in Microsoft Word using Times New Roman, 12 pt font, 1 inch margins on all sides, and containing a footer on every page with the page number and the words “Confidential – Do not duplicate.”
Are past plans available for review? - Top
The business plans and executive summaries as the confidential property of the entrant teams. We do not give out copies of the entries. The judges also agree to treat the entries as confidential.
However, a few past winners have allowed us to post their executive summaries. A variety of sources are available for business plan ideas. Go to our website, www.uwyo.edu/10k for samples.
Who can help me put together my executive summary and business plan? - Top
It helps to have the knowledge of someone who has experience writing business plans and building companies. Mentors are available to advise your team and to help you develop a stronger business plan. These people have perspective on what to look for, where to focus, and sometimes just as important, how to avoid wasting your time. An outside mentor brings a fresh, independent perspective to your concept, and this perspective is grounded in real-world experience. This real-world feedback makes your plan and your team stronger.
Teams are encouraged to seek the involvement of UW faculty, alumni, post-docs, researchers, staff, business acquaintances and the Small Business Development Center. We strongly recommend that you work with a mentor. If you cannot find one of your own, we have a list of people who have volunteered to mentor $10K teams.
What is expected for the final presentations? - Top
The finalists will submit their plans for judge review in early February. The judges will provide comments for the teams prior to the presentations. Teams may then make adjustments to their plan and incorporate these into their presentations. The teams will give 20 minute live presentations to the judges. Teams may use: PowerPoint, posters, props, samples, demonstrations.
Who are the Judges? - Top
Successful Entrepreneurs, Investors, and Legal and Financial Services Professionals selected from business communities across the country.
This section addresses the questions most frequently asked. If your question is not answered here, please send an e-mail to UW10K@uwyo.edu with your question.
Quick Links
College of Business
Room 228
Laramie, WY 82070
Phone: (307) 766-3124
