About the Business Plan Contest
An annual event since 1997, the Business Plan Contest aims to provide an integrative learning experience for participating students. The Contest has spawned hundreds of business plans, and winners and non-winners alike have gone on to implement their plans and start successful enterprises. Examples include 3plex.com, Bang Networks, Chemdex, EyeViewDigital.com, Good Start Genetics, Low-Cost Eyeglasses, MyHappyPlanet, suppliermarket.com, Potentia Pharmaceuticals, and Zefer, among others.
While it is hoped that business plans developed for the HBS Business Plan Contest will reflect real opportunities, there is no obligation for the winners to implement their business plans. More important is that the participants learn about the new venture creation process through their team's efforts, their work with faculty, and their presentations to the judges.
The Contest is designed for contemplated and embryonic businesses. That is, the Judges do like to see that people are committed, and in some cases, students will have succeeded in raising seed capital, have a beta version of the site, etc. However, there is a difference between a new venture that is getting off the ground and an existing business, and the Contest is not designed for the latter.
Participating teams are eligible for reimbursement of start-up expenses for up to $1,000, and the HBS Business Plan Contest also offers prizes totaling over $170,000 to the winners and runners-up of the contest. Go to the rules page for more details.
Whether you go on to implement your business plan or not, your experience will be an exciting, challenging, and rewarding one. We look forward to reading your business plans and hope that this Contest will play a part in the success of any entrepreneurial venture you may be involved with during your career!
The contest has three primary objectives:
- To educate students in the process of creating and evaluating new business ventures;
- To prepare students for opportunities in entrepreneurship sometime during their careers; and
- To harness the unique resources that HBS and its communities offer.
Choose Between Two Tracks
Students may choose to enter either the Business Venture Track or the Social Venture Track for enterprises with an explicitly social agenda. Social Venture Track teams should check the Social Venture Track website for entry information, deadlines and additional details specific to the SV Track of the Contest.
Success Stories
Many people are aware of HBS entrepreneurial successes such as Tom Stemberg (HBS '73) of Staples and Michael Bloomberg (HBS '66). The following represent a sampling of the past participants of the contest who executed their business plans upon graduation.
- @hoc
www.athoc.com
Team Members
Guy Miasnik
Ly Tran
Description:
@hoc enables e-business to significantly strengthen the critical relationship between the business and its customers. @hoc's Persistent Communications™ technology creates a continuous Channel of communication between a company and its customers.
- Bluesolid
www.appearnetworks.com
Team Members
Xavier Aubry
Kimberly Lei
Description:
Bluesolid (now Appear Networks) has created a software company focusing on WLAN and Bluetooth networks (the so-called WLAN hotspots). The company has gained 15 large corporate customers during its first year of activity, and garnered numerous awards since the HBS Business Plan Contest.
- CloudFlare
www.cloudflare.com
Team Members
Matthew Prince
Michelle Zatlyn
Description:
CloudFlare enables websites to intelligently protect themselves from online attacks and to help clean up malicious botnets while receiving faster, more reliable and more robust network services.
- Experience.com
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www.experience.com
Team Members
Chih T. Cheung
Henry Ellenbogen
Jose Royo
Description:
Experience is the leading developer and publisher of content, application software, and web-based solutions for the exploding online college recruiting market. Launched on January 1, 2000, Experience is the result of a strategic merger between two companies with extensive backgrounds in this industry: Crimson Solutions, Inc. and Ivy Productions, Inc.
- Finale-Room for Dessert
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www.finaledesserts.com
Team Members
Paul Conforti
Kim Moore
Kristen Krzyzewski
Description:
Finale is a full service, upscale dinning restaurant concept serving desserts and beverages (coffee, tea, wine and spirits). The business also includes a retail store featuring take-out desserts and signature ingredients. It closed its first round of financing for $750,000 opening a prototype location last July 1998 in Boston's theater district and receiving great press reviews in: Newsweek Magazine, Robb Report Magazine, Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Boston Phoenix, & Boston Magazine, Food Network TV show entitled, "The Best of Dessert", and Phantom Gourmet TV show & Radio show.
- Good Start Genetics
www.goodstartgenetics.com
Team Members
Paris Wallace
Eric Boutin
Description:
Good Start Genetics is developing a low-cost, sequencing based, pre-pregnancy test for multiple genetic disorders that will replace one-disorder-only tests currently on the market.
- Modulo
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Team Members
Arturo Lopez
Salomon Chertorivski
Juan Pablo del Valle
Gerardo Ruiz Maza
Description:
Modulo is an enterprise developed to address the severe housing shortage in Mexico. Using an easy-to-use modular architecture, the organization's mission is "building houses for the poor". Modulo started operations in Mexico City on July 2, 2001. Flexibility, patience, and tolerance have been the key to their startup success. To date, the team has had two major accomplishments. They have built a model home in a parking lot and two houses in a small county called Rayon. The parking lot owner is the most important federal housing institution in the country, and it is the first time that they have allowed a developer to build a house in their backyard. The two houses in Rayon are the model homes for a 100-house development that started in January 2002.
- New Leaders for New Schools
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http://nlns.org
Team Members
Benjamin Fenton
John Schnur
Allison Gaines
Monique Burns
Description:
New Leaders for New Schools is a national, non-profit organization devoted to improving education for all children by attracting and preparing the next generation of outstanding leaders for urban public schools. NLNS aggressively recruits extremely talented people to become urban school principals. The organization provides rigorous, hands-on training (including coursework and a year-long internship with an exceptional mentor principal), helps place our graduates in urban public schools, and provides them with ongoing support, networking, and a community of peers after graduation. Our organization is devoted to making possible the American dream for every child. New Leaders for New Schools is dedicated to leaders with dreams of creating and leading schools that can prepare all of our students for the 21st century.
- RelayRides
relayrides.com
Team Members
Shelby Clark
Nabeel Al-Kady
Description:
RelayRides is the world's first person-to-person carsharing service.
- Rent the Runway
www.renttherunway.com
Team Members
Jennifer Fleiss
Jennifer Hyman
Description:
Rent the Runway rents in-style, in-season designer clothing at a fraction of retails price (i.e. $50 for a $500 dress) delivering fashionistas and fashionista want-to-bes a quick-fix of designer fashion.
- Take the Interview
www.taketheinterview.com
Team Members
Danielle Weinblatt
Description:
Take the Interview is an automated web-based video interviewing SaaS platform for employers and job seekers. The Company adds an informative step into the hiring process between the resume review and the in-person interview.
- thredUP
www.thredup.com
Team Members
James Reinhart
Andrew Ferrer
Neil Shah
Description:
ThreadUP - a refresh button for your closet. ThredUP is the easy and inexpensive way to refresh your closet by exchanging great clothes you don't wear anymore for great new clothes you probably will.
- Ventro Corporation
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Team Members
Dave Perry
Jon Callaghan
Stig Lechly
Lisa Janssen
Description: (founded as Chemdex Corporation)
Chemdex Corporation is the leading provider of electronic commerce solutions in the laboratory supply market, uniting buyers and suppliers in a single Web marketplace. With contracts to offer more than 400,000 products from over 160 leading suppliers, Chemdex provides the single product source for scientists and purchasing agents. In addition, the company's custom procurement solutions support purchase order approval and contract pricing for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, universities and government research labs. Chemdex actively promotes and contributes to the development of e-commerce standards such as OBI, XML and XML/EDI to enable efficient purchasing solutions for all customer and supplier segments.
