In Phase I, each team submits a business concept in a brief document that describes the proposed venture in 1,200 words or less. A team may submit more than one business concepts to gauge, through feedback from judges, which might be most successful. Experienced professionals review the business concepts during this non-competitive phase and every participant receives carefully crafted feedback.
Benefits of Participating
Students or teams that enter Phase I will receive the following benefits:
- All participants are given written feedback from several judges, including venture capitalists, consultants, angel investors, entrepreneurs and business professionals. This feedback is very valuable in fine-tuning a business concept or choosing the strongest of multiple business concepts. The feedback can also assist your preparations for Phase II of the WBPC.
- All participants are encouraged to participate in workshops aimed at building your capacity to develop your business idea and business plan.
Activities
Social mixers take place at various locations on campus after the Phase I deadline and are designed to match individuals with business ideas with potential team members. Mixers are a great way to network, to discuss an idea or to find a team to join. Check the Schedule of Events page for the dates, times and places of WBPC events.
Workshops will be held before and after the Phase I submission deadline. These workshops will focus on the process of generating good business ideas, recognizing opportunities, and thinking through the early stages of developing a business idea.
Registration Deadline
The registration deadline is the same as the submission deadline. Many participants choose to register and submit directly before the deadline. This creates a heavy load on the server which can slow down your submission; please register and submit in a timely fashion. You may modify your submission as many times as necessary until the submission deadline.
Submission Deadline
Submissions are due November 10th, 2006 @ 2:00pm (EST) through the WBPC website.
What to Submit for Phase I
Describe your business concept in no more than 1,200 words. A Business Concept Template is provided that outlines what is expected for Phase I submissions. The following items should be addressed:
- Proposed product or service
- Target Audience
- Competitive landscape
- Plan for execution
For a more thorough understanding of how your team's business overview will be addressed, please review the list of questions for judges in Phase I . This is a list of questions that judges are asked while reviewing each business concept. Teams are welcome to submit more than one business concept in Phase I. Please do not submit detailed financial plans or full business plans during Phase I. No team members’ names should appear anywhere on your submission to the Wharton Business Plan Competition. For additional help, review the Resources page.
How to Submit
Team leaders must log-in and submit Phase I submissions via the online portal. Only Adobe Acrobat pdf files may be submitted. If you are a Wharton student, feel free to use any of the workstations in Huntsman Hall. They all have Adobe Acrobat Writer installed. If you have any difficulty creating a .pdf file, please contact the Director of Technology & Operations. No team members’ names should appear anywhere on your submission to the Wharton Business Plan Competition.
Judging Criteria
Judges are asked to read the submitted plan and to answer the questions listed in the questions for judges file.
Judging Outcomes
Judges' feedback will be released to participants in early December.
