Pitch It! 2008
Rules & Procedures
Further information on Pitch It! rules and entry form are also available for download.
Eligibility
- The event is open to the following people:
- all currently registered students of any level at LSE
- all LSE Alumni who have graduated after the year 2004
- Applicants may register as individuals or in teams of up to a maximum of five people
Categories
General Enterprise
- The Business proposed can concern any legal economic activity
- It should be a business idea or an early state business looking for seed funding.
- The plan must be an original idea or a substantial improvement on an existing business model.
- On entering the competition, the submitted business plan must not be in violation of any intellectual property rights
- The business plan must not have received any previous venture capital funding or any substantial seed funding
- Proposals will need to show that they can be implemented by the individual or the team concerned
- Proposals can be made by individuals or teams of up to 5
Social Enterprise
In addition to the General Enterprise Guidelines:
- Proposals in this category will need to demonstrate that their primary objective is to have a real social impact in the UK
- Projects in this category will need to be implemented in a year and be achievable within a context of limited resources (time and money)
- Proposals can be made by individuals or teams of up to 5
- Award money cannot be used to cover ones time or pay others to implement the project. Costs need to relate mainly to project activities.
Timeline
14 November 2007 — Pitch It opens for registration.
14 November - December 10 — Attending Master Classes & writing executive summaries
12pm Monday 10 December — Executive Summaries Submitted
7pm Friday 14 December — Finalists Announced
December 14- January 13 — Coaching & formulating Business Plan
12pm, Monday 14 January — Deadline for submitting full business plan
5-10pm January 29, 2008 — Pitch it! '08 Final
Procedures
Round 1: Executive Summary
This should be submitted by 12pm 10th of December 2007, and should be emailed to LseCareers.Venture.Pitchit@lse.ac.uk . The title field of this email should be "Pitch It: (name of your team)"
Submission should include:
1 Completed entry form given at the end of the handbook
2 Executive Summary — maximum 2 A4 pages long
3 Public Summary — 100 words (please note: if you are selected for the final round, this public summary will be published on www.pitchit.biz ; The rest of the executive summary or the Business plan itself will not be disclosed to anyone except the competition's judges)
The Executive Summary should contain the following:
1 Who you are
2 What your overall mission is
3 A description of your product/service
4 What the market is – why is this an opportunity?
5 What is your strategy, your sustainable competitive advantage relative to the competition
6 Who your team consists of
7 How much funding do you need and what will you do with it?
The Public Summary may be used in promotional material for Pitch It.
Selection of Executive Summaries
An independent selection committee will select 3 General Enterprise finalists and 2 Social Enterprise finalists to compete in the final event (29th January). Finalist teams will be announced via email and via the website. In addition, each of the finalist teams will be assigned a coach to give advice for the next stage of the competition - submission of full business plan and the actual pitching to judges at the final event.
Round 2: Business Plan writing and presentation at Final Event (29th January)
If your initial proposal is successful, and you are selected for Round 2, you must submit a full business plan. This must be emailed by 12noon, 14th Jan 2008, to LseCareers.Venture.Pitchit@lse.ac.uk . The title field of this email should be "Pitch It: (name of your team)"
The Business Plan should be as complete as possible, not exceeding 15 pages in length including diagrams and tables. The business plan should including:
1. Executive Summary (maximum two pages)
2. A Marketing Study
- Identifying clearly the target market
- The competitors
- The sales and advertising strategies
- Develop a sales (revenue) forecast
- Identify channels (distribution) strategy
3. Financial Statements for the first three years (Profit and Loss Account; Cash Flow forecast)
4. Description of the source and use of funds
Final Event- 29th January, 6-9pm
Each finalist team will be asked to present to the Judges for not more than 7 minutes. Questions from the Judges will follow.
Judging
The winner of each category will be judged by the Judging Panel. Judges' feedback will be provided for each entry and the judges' decision is final and not subject to appeal.
Confidentiality
The projects presented will be treated with complete confidentiality. Please note that candidates still have the responsibility for legally protecting their intellectual rights and their patents.