Rules of the Competition

 

I.    General Requirements
II.   Judging Criteria
III.  Judging Process
IV.   Prizes
V.   Timeline (subject to change)

Note: The judging panel of the Green Business Competition ("GBC") reserves the right to update these rules at any time. Every attempt will be made to notify participants of any modification to this document; however, it is ultimately the responsibility of GBC participants to stay current with the GBC Rules.

I. General Requirements

 

Each business must meet the following requirements in order to compete in the Green Business Competition. Failure to meet all requirements will result in a disqualification.

 

1. Eligibility

• Business must be a legally registered for-profit company (Partnership, LLC, S-Corp or C-corp) with operations in New York State.

• Company revenue must not exceed $10 million.

• Members of the current Green Spaces Executive Board (President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer) and Volunteer Committee are not eligible to compete.

All questions about eligibility should be referred to Brad Holmes at bholmes [at]greenspacesny.com

2. Application

• There is a $25 application processing fee for each entry.

• Each business is required to submit a completed application by 11:59 pm on March 22, 2009. Participants that submit incomplete applications will automatically be disqualified. Absolutely no late documents will be accepted.

• In addition to each application include the following:
  
  • Management team member resumes, wherein each individual's resume must not exceed two pages in length.
  • Format the resumes into ONE Microsoft Word document.
  • At the top of the document include the name of your company, one contact person, and all necessary contact information (address, phone, e-mail address).

 

3. Business Plan and Mentoring Program

• The proposed business should be fundable.

• The proposed business should not be in violation of any intellectual property rights.

• Competition participants are not to contact GBC judges or students during any part of the competition without the expressed written consent of the GBC.

• The GBC will offer limited mentoring assistance for applicants who want it.  Assistance includes help with your business plan and/or filling out the application. Mentors will have NO contact with any judge or NYU student once the competition begins. The mentor's opinions are strictly their own and will not add any advantage in the scoring process of the competition. 

 

II. Judging Criteria

 

All Submissions will be judged by standardized criteria. The principle evaluation measures will be the inherent economic value of the business and the impact the business has on the community (socially, environmentally, and economically) as it achieves its growth objectives. In other words, is the business sustainable? For this competition, sustainability is defined by creating and innovating new business strategies and activities that accelerate positive social change, protect and preserve environmental integrity, while enhancing business performance.

Judges will grade the submissions based on a score of 1 to 4 (1=poor, 2=fair, 3=good, 4=excellent) for each category.

Each business will be judged on the following categories:

 

I. Overview - 15%

• Does the company provide a clear and concise explanation of the business?
  

• Does the business  have a viable, unique and realistic mission statement?

• Does the company have a well thought out plan of how to use the prize money?

 

II. Company Analysis and Environmental Impact - 25%

• Does the company clearly define the problem it is addressing or solving?

• Will the company's product or service ultimately save the consumer money or be competitively priced?

• Does the company thoroughly explain how its service or product will positively impact the community socially, economically, and environmentally?

• If a product company, how well does the company evaluate the entire life cycle of the product (including souring of raw material to consumer disposal of product)?

• Has the company taken steps to implement in-house environmental practices and programs in its place of operations?

 

III. Industry Analysis, Market Size and Trends - 25%

• How well does the company define and understand its target market?

• Has the company performed comprehensive market research that is conclusive and supportive of the proposed offering and strategy?

• How well does the company explain its competitive advantage over existing products and services?

• Does the company have a well thought out strategy (sales and marketing) to drive market uptake?

• Has the company anticipated barriers of entry into their targeted market and does it have a plan to overcome them?

 

IV. Financials and Goals - 20%

• How well does the company explain its revenue model?

• How realistic are the company's financial targets and is it able to meet them?

• Does the company accurately anticipate risks and does it have a strategy to minimize them?

• Does the company provide a realistic forecasted magnitude of financial success (revenue and profitability)?

 

V. Management Team - 15%

• Does the company's management team have the necessary skill set and experience to successfully bring the product or service to market?

• Does the company have the ability to recognize weakness in its management team and does it have a plan to overcome them?

 

III. Judging Process

1. First Round of Judging - Student Round

• After the submission deadline has expired at 11:59pm on March 22nd, 2009, all applications will be reviewed by graduate business students at New York University Stern Business School with the guidance of Prof. Jill Kickul.

• Students will grade submissions based on a score of 1 to 4 (1=poor, 2=fair, 3=good, 4=excellent) for each judging category (see above for judging categories). 

• With the guidance of Prof. Kickul, the students will analyze each application and submit the 10 highest scores to the panel of expert judges.

• To ensure consistent scores, each application will be reviewed by two students and those scores will be averaged. If in the case of a wide discrepancy between the two students' scores, a third student will be asked to evaluate the application and an average of all three will be considered the final score.

2. Semifinal Round

• Approximately 10 finalists (the number of finalist is subject to change depending on the amount of applicants) will be invited by email or telephone to compete in the Semifinal Round.

• Semifinal applicants will present their business application in randomly selected groups comprised of at least 2 judges (may include additional judges that are not part of the GBC panel of experts) and 2 students. These presentations will be closed to the public and will focus on the participants' presentation skills.

• Finalists may also be asked to submit full business plans (10 pages or less) or any other additional information prior to presenting to the judges and students.

• Five finalists will be notified by e-mail or telephone a week after the conclusion of the semifinal round.

3. Final Round – Live Presentations

• The day of the award ceremony, the finalists will be invited to stand before the GBC panel of judges and give a ten minute presentation and answer questions from the judges.

• The final pitches will be open to the public, but participation will be limited to the judges and the finalists.

• The final results and winners will be announced at an award ceremony that same evening.

IV. Prizes

 

Note: All seed capital and other prizes will be distributed to the primary company contact, as named on the application form. The Green Business Competition, LLC is not responsible for any disputes among team members regarding the distribution of seed capital and other prizes.

 

1. Cash Prizes

• 1st Place: $8,000

• 2nd Place: $1,000

2. Office Space provided by Green Spaces:

• 1st Place: 1 year of desk rental ($6000)

• 2nd Place: 6 months of desk rental ($3000)

• 3rd Place: 3 months of lounge space ($675)

 

3. Website Development and Support provided by Squarespace:

• 1st Place: Design of your company’s website (up to $2000)

                       1 year of web hosting ($360)

• 2nd Place: 6 months of web hosting ($180)

• 3rd Place: 6 months of web hosting ($180)

 

4. Legal Services provided by Mintz Levin:

• 1st Place: Legal services ($1000)

 

5. Accounting Services provided by Citrin Cooperman & Company:

• 1st Place: Accounting services ($500)

 

6. Public Relations Services provided by The SOAP Group:

• 1st Place: Public relations strategy, tools, and services ($2500)

• 2nd Place: Public relations strategy and planning ($600)

• 3rd Place: Public relations strategy ($250)

7. Banner Advertising on Grist website provided by Grist:

• 1st Place: Advertising on Grist website ($5000)

       Note: Where and when the ad is placed is up to the discretion of Grist.

8. Networking and Business Mentoring provided by SBNYC:

• 1st Place: Membership to SBNYC ($250)

                       1 Year Mentoring Relationship with Prominent Business Leader from SBNYC ($1500)

• 2nd Place: Membership to SBNYC ($250)

• 3rd Place: Membership to SBNYC ($250)

 

V. Timeline (subject to change):

• January 15th - Competition begins
• February 9th - Launch Party at 92Y Tribeca
• March 30th - Extended deadline for applications
• April 15th -  NYU student's semifinal selections due to judges
• April 17th - Semifinalists announced at the Go Green Expo
• April 24th and 25th  - Semifinalists present to judges and NYU students
• May 14th - Finalists live pitches to judges and the public followed by the award ceremony