2009-2010‎ > ‎

Semi-Finals

Based on their Executive Summaries, 35 semi-finalists were announced on the 24th of February, 2010 (5 per track).

See the list of 2010 semi-finalists here

Semi-finalists will have two deliverables:

Deliverable 1: Business Plans

Business Plans are due at 5pm EST, March 21st, 2010.  

  • Each entry should be in pdf format, single-spaced, in at least 11-point font and have 1 inch margins on every side.

  • Name your file "Your_Team_Name Executive Summary DSC 2010.pdf".  You can save as a PDF within Microsoft Office with their free add-on.

  • Maximum 17 Pages

  • 1 Cover Page

  • 10 pages of text

  • 2 to 4 pages of Financials

    • List of Startup Expenses - see an example from Tim Berry, CEO of Palo Alto Software.

    • Either:

      • Cash-in/Cash-out Model per Bobby Bahram’s talk on http://www.dukedees.com 

      • Detailed Financial Statements

        • Income Statement

        • Cash Flow Statement 

        • Balance Sheet

      • Monthly for first year,  then two more years out.  (Three years total is our suggestion, but can be more)

  • Up to 2 pages of additional charts/pictures as appendices 

 For help with writing your business plan, refer to this page. 

Note: Free copies of Business Plan Pro are available to all competitors.

Deliverable 2: Investor Pitch Presentations

On March 24th, 2010, semi-finalists will make 20 minute investor pitches  in front of a closed door panel of judges. The panel of judges will provide feedback, and will select one finalist and one runner-up per track.

The finalists will compete in the final round of investor pitches on April 8th, 2010, where the grand prize winner will take home $25,000.

  • 11:30am - 2:00pm at Fuqua

  • 20 minutes of total time with the judges

    • We suggest 10 slides

  • You’re competing against Semi-Finalists in your track

  • The 7 Finalists deliver Investor Pitches on April 8th

  • Guy Kawasaki’s blog post on 10/20/30 rule

  • Rules
    • Each team may have up to two main presenters.  For special interest tracks, one of the main presenters must be a Duke student that fits the criteria for the special interest track.  The same presenting team must be used for the Final Investor Pitch event.
    • If you have a prototype of your product, you may show it (whether it's a physical product or a website or something else).