Greetings,

Round 1 results have been tabulated and the Round 2 Competitors have been posted.  See them here: www.dukestartupchallenge.org/2012-2013/round-2

A few notes on the results:

- We had a record 300 judges this year and at least 12 judges scored each entry.  

- In the next week, we will be sending each startups "Team Leader" a Word document with your feedback in a more readable form. For many teams, the feedback is very helpful.  You can also see the feedback on iStart in a spreadsheet format.

- Please feel free to reach out to judges who have self-identified as mentors.  As long as they don't have a financial stake in your company, they will remain eligible judges for future rounds of the company.  You may also want to familiarize yourself with the Mentor Guidelines - http://www.dukegen.com/mentors/mentor-guidelines

For all of you:

- We will be sending you a feedback survey in the next couple weeks on your Round 1 experience.  You will also be able to reserve a free t-shirt through the survey.

- Next week, on March 6th, we’ll have our 12th DukeGEN Multi-City Networking Event in 10+ cities.  Please consider joining us.  More info at www.dukegen.com/events.  This is a great way to connect with entrepreneurial students and alumni.

For those of you continuing in the competition (Round 2 Student Teams & Round 2 Alumni / Faculty / Staff Teams), read on.

***Round 2 Info

- Round 2 Deliverables are described on this page: www.dukestartupchallenge.org/About-Us/rules

All parts are required:

- Private info

  - Pitch Deck (powerpoint) and/or revised and expanded Business Plan (Word document or PDF, from 10 to 35 pages including the cover page)

    - Blog about pitch decks - http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2005/12/the_102030_rule.html

    - Sample Business Plans (you can use any format you'd like, you do not need to follow the Idea Summary template) - http://www.dukestartupchallenge.org/resources
  - Answers to Eligibility Questions - https://docs.google.com/forms/d/19KjwUv1V0V0nFMcvhBm0sLBAxN-UaFq2lenBmiLmGtY/viewform

- Public info
  - Video of Investor Pitch or Demo (Up to 15 minutes) - See these examples from last year: http://www.dukestartupchallenge.org/2011-2012/Round-2

  - Profile on AngelList (with Video embedded).  You do not need to include an Idea Summary, and you can add any other information that will be helpful - http://angel.co

- Deadline for all materials is March 19th at 11:59pm PT on iStart - http://duke2013.istart.org/

Your Public Page will be viewed by judges as one set of information for their consideration.  But it will also be viewed by the larger Duke Global Entrepreneurship Network (DukeGEN) community which has about 5,000 members, mostly Duke alumni and students.  And it will be publicly available, so other non-Duke people may see it as well.   Everyone will be able to vote on your startup using the People’s Choice vote on our Facebook page.

- For further updates on the competition, you will be added to a sympa email listserv for Round 2 competitors.  We will also post the information on our Round 2 Competitor Info page: www.dukestartupchallenge.org/2012-2013/round-2/competitor-info

- If you have questions email me at hwr2@duke.edu, and copy the student presidents janet.ng@duke.edu, navid.s.m@fuqua.duke.edu, ting-ting.zhou@duke.edu

*** Grand Finale Info

Teams that make it out of Round 2 will participate in the Grand Finale. 

The Grand Finale is on Friday, April 20th at 7:30pm in Geneen Auditorium at Fuqua.  

- The top 3 teams will be competing for the $50,000 Grand Prize, live on stage. 

- The remaining 5 teams (4 track winners and 1 Round 2 people’s choice winner) will compete for the Best Elevator Pitch prize (1 minute pitch).

- Grand Finale judges are being invited on a rolling basis.  We will let you know who they are as we get closer to the date. 

- If you are in the Top 3, and you have a relationship, either financial or personal, with any of the live judges, it should be noted. Judges who have a relationship with a Top 3 team may be recused, if it’s determined the relationship may affect their ability to be impartial.  This is at the sole discretion of the organizers. 

Thank you to everyone for participating. Regardless of whether you made it to Round 2, we hope you will use this experience to learn and continue on your own entrepreneurial path.   We hope to stay in touch with all of you through the Duke Global Entrepreneurship Network.

Howie Rhee '04

Advisor, Duke Start-Up Challenge

Managing Director, Fuqua's Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation