2023 UDC Capital Cup Entrepreneurship Competition

Sponsored by The CIBER at Georgia Tech, Funded by the U.S. Department of Education

Vision

The Capital Cup Entrepreneurship Competition will bring the Entrepreneurship competition to every high school in America and to every country in the world, offering smart, innovative young people the opportunity and incentive to create business ideas that can change the world.

Mission

The UDC Capital Cup Competition is committed to providing experiential learning opportunities for entrepreneurial high school students in Washington DC. In addition, we strive to support and recognize the achievements of entrepreneurs within Washington and throughout the United States. We’re committed to the success of entrepreneurs and believe that they are the cornerstone of a robust economy and nation.

Introduction

Entrepreneurship is a cornerstone of what makes America great. Successful businesses are founded on interdisciplinary, communication, and critical thinking skills, many of which must be gained through experience. While raw knowledge can be obtained in the classroom, it can be difficult for a burgeoning young entrepreneur to experience the process of developing a business plan and executing it. That’s where entrepreneurship competitions can help play a huge role. These competitions give outlets to students who may have a great idea but lack the resources or mentorship for comprehensive follow-through.

Capital Cup- High School Entrepreneurship Competition empowers high school entrepreneurs from around the world to create a culture for entrepreneurship, to promote entrepreneurial education, and to engage in a more peaceful world. Participants are encouraged to submit their innovative ideas and projects with a societal impact. High school entrepreneurs can present their new venture ideas to an expert panel of entrepreneurs and business leaders, gain valuable feedback, win thousands of dollars in startup funds, and meet prospective mentors and investors!

The Topic of 2023 UDC Capital Cup Entrepreneurship Competition

The International Business Entrepreneurship Plan involves the development of a proposal to start a new business venture in an international setting. It may be a new business or a new product/service of an existing business. Any type of business may be used.

Participants in the International Business Entrepreneurship Plan will:

• apply entrepreneurship knowledge and skills in an international setting
• prepare an oral proposal for a new business venture
• present the proposal in a role-playing interview

Qualifying Overview

• The participants will research the global marketplace and then propose an entrepreneurial product/service to bring to market. They should explain why, based on this research, they believe in this product/service and its market potential.
• The participants will then pitch this new product/service idea based on a specific target market segment and create the promotion, pricing, and distribution strategies to bring it to market.
• The participants will then present their findings to the Capital Cup Committee in a video that is a maximum of four minutes (no more than 240 seconds) in length posted on YouTube.
• Videos over four (4) minutes (more than 240 seconds) in length will not be evaluated and will not be eligible for awards.
• The video should be uploaded to Youtube.com.
• The participants must fully complete and submit the online registration form at https://forms.gle/Fd76CEX5Sj4X2nga6
• No later than June 1, 2023, 11:59 PM, Eastern Time, to be eligible for awards.
• Late entries and entries over four minutes will not be accepted.
• Each team has no more than 3 members.
• UDC Capital Cup Committee will evaluate all submitted video presentations and select the top Five overall teams to attend the face-to-face final competition on August 10, 2023, Thursday, at Washington DC. From the final five teams, an overall winning team will be selected.

Video Presentation Guidelines

The participants will present their findings to the Capital Cup Committee in a video that is a maximum of

four minutes in length and posted to YouTube.

All videos must include the following components:

1. Product/Service Idea/Benefit Overview
   1. Description of new product/service idea.
   2. Justification why this is good opportunity for success. Show reasoning by citing research resources within the video that prove need, demand, any void in the marketplace and related current market and cultural trends.
   3. Visual representation of the product/service prototype.
   4. Explanation of product/service strategy by describing and differentiating the product features and benefits that create competitive advantage.
2. Target Customer/Market Segment
   • Primary Target Customer
     1. Demographics: age, gender, race, income range, education and/or occupation.
     2. Psychographics: personality traits such as values, interests and information such as leisure activities and hobbies.
     3. Picture or collage of target customer.
     4. Motivation of target customer.
     5. Frequency of product/service use.

2. • Market Segment
     1. Potential size of the market segment. Will it be sufficient to be profitable?
     2. Competitive market for products/services that directly compete with your idea as well as other product/service categories that you may be competing against.
3. Marketing Plan: Pricing, Distribution, and Promotion
   1. Pricing: Explain your price for this new product/service and the strategy behind this decision, keeping the brand image (luxury, mainstream, basic) and your target customer in mind.
   2. Distribution: Explain how and where you will sell and distribute your product, consistent again with the customer perception of the product/service, product/service image and price strategy.
   3. Promotion: Create a compelling message strategy and basic brand identity for your product/service launch and describe the specific media tools you will use to get the word out. Your plan should cover communication choices that would appeal to your target market and help drive awareness and purchase.
   4. Create an advertisement or a piece of relevant promotional collateral such as a Facebook page, website, customer newsletter, direct mail postcard, etc. with relevant copy and graphics. Then complete a simple media plan for your product/service launch.

4. Video Presentation

• Present as if speaking to potential investors. Sell the benefits of the product/service.
• Focus on key points to stay within four-minute guidelines.
• Be visually creative when presenting ideas.
• Overall creative, including art direction, style, tone and sound should reflect the product/service category and be relevant to your target customer’s lifestyle. Animation, soundtrack and/or any special effects may be used to enhance your overall video presentation.
• Consistent volume with audible voices.

For evaluation details, please see the Presentation Evaluation Form.

For research suggestions, you may wish to consult the following:

• Product/Idea Benefit: PSFK Creative Intelligence, JWT Intelligence, Nielsen Newswire, etc.
• Target Customer/Market Segment: Nielsen Prizm, Hoovers, Competitor Websites
• Pricing, Distribution and Promotion: Adweek, Ad Age, Brandchannel.com

Capital Cup Process

The Capital Cup Entrepreneurship Competition is open to all high school students.

Before June 30, 2023, the Capital Cup Committee will evaluate submissions.  The Committee and Chair will select five finalists to compete face-to-face in front of the expert judges on August 10, 2023 at Washington DC.

Final Competition Format

The finalist will be given eight (8) minutes with expert judges to present their idea or concept and five (5) minutes for Q&A with the judges in front of a live audience.

Teams will be able to use PowerPoint, visual aids, props, or other items during their pitch; while visual material may be used, the presentation must stand on its own without a written business plan.

The presenters cannot use any handouts.

Confidentiality and Intellectual Property

Confidentiality is not guaranteed in any way. If a team wishes to keep elements of their concept or idea confidential, the team should not include that information in their video. There is no way for UDC, its affiliates, event sponsors, or organizers to enforce a prohibition of other competitors, audience members, or judges who see or hear a presentation from sharing the concept, idea, and/or materials with others.

By participating in the Capital Cup Business Competition, competitors agree that UDC Business School and all related parties assume no liability and shall have no liability or obligation whatsoever for disclosures of information provided by a competitor as part of a submission or otherwise during the course of the competition.

Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) between a competitor and the judges and/or audience members will not be required or allowed.