BMC GMENTS
SHIPS
SITIONS
ELATION TOMER R
ER SE CUSTOM
CUS
ROPO VALUE P
T THE FIRS ST GE AND LAR AL N O I T A N INTER DEL O M S S E BUSIN ION T I T E P M CO LS
CHANNE
2015
STATISTICS 3,832 TEAMS 276 SCHOOLS 15 COUNTRIES 2,418 TEAMS
$644,500 AWARDED
209 SCHOOLS 19 COUNTRIES $755,600 AWARDED
1,383 TEAMS 143 SCHOOLS 10 COUNTRIES $357,000 AWARDED
59 TEAMS 45 TEAMS
7 SCHOOLS
6 SCHOOLS
1 COUNTRY
2 COUNTRIES ENGLAND, USA
USA
2011
2012
BANGLADESH, CAMBODIA, CANADA, CHILE, CHINA, ENGLAND, CAMBODIA, FINLAND, FRANCE, CANADA, CHILE, BANGLADESH, INDONESIA, JAPAN, CHINA, COLUMBIA, CAMBODIA, CANADA, JAMAICA, LAOS, ENGLAND, INDIA, CHILE, ENGLAND, MEXICO, MYANMAR, JAMAICA, JAPAN, LAOS, MYANMAR, SWITZERLAND, LAOS, MEXICO, THAILAND, USA, TANZANIA, THAILAND, MYANMAR, THAILAND, VIETNAM USA, VIETNAM USA, VIETNAM
2013
2014
2015
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTION REGARDING THE COMPETITION, PLEASE CONTACT ONE OF THE FOLLOWING IBMC ADMINISTRATORS.
Jeff Brown Managing Director jeff.brown@byu.edu 801.367.3936 Pavel Yurevich Student Director pavel.yurevich1@gmail.com 801.505.0724 Brock Neilson Assistant Student Director bmneilson@gmail.com 952.500.2172
FOUNDER’S MESSAGE
A
s the International Business Model Competition reaches its fifth anniversary, we are crossing many important thresholds. We have grown from a small handful of teams in the us to thousands of teams around the world joining the competition. We now include dozens of countries, universities from almost every continent, and entrepreneurs of every type. As we grow we face a challenge that all startups face—how to scale. In the process of growing it becomes easier and easier to forget the original purpose of the competition: to put a stake in the ground about a different way of being an entrepreneur. As opposed to the old business plan competitions in the past that rewarded grandiose claims and slick sales pitches, the ibmc rewards the process of discovering and testing your assumptions. The ibmc values hard work in applying lean startup, design thinking, agile software, and business model generation techniques to learn as quickly and openly as possible about the real entrepreneurial opportunity. Therefore as we grow we all need to work together, students, judges, and faculty to remember that we are recognizing the lessons learned. Often lessons learned result in traction, which we welcome, but we want to be wary of morphing into a generic business plan competition that rewards the unsupported claims and overlooks the process of testing and validating assumptions. I know that together, as we uphold the principles of a business model competition, we can continue to change the world of entrepreneurship.
Nathan Furr Co-founder, International Business Model Competition
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CONTENTS
Contents SCHEDULE p.4 MAPS p.6 SPEAKERS p.9 PRIZES p.11 COMPETING TEAMS p.12 JUDGING p.27 SUCCESS STORIES p.30 HELPFUL HINTS p.32
2015 IBMC | 3
SCHEDULE
Friday, May 1, 2015 MARRIOTT SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT–TANNER BUILDING, BYU CAMPUS 7:30-8:30 AM Transportation from Marriott Hotel to Brigham Young University
A shuttle service will transport teams from the Marriott Hotel to byu Marriott School of Management, the location for the first day.
8:30-9:15 AM Check-In/Continental Breakfast/Networking 1st Floor Atrium Teams will receive name badges, competition booklets, and a packet of pertinent competition
information. Teams will also be able to enjoy a complimentary continental breakfast and time networking with other attendees from around the world.
9:15-10:00 AM Welcome Orientation & Past Winner Panel Room 151 Teams will be oriented on the competition and the rest of the day’s activities. Past winners will present about their experience and share valuable insights about what teams should be focusing on. A short Q&A will follow their presentations.
10:00-1:00 PM Quarterfinal Preparation & Mentoring Sessions Various Rooms Teams will be assigned a room to work on their presentations. During the three hour block, at least
two different mentors will visit each team to provide valuable feedback on the team’s presentation. It is our hope that teams will use the time between and after mentors to digest the feedback and incorporate any applicable changes.
1:15-2:15 PM Lunch (on your own) & Quarterfinal Round Judge Orientation Room W352 Teams will eat lunch on their own (there are a number of restaurants on campus and within short walking distance of the business school) while the quarterfinal round judges receive orientation.
2:30-5:30 PM Quarterfinal Round Various Rooms Teams will be divided into 4 rooms and will present for 10 minutes to a panel of judges with up to 3 minutes of Q&A. Teams will be able to watch each other’s presentations.
6:00-7:30 PM Dinner/Keynote Speaker/Quarterfinal Results Room W408/410 Teams will have the opportunity to network, listen to our keynote speaker, and be oriented on the next day’s activities. The results of the quarterfinal round will also be announced.
7:30-8:30 PM Transportation from Brigham Young University to Marriott Hotel
A shuttle service will transport teams from byu campus back to the Marriott Hotel.
7:30-9:30 PM Semifinal Preparation & Mentoring Sessions Various Rooms Mentors will meet with the semifinalist teams to help them prepare for the semifinal round. 9:30-10:00PM Transportation from Brigham Young University to Marriott Hotel 4
SCHEDULE
Saturday, May 2, 2015 UTAH VALLEY CONVENTION CENTER, FLOORS 2 & 3 8:00-9:00 AM Breakfast (on your own) & Semifinal Round Judge Orientation Board Room Teams will eat breakfast on their own (the hotel DOES NOT offer breakfast) while the semifinal 3rd Floor round judges receive orientation. 9:00-11:00 AM Semifinal Round Cascade Rooms Semifinal teams will be divided into 4 rooms and will present for 10 minutes to a panel of judges 3rd Floor with up to 5 minutes of Q&A. Teams will be able to watch each other’s presentations. 11:00-12:00 PM Networking Break & Judge Deliberation Board Room Teams are invited to network while the Judges deliberate in the board room. 12:00-1:00 PM Lunch/Guest Speaker/Semifinal Results Ballroom B Teams will have the opportunity to network, listen to a special guest speaker, and hear the results of 2nd Floor the semifinal round judging. 1:30-3:00 PM Pivot Pitch Competition Cascade Rooms This event will be open to all teams. This is a brand new event for the ibmc and will invite interested 3rd Floor teams to give a 2-minute pitch about the most significant pivot their team/company has made. 3:00-4:30 PM Special Speaker Sessions Cascade Rooms Teams will be able to learn valuable lessons and insights from three special guest speakers. 3rd Floor 5:00-6:30 PM Final Event & Awards Ceremony Ballroom C The finalists will compete for the title of “Global Champion” and the winner will take home the ibmc 2nd Floor traveling trophy as well as the top cash prize. Teams will present for 10 minutes (up to 8 minutes Q&A) to our all-star judging panel including Steve Blank, Alex Osterwalder, Nathan Furr, Paul Ahlstrom, and Gavin Christensen.
6:30-8:00 PM Networking Dinner Pre-Function Area 2nd Floor
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MAPS—PROVO CITY
Brigham Young University Tanner Building
Marriott Hotel
6
MAPS—BYU TANNER BUILDING
1st floor
2nd floor
3rd floor
4th floor 2015 IBMC | 7
MAPS—UTAH VALLEY CONVENTION CENTER
1st Floor
2nd Floor
3rd Floor
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SPEAKERS
Guest Speakers Josh James (Keynote) Josh founded Domo in 2010 to help ceos and other leaders change the way they do business and obtain value from the tens of billions of dollars spent on traditional business intelligence systems. Before founding Domo, Josh was the ceo of Omniture, which he co-founded in 1996 and took public in 2006; and from 2006-2009, he was the youngest ceo of a publicly traded company. Omniture was the number one returning venture investment out of 1,008 venture capital investments in 2004, as well as the number two performing technology ipo of 2006. Omniture was also the fastest or second fastest-growing public company for three consecutive years. In 2009, Josh facilitated Omniture’s $1.8 billion sale to Adobe. Josh serves on the board of Rakuten, a publicly traded, five billion dollar revenue company that is the leading e-commerce company in Japan. Josh also serves as a member of the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders, a worldwide community of individuals committed to, and recognized for, their proven leadership and potential in shaping the future. In 2012, the Utah Tech Council inducted him into its Hall of Fame and Mountain West Capital Network named Josh its Entrepreneur of the Year. In 2011, Fortune Magazine recognized him as one of its “40 Under 40: Ones to Watch” and, in 2009, as one of its “40 Under 40” top business executives. He was named the 2006 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year and Brigham Young University’s Technology Entrepreneur of the Decade. Josh is the founder of CEO.com, a resource to help founders and ceos stay up to date with what’s happening at the executive level across top industries, as well as stay armed with the latest leadership strategies and best practices. He also founded Silicon Slopes, a non-profit initiative designed to promote the interests of Utah’s high-tech industry.
Scott Petersen Scott Petersen is the managing director for the Rollins Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology at Brigham Young University, where he has served since 2010. Under his leadership, the entrepreneurship program at byu has been ranked in the top 10 nationally for each of the past five years. Scott is a long-time entrepreneur having co-founded or partnered in building 7 companies (harvesting 4). He is also currently co-founder, chairman, and ceo, of Omadi Mobile Managment, a SaaS software company serving the field services vehicle industries. Additionally, he serves on several business and private foundation boards. Scott is an active angel investor, with expertise in entrepreneurship and the start-up process, sales, sales management, marketing, executive management, and small business consulting.
John Richards John Richards is an entrepreneur, venture investor, executive manager, and educator. His activities have included founding, running, selling, and investing in several enterprises. He mentors entrepreneurs frequently. John served as head of operations for Google Fiber—Provo, Utah, working on one of the world’s great intrapreneurial ventures. Previously, he spent over a decade teaching entrepreneurship at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, where he also helped bring the Rollins Center for Entrepreneurship & Technology to global prominence. He was managing partner of UtahAngels, a venture investing group. He co-founded BoomStartup, a tech accelerator in Utah, and also founded the Utah Student 25. Previously, he was president of a publishing company in Seattle, Washington and later started a company that led to an initial public offering and a multi-billion dollar valuation (InfoSpace). John is a frequent speaker at conferences and other events, and currently serves as Presidential Executive in Residence for Entrepreneurship at Utah Valley University. 2015 IBMC | 9
SPEAKERS
Paul Ahlstrom Paul is a serial entrepreneur. He has founded several high-tech startups and understands the process of success. He is managing director and co-founder of Alta Ventures Mexico, a venture capital fund focused in Mexico. He is a regular keynote speaker and an avid supporter of Utah’s entrepreneurial community, and a member of the Utah Angels. In 2000, he co-founded vSpring Capital, Utah’s leading venture capital fund. In 2007, he co-founded Alta Growth Capital, based in Mexico City and Kickstart Seed Fund based in Salt Lake City.
Matt Stapleton In his capacity as President of Capshare, Matt is in charge of sales and customer suppor. As their resident ASC 718 expert, he’s helped build Capshare’s stock expense reporting tool into the highquality, audit-proof product it is today. Matt scored a 760 on the gmat (99th percentile), so he’s a pretty good guy to have around. Before joining Capshare, he worked at Scalar Analytics as an Associate, where he played a critical role in building a large client base and growing the company’s 409a valuation practice. Before that, Matt was the Equity Division Manager at Funding Universe, a financial technology company that helps match qualified small business owners with active banks, lenders and investors. Matt graduated from Brigham Young University where he obtained a degree in Business Management with emphasis on Entrepreneurship.
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PRIZES
Prizes International Competition 1st $30,000 2nd $20,000 3rd $10,000 4th $6,000 5th $5,000 6th $3,000 7th-42nd $2,000 Int’l Award $2,000 Pivot Pitch Competition 1st-3rd $1,000
ibmc Champions Every year, the winner of the International Business Model Competition takes home the IBMC traveling trophy. This year, the trophy comes to the competition via the University of Utah, home of last year’s winner Veritas Medical. The 2015 competition is a new year and a new champion will be crowned. Bring your best to the ibmc and you may take home more than just prize money.
2014 Veritas Medical
Nate Rhodes, Martin de la Presa, Mitch Barneck
2013 Owlet Baby Monitors
Kurt Workman, Jordan Monroe, Jacob Colvin, Tanor Hodges, Zach Bomsta, Adam Rogers
2012 XoomPark
Ken Frei
University of Utah
Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University
2011 Gamegnat
Zachary Allaun, Jorge Espinoza
American University
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COMPETING TEAMS
Competing Teams 6S Medical LLC Afri-Sea Awake Labs BaBa BackTech Bengala Media bSteps CollegeXChange Course Key D&P Bioinnovations Disease Diagnostic Group FotoFox Haedrian Labs Heads Up Helpo IllumiBowl Intelligent Site Innovations JarGro Enterprise Kaitek Labs Kegg Apps KeyN Vision
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Khapto Khmer Social Tour LINQ Local Line Penny Pledge R.F. Madison Realtime Adventure Data Resumazing RIP Funeral Agency Saans SafetySit LLC SimpleCitizen SmartFilling SĹŒPOD Sotrek Talon Simulations REEcycle Unify Vivid Roots Voovo Inc Western Wise
COMPETING TEAMS
6S Medical LLC University of Utah, USA 6S Medical llc was formed in 2013 with the emphasis to create innovative solutions that are not only better for the patient, provider, or payer, but all three. We strive to solve clinical problems by improving outcomes, increasing safety, and decreasing healthcare costs. 6S Medical strives to bridge the barrier between the innovative and the applicable. Our current product, TroClosure™, provides an unprecedented solution to the billion dollar laparoscopic device market. This solution provides a cost-effective device that offers abdominal access for a laparoscopic cannula (port) AND sutures the wound site (facial closure) while addressing pain points for the patient (port-site herniation), surgeon (risk of needle stick injuries), and hospital (prolonged closure times).
Afri-Sea
Saint Mary’s University, Canada Afri-Sea is a social enterprise whose mission is to positively impact global food and water security. Our 100% natural organic seaweed-derived biostimulant and soil amendment product, which is specifically designed to increase both the water retention and growth stimulation capacity of soil, will help reduce the negative effects of global warming, drought, and chemical fertilizers, thereby allowing farmers to grow better food, protect their crops and water supply, and save money.
Awake Labs
University of British Columbia, Canada Reveal by Awake Labs is a wearable technology that measures and tracks physiological indicators of stress and anxiety in children with autism. Individuals with autism have difficulty connecting with their own emotions which causes them to express themselves many times through meltdowns. These meltdowns can be time-consuming, emotionally draining, and physically dangerous for both the parent and the child. Reveal helps a parent or caregiver eliminate a meltdown before it happens— which reduces time (from 5 minutes to 12 hours), potential injuries, and parent burnout. However, Reveal is not limited to autism, the product can also be used to help people who experience clinical stress, anxiety, ptsd, and other mental health issues. We want to be the company that empowers families and patients to take health care into their own hands.
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COMPETING TEAMS
BaBa Quinnipiac University, USA BaBa seeks to make life easier for parents with infants who are bottle fed by providing a countertop appliance that automates the entire process. Our value proposition is to create a programmable, mobile app-controlled countertop appliance that can mix, pour, and heat a baby’s bottle at the touch of a button.
BackTech Kyoto University, Japan BackTech’s mission is to cure lower back pain. People all around the world suffer from lower back pain, and many do not know appropriate treatments for their pain. We propose a new method to cure lower back pain via a mobile app. We can identify appropriate treatments for each individual with a simple questionnaire and special algorithm developed as part of a research project at Kyoto University’s Graduate School of Medicine. Users can consult an expert of a particular lower back pain within just “2 clicks”. The app includes a “Pain Log” and “Pain Community” to help carry on the treatment for a prolonged length of time.
Bengala Media Monterrey Institute of Technology, Mexico Founded by two students from the Monterrey Institute of Technology in Mexico, Bengala Media is currently developing Coat, a 3 part system that will bring the shopping experience to the 21st century through the use of iBeacons. Our app works as a personal shopper for our users, suggesting stores based on the users’ age, gender, fashion styles, budget and location; it also allows them to discover discounts as they walk around a shopping mall. For our clients, the app allows them to create said promotions as well as to analyze behavioral analytics generated by the users as they walk around their store. Our vision is to use big data and machine learning techniques to eventually be able to predict what clothing items users are looking for, as well as to have a system that automatically creates promotions and discounts for specific users based on their consumer patterns and rules created by the stores.
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COMPETING TEAMS
bSteps
University of Central Florida, USA bSteps’ mission is to inspire dancers to aspire. We believe dance to be one of the truest expressions of people and it should also feel that way; painless, limitless, and unique. Our shoe designs encompass an exclusive blend of comfort, style, and practicality while empowering individuals to embrace diversity and promote social responsibility in the community. Unlike mainstream companies in the industry that adhere to the status quo of selling dance heels and/or jazz shoes, bSteps is a rebel company set up to defy the status quo by incorporating all the desired elements of dance shoes into a hybrid flat design. Our shoes are carefully designed to address longstanding universal concerns expressed by dancers including, but not limited to, monotonous designs, comfort, sole inconsistencies, practicality and fashion. The company has developed original insole and outsole designs, which have been carefully engineered to incorporate health and performance benefits as a mean to help maximize dancers’ experience.
CollegeXChange Quinnipiac University, USA CollegeXChange is a mobile application, similar to craigslist, but strictly for the college student and the surrounding community. We provide convenience and transparency for peer-to-peer transactions.
Course Key
San Diego State University, USA Course Key is a higher-education, large-lecture management software solution that solves the problems of dramatically increasing class sizes through QR/Geo-location technology. Our unique combination of features is designed to increase attendance rates, promote class interaction, and provide a communication platform that fosters collaborative learning environments.
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COMPETING TEAMS
D&P Bioinnovations Tulane University, USA D&P Bioinnovations llc is a regenerative medicine company spun out of Tulane University focused on repairing damaged organs. We are developing a bioresorbable, implantable medical device to regenerate damaged esophaguses. Our device will prevent the thoracic surgeon from having to perform a last resort gruesome gastric pull up surgery to reconstruct and treat a severely impaired esophagus. This surgery involves cutting out the defective esophagus and replacing it with stomach tissue. This causes a very low quality of life for the patient as they often have to rely on feeding tubes to stay alive and the 5-year survival rate is less than 20%. Our device spares the stomach tissue and functionally regenerates the damaged esophagus, thus increasing the quality of life and 5-year survival rate of the patient by more than 80%.
Disease Diagnostic Group Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA What if we told you we could save one million lives every year with refrigerator magnets and a laser pointer? Disease Diagnostic Group is focused on providing low-cost diagnostic tracking and screening solutions to the developing world. While our flagship product is the Rapid Assessment of Malaria (ram), we are expanding our proprietary magneto-optical (magnets and lasers) platform to other diseases. Our product diagnoses or screens a patient for a disease in less than 15 seconds with a reusable box that uses a plastic disposable. The test is 1/10th the cost and has 1/100th of the limit of detection of competitors. Meanwhile, it stores a patient id and quantitative infection level to create a procurement mechanism and patient database. Overall, this platform has the potential to reach 1 billion people, restore confidence in diagnostic tests, eradicate diseases, and most importantly, save lives.
FotoFox University of Waterloo, Canada FotoFox is an online marketplace that connects customers to photographers. Our basic search filters include location, price, date, ratings, and reviews. We also built a way to select and shortlist the ideal photographers, even when customers lack photography domain expertise to articulate what they like. On our platform, customers select whether they like or dislike a selection of photos, allowing us to determine which style of photography they prefer. Attached to each photo are key metrics, and tracking this metadata lets us decide which photographers are most likely to impress the customers, as well as which photos should be included in the photographer’s portfolio to make the best first impression. Our initial focus is weddings, but with our technology, it is easy to scale into other photography verticals, such as events photography, family photography, and portrait photography.
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COMPETING TEAMS
Haedrian Labs
Brigham Young University, USA Three billion adults do not have access to a bank account, and therefore can’t access loans, can’t build a business, and can’t access resources to end the poverty cycle. We provide a digital wallet that acts like a bank account in your back pocket, allowing people to send and receive capital effortlessly. We combine community based microfinance techniques with social media data to help people in developing countries gain access to capital. By providing a way for people to store and use money through digital currency, Haedrian Labs will create a global market where borders are irrelevant, where a mother can send money to her child across the world, and where a San Francisco venture capitalist can effortlessly invest in a small business owner in Ghana. We are the first company to provide user data analytics to potential investors from developed nations. We are Haedrian, and we are here to empower the next 3 billion.
Heads Up
University of Waterloo, Canada Heads Up is a platform that helps home service companies improve operational efficiency and increase profitability through intelligent field management.
Helpo
Monterrey Institute of Technology, Mexico Helpo is aromatherapy on-the-go. Our 100% pure natural product makes you feel good anywhere you go. It is a blend of essential oils from India that refresh you during the day and night. We developed a complete experience, a tiny spa, in a 3ml container that provides a smooth massage.
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COMPETING TEAMS
IllumiBowl Brigham Young University, USA The IllumiBowl is a motion-activated toilet bowl night light that fits on any toilet so that you no longer have to turn on bright lights and wake yourself up, stumble around in the dark, or have your children, roommates, or spouses aim in the dark and miss their mark. The IllumiBowl has already earned $100,000 in pre-sales, is in production, and will be on the shelves worldwide this summer.
Intelligent Site Innovations Dalhousie University, Canada Intelligent Site Innovations is developing automated construction signs to replace flaggers on construction sites. Each sign will consist of our modular computer system connecting a camera to a traffic light mounted to a base, wirelessly connected to a tablet. A single operator can monitor the site via camera and control numerous signs, reducing the number of employees required to manage traffic. This lowers overhead costs, while increasing safety, and will gather traffic data via sensors.
JarGro Enterprise Northern Caribbean University, Jamaica JarGro is an innovative company building a unique international b2c concept based on a superior technology platform for growing plants indoors. This platform assists with producing herbs, salad greens, and edible flowers all year round; turning costumers into producers and creating healthier and safer means for the consumption of natural foods which places you in the center of your food cycle. We believe self-made and individually tailored produce will become the new ethos of societies.
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COMPETING TEAMS
Kaitek Labs
Pontifical Catholic University, Chile Kaitek Labs harnesses the computing power of bacteria, turning them into in vivo testing assays for environmental metabolites. Through synthetic biology, Kaitek has developed metabolic pathways that allow bacteria to identify, measure, and ultimately translate the assessed information to the user. The proof of concept for this technology is our company’s first product: a red tide detection kit known as rtdk, based on a color-changing engineered bacterial culture. rtdk will be able to indicate by a simple color change whether or not a certain sample has been contaminated by red tide toxins. This will be accomplished by generating a genetically engineered cell culture (known as a biosensor) capable of measuring the amount of certain toxins present in said sample. The user interface will be as simple as a maternity test: a color change will indicate contamination, no further indications needed.
Kegg Apps
Drexel University, USA Kegg is a private database for event discovery available exclusively to over 22 million college students. Following email verification, students gain access to all the events at colleges near them based on geographic location. Common event types include: university-hosted events, Greek life, fundraisers, lectures, performances, house parties, and more. In addition to posting their own events, Kegg allows users to collaborate with one another using a real-time messaging service, which provides interaction prior to, during, and after every event. Kegg can be downloaded for free in the iOS App Store and through a private beta key in the Google Play Store. With over 14,000 active users, Kegg is positioning itself to quickly scale into the premier event discovery service exclusive to college students.
KeyN Vision Fisk University, USA KeyN Vision is a software company that specializes in mobile app development with our first app being finance-based. The mission of KeyN Vision is to provide a medium between people and real-life problems through software applications. In other terms, as a company we aim to provide easily accessible knowledge and useful tools that will empower people to overcome everyday problems to achieve stability and accomplish their goals. As our name implies we want to be the Key ‘N’ Vision, helping people to unlock their vision through the use of our applications.
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COMPETING TEAMS
Khapto Federico Santa Mar�a Technical University, Chile We are a group of engineering students developing a glove measurement device for use in the health field, specifically in kinesiology and physical therapy. The glove uses electronic sensors in tandem with software to measure a patient’s performance and provides resulting data that displays progress and improvement over time. This data creates value for patients and medical professionals, regardless of which professional is treating a given patient. We see the glove as a device for everyday use like a stethoscope and sphygmomanometer to measure blood pressure, but in this case to measure the physical problems. With continued use of our glove we’ll create a global database and standards for injury treatments and health improvement.
Khmer Social Tour National University of Management, Cambodia Khmer Social Tour (kst) is a new innovative tour agency which focuses on travel for the elderly and includes social activities in tour packages. We target the elderly from medium and high income families and will not only enable them to travel but to also perform social-friendly activities, such as planting trees, making donations, visiting cultural areas, visiting poor communities, etc. Our customer discovery has found that one of the major issues facing the elderly is loneliness. Our value preposition is to bring the elderly new experiences, friendship, fun, sociality, and travel to enrich their lives.
LINQ Brigham Young University, USA linq is a smart home automation company. The linq Smart Vent brings room-by-room temperature control to every part of your home, and can save you up to 30% on your energy bill. Having linq Smart Vents is like having a learning thermostat in every room for a fraction of the cost, with many learning and money saving features. Each vent brings sensors and temperature control to every room of your home for unmatched comfort. The Hub controls each vent for unmatched consistency throughout the day and can be controlled from anywhere in the world from your phone while you are away. The patent pending system works in the background to make you more comfortable based on your preferences, schedule, and habits. Its comfort, consistency, and control. So the next time you are uncomfortable at home, think linq.
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COMPETING TEAMS
Local Line
Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada Local Line is a commerce system that connects chefs with local food in their communities. The Local Line platform provides e-commerce, communication systems, and invoicing solutions for both chefs and farmers to easily interact. The immediate value for chefs is that they gain access to all the local suppliers through one outlet and that our ordering process helps create efficiencies within their weekly ordering. We find we’re saving chefs an average of 4-5 hours per week on their ordering time. The value for farmers is that we’re able to connect them with new sales outlets and help them build new relationships with chefs.
Penny Pledge
Brigham Young University, USA Penny Pledge is a tool to instantly donate pennies to online content. For creators, we provide a better way to monetize your content. For users, we make it easy to support those that make the internet great. Finally, by accepting pledges, content creators commit to take down their annoying ads. The Pledge Plugin is a social icon much like the Pin, Tweet, and Like buttons which content creators are able to insert onto their blogs, videos, and websites. The future potential is to have the Pledge button embedded across the internet and be as well-known as the ‘Like.’
R.F. Madison
Harvard Business School, USA R.F. Madison is a data-driven apparel company using anthropometric body scanning data to produce a ready-to-wear line of smart-casual menswear for athletically-built men who are 6 feet tall and taller.
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COMPETING TEAMS
Realtime Adventure Data Boise State University, USA Realtime Adventure Data is a capable team of outdoor enthusiasts who have a passion for making the outdoor experience safer for everyone through technology. We are beginning this initiative by building a probe capable of detecting avalanche conditions for winter sports. The use of the probe is accentuated by a free website where users can share their probe readings, creating a true community of backcountry travelers who are committed to enjoying the outdoor experience safely.
Resumazing Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, USA Resumazing is a web service aimed at helping job seekers land their dream job. It does this by showing them how to tailor their resume to a specific job listing of their choosing. The system additionally scores a user’s resume against paid listings, giving them the opportunity to apply if and only if they score high enough. Resumazing’s ultimate goal is to solve two sides of the same problem. Qualified job seekers shouldn’t have to miss out on great opportunities just because they can’t effectively communicate their skill-set on a single sheet of paper. Likewise, companies shouldn’t have to wade through 10,000 under-qualified resumes to find the one applicant who wasn’t just applying everywhere. Resumazing passively processes thousands of resumes and job listings to aggregate information and infer statistics used to inform its decision-making.
RIP Funeral Agency National University of Management, Cambodia rip Funeral Agency provides a one-stop service for families who are planning and carrying out funeral and memorial services for loved ones. During a time of emotional stress and pain for families who have lost a loved one, rip helps to facilitate all of the needed services which are quite numerous and complex within countries such as Cambodia, and in general Southeast Asian Societies, where it is expected that families must conduct numerous ceremonies over a period of 100 days.
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COMPETING TEAMS
Saans
Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India Saans is a low-cost and easy-to-use mechanical Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (cpap) device, which is used to maintain a constant pressure and constant air flow to keep the lungs of newborns and infants open during troubled breathing. Saans is vital for continuous breathing support for infants with troubled breathing during transportation to advanced care facilities and in temporary maintenance of respiratory support in instances where electric cpap machines cannot work. The product operates without any power and can be used by an untrained person (usually parents/relatives) without any external supervision from a trained medical professional unlike electric cpap machines. As per World Health Organization about a third of the world’s population still lacks adequate access to even basic healthcare. We believe that grassroots innovations and low-cost technology, like our cpap device, coming from third-world economies are the solution to our problems. We are an Indian-based medical technology startup committed to developing cheap and affordable medical innovation projects for critical unmet needs.
SafetySit LLC
Michigan State University, USA SafetySit aims to increase the quality of health care while reducing its cost. We improve the efficiency of health care staff by introducing a medical device that removes the need for a second person to support a disabled patient during therapy. This product allows therapists to work with better flexibility without depending on the availability of additional support staff. The device is valuable to the hospitals because with the increased efficiency they can save money, see more patients, and provide better care. We plan to grow in Michigan over the next few years and ideally, in the next five years, we are hoping to address all of the largest and most relevant rehabilitation systems in the United States.
SimpleCitizen
Brigham Young University, USA SimpleCitizen is an online do-it-yourself tool for immigrants who need to file for a green card or other basic immigration documentation. SimpleCitizen helps those filing attain confidence and reassurance in their application without being forced to pay the high premiums associated with legal counsel. The software is designed to help anyone complete his or her immigration application quickly and correctly.
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COMPETING TEAMS
SmartFilling Monterrey Institute of Technology, Mexico SmartFilling proposes a machine capable of filling, labeling, and putting the lid on your product in an automated manner. The machine will automatically detect the capacity of the container to be filled and will able to work with different types of materials.
SŌPOD University of Wisconsin - River Falls, USA The soap revolution is coming. Introducing the non-toxic, biodegradable SōPOD, a multipurpose liquid soap pod that reduces waste and offers a convenient personal care product alternative for travelers around the world. A dissolvable film paired with a plantbased customizable liquid soap creates an easy, convenient way to clean up without all the plastic. As hotels increase their sustainability standards, SōPOD offers a solution for reducing their plastics waste by up to 18%. With applications in body wash, shampoo, conditioner and hand soap, the possibilities are endless with SōPOD. Ditch the plastic and feel fantastic, switch to SōPOD.
Sotrek Brigham Young University, USA Sotrek is an innovative solution that solves the major pains of recreational rental companies; inefficient operations, limited visibility, and insurance. We’ve validated these pains with over 40 rental shops and 250 customers. The solution to these pains represents a market of over $3.4 billion. We provide software that automates the daily operations of a rental shop, data tracking and reporting tools to power growth, creation of customer-facing marketplace, and insurance integration to simplify processes. Sotrek is able to differentiate itself by focusing specifically on the outdoor rental space, and by building products for that space. We’ve validated the pain and the solution, we’ve built a minimum viable product, and we are actively signing beta customers.
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COMPETING TEAMS
Talon Simulations University of Central Florida, USA Talon Simulations seeks to provide immersive and affordable simulators to aid in changing and saving lives. Talon offers personal entertainment and effective training devices to various industries including aviation (fixed-wing and rotary), automotive, construction, and unmanned aerial vehicles. This is accomplished by integrating state-of-the-art virtual reality technology with motion control that is highly precise and a trade secret.
REEcycle
University of Houston, USA REEcycle is the first company ever to profitably reclaim two critical rare earth elements, neodymium and dysprosium, from discarded electronics. REEcycle’s disruptive, patented process is the solution to recycling neodymium and dysprosium. This innovative process has been long sought after by manufacturers including Siemens, Hitachi, and Honda Motors for clean energy applications. Neodymium and dysprosium are used to manufacture neo-magnets, which are indispensable for personal electronics and critical for efficiencies in green technologies. Electric motors are up to 50 percent more productive when using neo-magnets, reducing electricity demand. Wind turbines using neo-magnets are 20 percent more efficient, decreasing our dependence on coal, oil, and natural gas used to produce electricity. By recovering the critical rare earth elements, neodymium and dysprosium, REEcycle reduces u.s. dependence on unreliable foreign supply and creates the infrastructure necessary for a low carbon economy.
Unify
Quinnipiac University, USA
unify
Unify is a full-service ticketing and communication platform allowing companies in the service industry to streamline and consolidate their workflow. With the property management software market inundated with services promising companies everything under the sun, Unify takes a different approach. We do one thing, and we do it very well. Historically, the real estate and property management industry has been led by baby boomers. However, as younger generations enter the industry and rise in their roles, they will be seeking the adoption of technologies such as Unify to automate and streamline inefficient and outdated methods of doing business. Unify has strategically positioned itself in the marketplace to be at the forefront of property management software innovation.
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COMPETING TEAMS
Vivid Roots Boise State University, USA Vivid Roots is a for-profit lifestyle apparel brand that is focused on living life vividly and providing a helping hand to people in need. Each purchase provides people in need with clean water for life!
Voovo Inc Ryerson University, Canada Voovo allows customers requiring 3d printed models to quickly crowdsource job quotes from a community of passionate 3d printer owners. The platform also enables anyone who has a 3d printer to become a full-service 3d printing studio that can personalize, print, and ship models around the world.
Western Wise University of Iowa, USA Western Wise is a community of patient, passionate, and dedicated native speaking tutors committed to improving the written and oral English communication skills of our students through fun, interactive, one-to-one English lessons.
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VOOVO
JUDGING
2015 Judging Criteria Each round will be judged using the following criteria, scored from 1 (poor) to 4 (exceptional).
1.
Did the team use the Business Model Canvas or similar tool to identify and track hypotheses?
2.
Did the team clearly state their hypotheses (assumptions)?
3.
Did the team identify the most crucial assumptions to test first (the ones that will kill their business)?
4.
Did the team design low cost, rapid, but reliable tests of these hypotheses?
5.
Did the team conduct the tests in a reliable manner? a. Number of tests - # should be adjusted for industry, product type (web vs physical product), and business type (B2B vs B2C).
b. Quality of tests - interviews are high quality, surveys & focus groups are much lower quality (you don’t know which questions to ask) unless interviews have been conducted first.
6.
Did the team clearly state what they learned, how it validated an assumption or not, and if that informed any changes/pivots?
7.
If changes were made, was the pivot the team made supported by evidence or did they fail to pivot when the evidence clearly stated it?
8.
If appropriate, has the team developed a prototype or minimum viable product (mvp)? Does the team understand the assumptions they are testing with a prototype or mvp? Is the prototype or mvp appropriate to answer those assumptions? We want to reward prototypes over full products unless the product is the result of many prototypes tested with customers—in other words, we want to reward testing assumptions before building and building from prototypes up to products. We do not want to reward just building products too early based on untested assumptions.
9. 10.
Is the team solving a significant problem (defined in terms of money or impact)?* Does the team have significant evidence that the solution is validated (includes letters of intent, purchase contracts, sales, and partners)?* * these two criteria serve as tie breakers
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JUDGING
2015 Final Judges Steven Blank After 21 years in 8 high technology companies, Steven Blank retired in 1999. His last company, E.piphany, was co-founded in his living room in 1996. Blank also founded two semiconductor companies (Zilog and MIPS Computers), a workstation company (Convergent Technologies), a consulting stint for a graphics hardware/software spinout (Pixar), a supercomputer firm (Ardent), a computer peripheral supplier (SuperMac), a military intelligence systems supplier (ESL), and a video game company (Rocket Science Games). In retirement, Blank wrote Four Steps to the Epiphany, a book about building early stage companies. His latest book, The Startup Owners Manual integrates 10 years of new knowledge. Blank now teaches entrepreneurship to both undergraduate and graduate students at U.C. Berkeley, Stanford University and the Columbia University/Berkeley Joint Executive MBA program.
Alex Osterwalder Dr. Alexander Osterwalder works as an independent author, speaker and advisor with a particular focus on business model innovation, strategic management and management innovation. Besides his independent activities he is partner at Arvetica, a consulting boutique focusing on the private banking and wealth management industry. His role includes business development and the management of a peer knowledge exchange platform for senior executives in private banking (www. privatebankinginnovation.com). Previously Dr. Osterwalder founded and ran BusinessModelDesign.com, a consulting boutique active in strategy consulting with a focus on business model innovation. Dr. Osterwalder has a Ph.D. in Management Information Systems (MIS) from the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, where he worked as a teaching and research assistant and published extensively. He also developed and taught a seminar on Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D).
Nathan Furr Nathan Furr earned his Ph.D. at Stanford University in the Stanford Technology Ventures Program and is currently an assistant professor of entrepreneurship at Brigham Young University. Nathan’s research focuses on market development and early stage entrepreneurial processes. In particular, Nathan has been working on ideas around Customer Development, Lean Startup, and the Nail It then Scale It methodologies which propose processes that entrepreneurs can use to dramatically transform their business models. In addition, Nathan’s other research examines issues of change, innovation, cognition and strategy in entrepreneurial and dynamic environments. Professionally, Nathan has acted as the founder or advisor to startups in web 2.0, clean technology, retail, professional service, and financial services industries. In addition, Nathan is currently on the investment board of the Kickstart Seed Fund, an innovative early-stage fund. Nathan was also a consultant at Monitor Group, an international strategy consulting firm, working with senior executives on a range of strategic and market discovery initiatives including strategy development, organizational change, technology commercialization, communication processes, strategic planning, competitive analysis, and marketing.
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JUDGING
Paul Ahlstrom Paul is a serial entrepreneur. He has founded several high-tech startups and understands the process of success. He is managing director and co-founder of Alta Ventures Mexico, a venture capital fund focused in Mexico. He is a regular keynote speaker and an avid supporter of Utah’s entrepreneurial community, and a member of the Utah Angels. In 2000, he co-founded vSpring Capital, Utah’s leading venture capital fund. In 2007, he co-founded Alta Growth Capital, based in Mexico City and Kickstart Seed Fund based in Salt Lake City.
Gavin Christensen Since founding Kickstart Seed Fund in 2008, Gavin has been responsible for all aspects of managing the firm in addition to leading due diligence and investment decisions in conjunction with Kickstart’s Investment Committee. Prior to Kickstart, Gavin was an analyst, associate and principal at vSpring (now Signal Peak). Before vSpring Capital, Gavin also worked as a Vertical Strategy Associate for Google and as a consultant in Monitor Group’s Cambridge office where he advised clients on a range of strategic, operational, and organizational improvements. Gavin began his career at Fidelity Investments as an investments representative.
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SUCCESS STORIES
2014 Success Stories Herboo Enterprise (International Award) Herboo Enterprise, started by three Northern Caribbean University students Javin Williams, his sister Kamla Williams, and Kamal Smith are well on their way to success -- having taken Best International Team award at the International Business Model competition last year. The company, which launched its first product, Herboo, a popular anti-dandruff hair product, recently expanded its line to include organic hair oil. “The lean startup approach has saved us countless amounts of money and time,” said Williams, “we still use it today as we validate additional products. Thanks to the Business Model Competition, individuals from across the globe reached out to us wanting our product.” Currently, Herboo employs eight part-time employees to carry out operations and has taken its products into the Caribbean markets and abroad. From 90 customers locally and 400 sales last year, Herboo’s network has grown to over 3000 clients worldwide. Distributors of the Herboo products include York Pharmacy, Lilly’s Beauty Supplies, Parkview and Three Angels Pharmacy, Fontana Pharmacy and Central Beauty Supplies.
KiLife Tech (Finalist) KiLife Tech is the creator of the Kiband, a child safety wristband that connects to a parent’s smartphone and alerts the parent if the child wanders away. Kiband uses Bluetooth to transform a smartphone into a mobile geo-fence that can be toggled for different situations such as a mall or amusement park, at close proximity, or a playground, where greater freedom for the child to explore can be afforded. It is an intuitive and kid-friendly way to keep children safe and parents worry free. “The ibmc forced us to refine our business model,” said Spencer Behrend, co-founder and ceo. “We were able to pivot to a powerful niche that allows us to enter the market with a 10x improvement over the competition.” KiLife Tech took their experience at the ibmc and continued to improve, leading to a 1st place showing at the Rice Business Plan Competition. The company walked away with over $600,000 in cash and investment prizes, the most awarded to a single team in the competition’s history. KiLife Tech is not resting on its laurels. The company has started beta testing, and the Kiband will be available later this year.
Veritas Medical (First Place) Launched by a team of bioengineering and medical students at the University of Utah, Veritas Medical created and is continuing to develop its light line Catheter, which eliminates infection-causing bacteria using high-intensity light. Catheter-related infections are common in hospitals in the u.s. and throughout the world, and the students sought to find a way to eliminate the problem. “We had been involved in many competitions before,” said Nate Rhodes, co-founder and ceo, “however, it wasn’t until after winning the ibmc that we actually had investors calling us. In fact, we received about five different investment opportunities in the two weeks following the competition. It is hard to put into words just how incredible of a feeling that was.” The ibmc’s 2014 global champion has been busy. In November 2014, the team was invited to Washington dc to present with seven other teams at the Collegiate Inventors Competition, and took 2nd place. A few weeks ago, the team won 4th place and over $150,000 at the Rice Business Plan Competition, the world’s largest and richest student startup competition. Veritas Medical is now shifting its focus to research and development and has filed 12 provisional and utility patents. The company is currently gearing up for its first animal trial, and Rhodes expects the fda will approve the light line Catheter in about 18 months.
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SUCCESS STORIES
VolleyMetrics (Finalist) After a fourth-place finish with the Italian men’s team in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, assistant coach Guiseppe Vinci was inspired by Michael Lewis’s book Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game. He asked, “Why can’t we do this in volleyball?” That’s how VolleyMetrics began. Vinci’s company, VolleyMetrics, provides near-instant recordings of matches, video analysis, and game planning all built into a robust platform enabling coaches to spend more time with their athletes and less time worrying about the technical details of capturing game footage. Over the past year VolleyMetrics has seen unprecedented growth. From 11 customers in 2014, the company is now on track to sign over 100 customers at the collegiate level by the end of June, and continues to validate expansion into other markets. “The ibmc impacted us tremendously,” said Vinci. “The business model canvas has consistently pushed us to learn more about ourselves and create a sustainable model. The ibmc prepared us by pushing us to understand ourselves and create goals and strategy that matched our vision and what was needed. On top of that, the mentoring we had, the people we met, and the critiques we received helped us move forward faster and with more preparation.” Their biggest takeaway? “The only way to win is to learn faster than anyone else.”
Novi Security (Semifinalist) Novi Security hopes to solve major pains in the home security market, a space dominated by door-to-door salesmen, overpriced contracts, and systems that are only available to a small segment of the world’s population. The company’s innovative solution makes home security available to everyone through a diy system that integrates seamlessly with your phone and monitors your home while you are away. After competing in the ibmc, the company launched a successful Kickstarter campaign, raising over $175,000. The company went on to attend the inaugural Microsoft Internet of Things Accelerator, and raised over $500,000 in funding. “One of our core values is ‘do more with less,’” said Wade Anderson, co-founder and ceo. “We believe that too often we try to throw money at problems and simply don’t take the time to be creative in our problem-solving. The lean startup mindset has been ingrained into our vision of successful entrepreneurship.” Thanks to an appearance on Live with Kelly and Michael, and being featured in Business Insider, Mashable, and cnet, the Novi home security system will be launching at the end of June, ready to take the security world by storm.
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HELPFUL HINTS
What Winning Teams Do: The purpose of the International Business Model Competition is to reward the process student entrepreneurs follow to eliminate uncertainty in their businesses. We encourage smart entrepreneurs that identify and test key business assumptions, seek input from potential customers, and make necessary changes based on what is learned. Remember, this is not a business plan or venture pitch competition! Tell us your story.
If you watch any past winner present, you will see that they start by connecting to the audience through a compelling, but truthful story about their business. In your story, describe the pain you uncovered and how you plan to solve it.
Use the Business Model Canvas.
Start with a blank canvas and step-by-step show your assumptions, how you tested them, and the results. Demonstrate visually which assumptions were validated and which were not. Don’t throw all of your information on the canvas at once, walk the judges through your validation in digestible portions.
Describe the validation.
Each assumption you make has to be accompanied with a test or an activity that aims to prove or disprove your hypotheses. Zoom in close on all of your tests and explain the hard work you did. We want you to justify your decision-making and the course of your business with real data from credible sources.
Highlight the lessons learned.
Each test has to lead to the lessons learned and future plan of action. Show what each test taught you, what was validated, what wasn’t, and what assumptions and tests you made next.
Explain your pivots.
Most of you had to pivot or change a portion of your business in response to customer feedback. We want you to justify your pivots with concrete data. Just saying that you made a pivot is not enough. Realizing that your assumption is inaccurate is not a weakness, but evidence that you learned something.
In conclusion, judges want to see multiple rounds of assumptions and tests. One or two tests is not enough to show that you thoroughly researched your business idea. It is not possible to walk through the entire canvas in 10 minutes, so focus on a few hypotheses and tests that are crucial to your business.
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IBMC AROUND THE WORLD
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