Entrepreneurs: Startup Accelerator...I mean “Excelerator”...in Chicago this Summer!
· Who: Aspiring Entrepreneurs, Startups and High-Growth Businesses that want to build better businesses faster

· What:
o 10+ Week Startup Incubator/Accelerator similar to TechStars/Y Combinator
o plus up to $20k in funding/stipend and
o (probably most importantly) access to elite mentors, advisors and professional investors/angels

· When:
o Applications Due (4/2/10) http://www.exceleratelabs.com/apply/
o Program/Mentorship/Incubator June-September

· Where: Chicago, IL

About Excelerate:
Excelerate is a bootcamp for start-ups that is driven by proven entrepreneurs and investors . We are located in Chicago, IL, and target founders with innovative ideas/early stage ventures that are looking to take the next leap forward in their business.

2010 - 2011 Duke Start-Up Challenge Co-President Application

Passionate about inspiring entrepreneurship at Duke? We're looking for a few good leaders to take the reins for next year's competition.

The Duke Start-Up Challenge is a 100% student-led organization. The team that organizes the competition is composed of students from around campus -- undergrads, grad students, post-docs, part-time students -- that are dedicated to providing a world-class entrepreneurial experience for the students of Duke University. It's our job to find and work with sponsors to raise money for prizes, to recruit judges, to help teams form on campus, to provide forums for teams to get feedback on their ideas, and to market the competition within both the Duke and broader RTP communities. It's a lot of work and we're looking for leaders that are passionate about making the 11th Annual challenge the best ever!

The selection of next year's club Co-Presidents will happen via an interview process as follows:

• Applications DUE: Wednesday, February 17, 2010 @ 11:59pm
• Interviews with eligible applicants: Thursday, February 18 - Thursday, March 4:
• Selection of next year's Co-Presidents: Friday, March 5, 2010

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact steven.pal@fuqua.duke.edu.

APPLY HERE - http://www.dukestartupchallenge.org/who-we-are/co-president-application

February 15 - Wake Forest Elevator Pitch Competition open to all Duke Students - win $10k

If you're working on your Executive Summary for the Duke Start-Up Challenge, might as well double-down and submit it to The Wake Forest University Elevator Competition. The competition is open to all Duke students (undergrad and grad) and is here in North Carolina. You can win up to $10k cash. Deadline to register and submit your Executive Summary is February 15 (which is just a few days after the Duke Start-Up Challenge Executive Summaries are due).

More info:

Join us for the 11th annual
Wake Forest University
Elevator Competition
March 26 & 27, 2010

Total awards up to $350,000 in Cash and Services!

Traditional Business Plan Winner Receives $10,000 cash!
Social Competition Winner Receives $5,000 cash!
Highest placing team with an MBA student will receive automatic paid entry into the Global Moot Corp Competition!
Winning team from the Traditional Business Plan Competition will have the opportunity to present to the Piedmont Angel Network for a potential investment of $250,000 or more!

Executive Summary Due: February 15, 2010 Midnight EST

Open to Undergraduate and Graduate Students!

Be a part of an exciting weekend of events!

Give your Two-Minute Pitch on an ELEVATOR to Venture Capitalists
Mix and Mingle with Entrepreneurs from Across the Country
Exciting Keynote Speakers
Informative Venture Capital and Entrepreneur Panels
For more information or to register visit www.elevatorcompetition.com

Questions or concerns?
Please email elevator.competition@mba.wfu.edu
Now you can be a part of our business plan network.
Follow us on Facebook and Twitter:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=20292154232
http://twitter.com/WFUElevatorComp

January 27 @ 11pm PST - UC Berkeley Exec Summary Contest Open to Duke (w/ Berkeley Team Member)

If you're working on your Executive Summary for the Duke Start-Up Challenge and have a team member related to UC Berkeley (alum, faculty, student), can't hurt to submit your Executive Summary to the UC Berkeley business plan competition as well. They're giving away $50k.

From our friends at UC Berkeley:

Dear Vatsala, Shalav and Steven:

I represent the executive committee of the UC Berkeley Business Plan Competition at the Haas School of Business. I would like to ask for your help in co-marketing our competition to your students.

The deadline for entrants is Wednesday, Jan 27 and students should apply here. Entry is free and winning teams will take home cash prizes of more than $50,000. We have only two rules governing entry.

• teams must have one team member somehow related to UC Berkeley; this can be faculty, alumni or current students
• business plans cannot have received any VC funding or funding more than $250k from non-VC sources

We have a teammate-matching spreadsheet available to help facilitate 1) above that can be found here. Please let me know if you can distribute to your peers on our behalf. Attached below is the marketing email calling for entrants that you may circulate as appropriate. Thank you.

Kind regards,

Everett Leonidas

MBA Candidate 2011

Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley

e: everett_leonidas@mba.berkeley.edu

More info:

3-Page Executive Summaries for the 2010 UC Berkeley Business Plan Competition are due Wednesday, January 27th, 2010 by 11pm PST. Join the BPlan YouNoodle group and apply soon!

Entrant requirements

At least one team member must be a current student, faculty, staff or an alumnus/a of either the University of California at Berkeley or the University of California at San Francisco. Teams or team members that have received any form of venture capital financing or more than $250k of non-VC funding for their business plan may not participate in the competition.

About the competition

The 12th Annual UC Berkeley Plan Competition is an exciting opportunity to showcase your business venture to prominent Silicon Valley venture capital investors. Teams from all academic disciplines are encouraged to participate and win up to $30,000.

Click http://bplan.berkeley.edu for more details.

January 27 @ 5pm - DUKE INTERNAL Walmart Better Living Business Plan Challenge

From our friends in the Duke Net Impact Club:

---

Hi Steven, Shalav,

I'm the Net Impact Case Competitions manager and I'm writing because I think Duke Startup members might be interested in an upcoming business plan competition sponsored by Walmart. It calls for sustainable business plans and offers a prize of $20k to the winning team to invest in their idea. We're thinking of holding an internal competition to select a Duke team on the 27th of January. I'm pasting a blurb advertising the competition.

Thanks a lot!

Anand

===

2010 WALMART BETTER LIVING BUSINESS PLAN CHALLENGE

The Walmart Better Living Business Plan Challenge is a business plan or product competition that invites viable, sustainable business plans or solutions. If you have an idea for a sustainable business this competition provides an opportunity to present to a panel of Walmart executives and environmental organizations. Winners receive $20,000 to invest in their plan or product.

Duke has been pre-selected and we're holding an internal competition on Wednesday, the 27th of January at 5.00pm to pick a team to represent us. You're free to team up with any Duke students, even outside of Fuqua. There is no restriction on the number of team members.

For more information, contact Anand Kanoria and anand.kanoria@duke.edu and visit this website: http://www.netimpact.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=2315