CONNECT
with people across academia, industry, and government as well as experienced mentors both here and abroad.
CREATE
teams with the right mix of skills who will be trained to write, refine and pitch strong business plans to industry experts and venture capitalists.
CATALYZE
the building technology- and innovation- based businesses by providing support from the PESO network even after the competition is over.
Frequently Asked Questions
This is a list of questions frequently asked about the PESO Challenge Business Plan Competition. If you have other questions about the Competition, please send email to pesodavao@gmail.com.
Who are eligible to participate in the PESO Challenge?
Can I get a copy of the business plans?
How big can my team be?
Can I be on more than one team?
How does the judging work?
What are the steps of the Competition?
Who are the judges?
How can I help organize the Competition?
What do the judges look for in a plan?
Where can I find other resources to help me in writing a business plan?
How can I do market research?
How do I get on the PESO announcements list?
How can I sponsor PESO?
How will my intellectual property be protected?
Who are eligible to participate in the PESO Challenge?
All teams with at least one student at all the undergraduate or graduate level of education and from any school in the Philippines are eligible to enter. All teams are encouraged to seek the involvement of faculty members, professionals, and researchers.
All teams with at least one student at all the undergraduate or graduate level of education and from any school in the Philippines are eligible to enter. All teams are encouraged to seek the involvement of faculty members, professionals, and researchers.
Can I get a copy of the submitted business plans?
We consider the business plans (and executive summaries) to be the confidential property of the entrant teams, and therefore do not provide copies of the plans. We provide only a brief "public summary" of each entry on the PESO web site. Please write the team on your letterhead explaining your intentions, scan and email to us and we will forward to them.
We consider the business plans (and executive summaries) to be the confidential property of the entrant teams, and therefore do not provide copies of the plans. We provide only a brief "public summary" of each entry on the PESO web site. Please write the team on your letterhead explaining your intentions, scan and email to us and we will forward to them.
How big can my team be?
Teams must be a minimum of 3 persons and maximum of 5 with at least one student member. PESO believes in the strength of teamwork and diversity, so the team must also have one technology member and one business/management member.
Teams must be a minimum of 3 persons and maximum of 5 with at least one student member. PESO believes in the strength of teamwork and diversity, so the team must also have one technology member and one business/management member.
Can I be on more than one team?
We won’t stand in the way of ambition and determination, so the answer is yes, you can be on more than one team if you feel that you have the creativity, time and energies that can be utilized by more than one gentry. But you must make full disclosure of this, especially to all your team-mates. However, this is not encouraged due to the potential conflict that may arise from your being on two competing teams.
We won’t stand in the way of ambition and determination, so the answer is yes, you can be on more than one team if you feel that you have the creativity, time and energies that can be utilized by more than one gentry. But you must make full disclosure of this, especially to all your team-mates. However, this is not encouraged due to the potential conflict that may arise from your being on two competing teams.
What are the steps of the Competition?
Initially, the contestants submit the details of their team through an online registration form that can be found in the PESO website. This should be followed by the electronic submission of the Business Concept Summary to the secretariat email address. These are screened to determine the Semi-finalists who proceed to the next stage which will be heavy on training and mentoring. The Semi-finalists attend the Participant Enrichment Series of Workshops and write the full-blown business plans, over a period of about 3 months. Submission of the business plans will be shortly after the New Year, giving teams the time during the holidays to polish up their work. A thorough evaluation of the written business plans will identify the ten finalists, who undergo the Finalists’ Enhancement Session and additional mentoring as they revise their business plans and prepare for oral presentations.
During the finals, the finalists make a 20-minute oral presentation before a panel of judges who have the opportunity to grill the finalists over a 15-minute Q&A period.
Initially, the contestants submit the details of their team through an online registration form that can be found in the PESO website. This should be followed by the electronic submission of the Business Concept Summary to the secretariat email address. These are screened to determine the Semi-finalists who proceed to the next stage which will be heavy on training and mentoring. The Semi-finalists attend the Participant Enrichment Series of Workshops and write the full-blown business plans, over a period of about 3 months. Submission of the business plans will be shortly after the New Year, giving teams the time during the holidays to polish up their work. A thorough evaluation of the written business plans will identify the ten finalists, who undergo the Finalists’ Enhancement Session and additional mentoring as they revise their business plans and prepare for oral presentations.
During the finals, the finalists make a 20-minute oral presentation before a panel of judges who have the opportunity to grill the finalists over a 15-minute Q&A period.
How does the judging work?
All the Business Concept Summaries are forwarded to the MIT-PESO group in the USA, who convene to do this first-round pass-fail elimination. There is no quota here, but in the PESO Challenge 2005, about half of the 78 entries were eliminated. In the second-round judging, the Business Plans submitted in hard copy by the Semi-finalists are each read by three judges: an entrepreneur, a venture capitalist, and technologist. Each plan is graded according to an objective grading system and also ranked among all plans read by the judge. Typically, about 12 judges are used in order to spread the judging load. Ten finalists will be selected after this second-round of judging. All the finalists will be evaluated by the same panel of judges, on the basis of the written Business Plans and the oral presentations.
All the Business Concept Summaries are forwarded to the MIT-PESO group in the USA, who convene to do this first-round pass-fail elimination. There is no quota here, but in the PESO Challenge 2005, about half of the 78 entries were eliminated. In the second-round judging, the Business Plans submitted in hard copy by the Semi-finalists are each read by three judges: an entrepreneur, a venture capitalist, and technologist. Each plan is graded according to an objective grading system and also ranked among all plans read by the judge. Typically, about 12 judges are used in order to spread the judging load. Ten finalists will be selected after this second-round of judging. All the finalists will be evaluated by the same panel of judges, on the basis of the written Business Plans and the oral presentations.
How is the prize money distributed and are there any conditions?
The team must first submit a budget that shows how 80% of the money will be used in pursuing the business; 20% of the prize money may be disbursed at the team’s discretion. 50% of the prize money will be distributed the week after the awards, the balance when certain committed milestones have been accomplished.
The team must first submit a budget that shows how 80% of the money will be used in pursuing the business; 20% of the prize money may be disbursed at the team’s discretion. 50% of the prize money will be distributed the week after the awards, the balance when certain committed milestones have been accomplished.
Who are the judges?
The judges for the first-round elimination, based on Business Concept Summaries, are members of the MIT-PESO, an all-Filipino organization of students in and alumni of the masteral and doctoral programs at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; some are organizers of the MIT $50k Entrepreneurship Competition. The judges for the second and third round judging are established entrepreneurs, technology experts and venture capitalists who are all personally known to PESO organizers as experienced, no-nonsense and exacting judges/evaluators who can nonetheless provide constructive comments in support of the teams’ pursuit of technopreneurship.
The judges for the first-round elimination, based on Business Concept Summaries, are members of the MIT-PESO, an all-Filipino organization of students in and alumni of the masteral and doctoral programs at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; some are organizers of the MIT $50k Entrepreneurship Competition. The judges for the second and third round judging are established entrepreneurs, technology experts and venture capitalists who are all personally known to PESO organizers as experienced, no-nonsense and exacting judges/evaluators who can nonetheless provide constructive comments in support of the teams’ pursuit of technopreneurship.
How can I help organize the Competition?
PESO is in need of volunteers to help in seeking out sponsors, organizing school and association visits for promotional technopreneurship lectures, promoting PESO, coordinating school support for the PESO Challenge, lecturing at the technopreneurship and Participant Enrichment Series. Please email the secretariat at pesosecretariat@yahoo.com with your bio-data and preferred form of assistance. If you wish to be a mentor or judge, you may volunteer at the website’s online registration section.
PESO is in need of volunteers to help in seeking out sponsors, organizing school and association visits for promotional technopreneurship lectures, promoting PESO, coordinating school support for the PESO Challenge, lecturing at the technopreneurship and Participant Enrichment Series. Please email the secretariat at pesosecretariat@yahoo.com with your bio-data and preferred form of assistance. If you wish to be a mentor or judge, you may volunteer at the website’s online registration section.
What do the judges look for in a plan?
There are outlines/guidelines that suggest the contents for the two documents for submission, the Business Concept Summary and the Business Plan. But no two plans are the same, so it will be up to the team to add whatever is needed to communicate their plans in the best possible way. Over and above the bricks-and-mortars of the plan, the judges will want to see how the team integrates all of these components into a coherent whole, demonstrating in the process their passion, dedication, comprehension, insight and mastery that will win the confidence of potential investors and funders of the business.
There are outlines/guidelines that suggest the contents for the two documents for submission, the Business Concept Summary and the Business Plan. But no two plans are the same, so it will be up to the team to add whatever is needed to communicate their plans in the best possible way. Over and above the bricks-and-mortars of the plan, the judges will want to see how the team integrates all of these components into a coherent whole, demonstrating in the process their passion, dedication, comprehension, insight and mastery that will win the confidence of potential investors and funders of the business.
Where can I find other resources to help me in writing a business plan?
In addition to those already referred to under the resources section of the PESO website, you may want to review the open courseware at the MIT and Stanford U. websites, among many universities which share their courses. Also the public summaries of winners of the MIT $50k and other business plan competitions give you an idea of what it takes to win.
In addition to those already referred to under the resources section of the PESO website, you may want to review the open courseware at the MIT and Stanford U. websites, among many universities which share their courses. Also the public summaries of winners of the MIT $50k and other business plan competitions give you an idea of what it takes to win.
How can I do market research?
Market research is the process of gathering the information that serves as the basis of a sound marketing plan. Once your target market is selected, you will want to know their preferences and behavior as well as competitors’ products. The key challenge is to define the target market in reasonable detail. When that has been done, you need to ask if the target market will respond favorably to the perceived value that your positioning is trying to deliver. Or, having identified the target market, you may ask which values your product must be designed to deliver.
After these are done, you should develop the questions that will provide the necessary data on customer preferences and behavior. Data is then collected using:
Market research is the process of gathering the information that serves as the basis of a sound marketing plan. Once your target market is selected, you will want to know their preferences and behavior as well as competitors’ products. The key challenge is to define the target market in reasonable detail. When that has been done, you need to ask if the target market will respond favorably to the perceived value that your positioning is trying to deliver. Or, having identified the target market, you may ask which values your product must be designed to deliver.
After these are done, you should develop the questions that will provide the necessary data on customer preferences and behavior. Data is then collected using:
- Published sources, which sometimes carry information collected for other research purposes (newspaper articles, columns like Marketing Rx are useful and current);
- Focus group discussions with a small group of people from your target market;
- Surveys or interviews;
- Observation of customers, sometime by spending a “day in the life” of the customer.
How do I get off the PESO announcements list?
Please write the PESO secretariat at pesosecretariat@yahoo.com
Please write the PESO secretariat at pesosecretariat@yahoo.com
How can I sponsor PESO?
If you’re interested in sponsoring PESO, in cash or in kind, please write the President, Federico C. Gonzalez, at fcg@pacific.net.ph, who can send you the sponsorship package based on the amount you propose to contribute.
If you’re interested in sponsoring PESO, in cash or in kind, please write the President, Federico C. Gonzalez, at fcg@pacific.net.ph, who can send you the sponsorship package based on the amount you propose to contribute.
How will my intellectual property rights be protected?
PESO recognizes the need to protect the intellectual property rights of the teams, and we promote these through: educating the teams during the Participant Enrichments Series workshop on intellectual property rights for semi-finalists; the non-disclosure agreements which all judges and PESO organizers execute before they see the business plans. However, we also recommend that the teams disclose only as much as is necessary to prove the technological innovation and feasibility of their business plans, without giving away their trade secrets or “source code.”
PESO recognizes the need to protect the intellectual property rights of the teams, and we promote these through: educating the teams during the Participant Enrichments Series workshop on intellectual property rights for semi-finalists; the non-disclosure agreements which all judges and PESO organizers execute before they see the business plans. However, we also recommend that the teams disclose only as much as is necessary to prove the technological innovation and feasibility of their business plans, without giving away their trade secrets or “source code.”