Students present business plans in competitive atmosphere

Students
present business plans in competitive atmosphere
…………………………………………………………………

BY TRISH LEGGETT
Special to the Rice News

Rice played
host to teams from nine business schools at the first Southwest
Business Plan Competition held on campus March 29-31.

The event, co-hosted
by Rice’s Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management
and the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship,
gave talented, creative students from business schools across
the country the opportunity to present their business plans
in a competitive environment. It was held in conjunction
with the second annual Business Plan Presentation Forum,
a collaboration of the Rice Alliance, the Jones School,
the George R. Brown School of Engineering and the Wiess
School of Natural Sciences.

The schools
represented this year were Baylor University, Rice University,
Southern Methodist University, Texas Christian University,
Tulane University, the University of Arizona, the University
of Georgia, the University of Michigan and the University
of Texas at Austin.

The Rice team
presented a business plan entitled “America 101,”
which outlined a new nonprofit organization, something of
a new twist for a business plan competition.

The University
of Georgia took first place, qualifying for the International
MOOT CORP Competition, the largest business plan competition
in the world. Their plan, “Zymex,” centered around
a new approach to the development of lead compounds, chemicals
identified as affecting the underlying causes of various
diseases and disorders. Second place went to the University
of Michigan, whose plan outlined the development and marketing
of a gel-based energy capsule specifically formulated to
meet the needs of active women. Third place went to TCU
for their plan, SmartHealth, which outlined a card-payment
method for health care services.

“It was
an outstanding competition,” said Gary Cadenhead, director
of MOOT CORP. “It was very effective in simulating
the process of entrepreneurs asking venture capitalists
for money.”

Jones School
Dean Gil Whitaker was pleased with the event as well. “It
was a great learning experience for everyone involved,”
he said, “and the students did a wonderful job of organizing
everything. I’ve heard many positive comments. Now
that we’ve competed in this first competition, I suspect
the Rice team will do much better next year.”

More than 20
Jones School students helped to plan and execute the event,
led by Tom Stein, the event coordinator and student director.

“The business
plan competition presented a unique opportunity to meet
and network with some experienced entrepreneurs and venture
capitalists,” Stein said, adding that many students
wanted to give something back to Rice, and volunteering
to help with the competition was a great way to accomplish
that.

More than 45
judges from the business community in Houston and beyond
participated. Robert Winter from Menlo Park, Calif., who
spoke at a Nov. 3 Rice Alliance event, was one of the competition’s
judges. “It was a pleasure being a part of the first
Southwest Business Plan Competition,” he noted. “I
believe this beginning will only grow into a rich and important
event for Rice as it pursues more entrepreneurial-oriented
endeavors.”

Event sponsorship
included Ernst & Young, Fulbright & Jaworski, Haddington
Ventures, Shell Oil, Shell Services International, Sternhill
Partners and Vinson & Elkins. Awards were underwritten
by Murphree Venture Partners (grand prize, $5,000), Finger
Interests (first runner-up, $3,000) and Genesis Park/techQuest
(second runner-up, $2,000). The keynote speaker for the
event was Adam Dell, managing general partner of Impact
Venture Partners in New York.

The event was
initiated by Dennis Murphree, lecturer on management at
the Jones School and managing partner of Murphree Venture
Partners.

The Jones School
and Rice Alliance already are planning the 2002 competition.
For photos from this year’s event or for details on
next year’s competition, visit <www.alliance.rice.edu/swbpc>.
To participate in the 2002 competition write to <alliance@rice.edu>.

— Trish
Leggett is staff assistant for the Rice Alliance for Technology
and Entrepreneurship.