Requirements
Submissions must be new concepts, not already existing companies. No concepts that have won or placed in the finals of a previous Fowler competition may be submitted again. Students are allowed to re-submit a concept that was previously accepted to the semifinalist competition, so long as the student did not advance to the finals round with that concept. Students may submit as many concepts as they like, but only one entry will beeligible to compete in the semifinals competition.
DO NOT INCLUDE YOUR NAME OR NAMES OF YOUR TEAM MEMBERS ON THE SUBMISSION DOCUMENT.
Submission Requirements
Provide a brief description of your business concept following the prompts outlined below. Your submission, excluding an optional cover page, can be a maximum of five pages, double-spaced, 11-point type.
Business Concept Track:
- A concise description of the proposed business and why it is unique/compelling.
- Target Market – Who is your customer? What customer problem will you solve? How does your customer solve that problem today? What other solutions will compete for that customer?
- Proposed Solution – What is your product or service? How will it solve the problem? How will your solution create exceptional value for the customer? How is it different from and superior to other solutions in the market?
- Market Opportunity – Provide a preliminary estimate of the size of the potential market (number of customers that can be reasonably addressed).
- Business model – How will you deliver this solution to your customer affordably and effectively, and how will the venture make money (revenue model)?
- How does your concept contribute to the common good? — how does it support human flourishing among its key stakeholders? Are there potential harms to stakeholders or society, and how will you mitigate those?
- Why Should Someone Invest in Your Venture? Explain why you will be successful.
Social Venture Track:
- Social impact focus area – What is the social problem you want to help solve (e.g. reduce food insecurity in the Twin Cities; reduce chemical run-off into the Mississippi; reduce the opportunity gap in low-income schools, etc.)?
- Proposed solution – What product or service will you offer to address the problem? How will your solution help alleviate the problem?
- Population served
- Who is impacted by the problem? How do they experience the problem today? How do they try to solve it today? How will they be impacted by your solution?
- Are there other “customers” or stakeholders you must serve in order to deliver or fund your solution or impact? (For instance, Love Your Melon sells hats to consumers in order to raise money to donate hats and funds for children experiencing cancer and to the nonprofits that serve them). Who are these customers? Why will they want your offering?
- Compelling advantage – How is your solution different from and superior to other solutions in the market? How does your solution create exceptional value for all it serves?
- Business model – How will you deliver this solution to your customer affordably and effectively, and how will the venture make money (revenue model)? How is your revenue model connected to your goal to deliver social impact?
- Potential social impact – How many people can you impact, or how many customers can you reasonably address? How will you measure the success of your venture? What measures or metrics will you use (e.g. number of clients fed; decrease in chemical run-off, etc.
Most Innovative Business Award
Students must first submit their concept to the Business Track and self-select into this award during that process. Students must then submit an additional impact statement of up to 1-page describing how their venture addresses the following criteria:
- Originality and Uniqueness: The concept should demonstrate a fresh and original approach to solving a problem or meeting a need in a novel way that hasn't been widely explored before. The concept should showcase creative thinking and out-of-the-box ideas. It should go beyond conventional solutions and demonstrate innovative approaches that challenge existing norms.
- Market Disruption: The concept should demonstrate the potential to disrupt existing markets, technologies, or business models. It should have the potential to completely replace existing solutions in the market, create a brand-new market, or significantly shift consumer behavior.
- Alignment with Current and Future Trends: The concept's ability to adapt to changing circumstances, trends, and technologies into the future.
Kate Herzog Memorial Award
Students must first submit their concept to the Social Venture Track and self-select into this award during that process. Students must then submit an additional impact statement of up to 1-page describing how their venture addresses:
- Social challenges around poverty alleviation
- Serving of under resourced communities
- Closing opportunity gaps
Eligibility
The competition is open exclusively to all University of St. Thomas undergraduates, graduate students and post-doctoral fellows registered in the semester of the competition. All members of a team must be current students with a valid St. Thomas student ID. Teams typically consist of one to three members.