dare to dream - info

Dare to Dream Grant ProgramInformation Session

2007 - 08

Paul Kirsch and Rachel UlrichJanuary 16, 2008

COPYRIGHT © 2006 THE REGENTS OF THEUNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Agenda• Dare to Dream in the context of

business development and ZLI activities

• What are Dare to Dream grants• Three types of grants• Applications: content and review• Moving beyond Dare to Dream• Timeline• Questions

2

Dare to Dream encourages

..the thoughtful development of student-led businesses

AND

..the development of student entrepreneurial skills and

understanding

3

4

Dare to Dream Grants are• Unique to Michigan• Sponsored by Eugene Applebaum

– A $100,000 program, no “winner”– $500, $1,500 and up to $10,000 awards– Multiple awardees in each phase in each

round

• Every Fall and Winter semester• Documented by written deliverables of

student progress through the business development activities

4

5

Dare to Dream Grants are• Awarded to businesses or

concepts that demonstrate– Innovation – Value– Motivation

• Relative importance of criteria change from Phase to Phase of the Dare to Dream evaluation process

5

Opportunity

Assessment

Integration

Motivation

Value

Innovation

6

Dare to Dream Grants areEncouragement for students to

– Take on real business development activities• Execute primary research with customers, users,

partners, technologists• Incorporate• Recruit and build a team

– email rachelul@umich.edu for more information

– Explore opportunities• Is your solution the right solution for market

need?• Is there a better market for your solution?

– Expend effort and dedicate time• Fit these activities into already busy Michigan

schedule 6

7

Dare to Dream Grants are NOT

• A competition: many teams are given the opportunity to receive grants based on the merit of the application

• For academic credit• An endorsement or criticism of the

business or idea• An endorsement or criticism of the

management team

7

8

3 Phases of Dare to Dream• Opportunity grants initiate business

ideation• What would the product be? Who uses this?• Move beyond “this is a cool idea/technology”

• Assessment grants force developmental issues• Is there enough “there” there to move forward?• Does this idea pass a feasibility test?

• Integration grants drive the team to • Build upon the “go” decision• Assemble a full business plan to address all concerns

of launching and growing a business 8

9

Deliverables• Opportunity

– Application is Technology/Product Description

– Deliverable is the Business Hypothesis• Assessment

– Application is Business Hypothesis– Deliverable is the Feasibility Study

• Integration – Application is Feasibility Study– Deliverables are the full Business Plan

and Investor Presentation9

10

Opportunity Application:Product/Technology Description

• Simple statement of the technology, product, or service

• Plain language description of the technology, product or service• What makes this unique?• How is this different?

• Who are the typical users and/or customers?• Needs, pains, desires

• Discussion of the potential business• What types of activities 10

11

Opportunity Deliverable & Assessment Application: Business Hypothesis

• Statement describing the proposed business• Plain language description of the

technology, product or service• What is the competition already in the

market?• Is the market pain being satisfied already? How?• Why will customers pay for your solution?

• Discussion of the proposed business• How will the business be built around this product?• What value-added activities will the business conduct?

11

12

Assessment Deliverable & Integration Application:

Feasibility Study• Target market assessment

• Pain• Size, and growth rate• Options to grow into other segments

• Overall market assessment• Overall market size and growth rate• Macro-trends

• Industry assessment• Five forces analysis• Likely changes

(continued)

12

13

• Firm• Proprietary elements• Competitive advantage, superior performance• Economic viability

• Team• Mission, risk, congruence of goals• Ability to execute Critical Success Factors (CSF),

and manage around Fatal Flaws (FF)• Connectedness

• Conclusion

Assessment Deliverable & Integration Application: Feasibility Study

13

14

Integration Deliverables:Business Plan & Investor Presentation

• Business Plan– Executive summary– Operational plan: how to get there from here– Full financial model: narrative and spreadsheets– Financing and exit issues

• Investor Presentation– Documentation and presentation for target funders– In-person, persuasive appeal to secure funding

• Friends and family• Angel• Institutional• Grantors generally do not receive presentations

14

Dare to Dream Applications

• Student-led teams convince ZLI of– Innovation– Value– Motivation

• Application and review criteria– Different requirements and evaluation for

Opportunity, Assessment, and Integration

15

Evaluation of Opportunity Applications

• Panelists individually value items• Panel asked to specifically consider:

16

– Innovation, uniqueness– Understanding of relationship to users

– Payers vs. non-payers– Technologists vs. general public

Evaluation of Assessment Applications

• Panelists individually value items• Panel asked to specifically consider:

17

• Clarity of the proposed business

• Tech/prod/service– Uniqueness– Current solutions– Comparison to

status quo

• Customer identification– Desires, needs,

pains– Currently being

served

• Business model– What company does– How it makes

money

Evaluation of Integration Applications

• Panelists individually value items• Does application convince panel of feasibility• Panel asked to specifically consider:

18

• Target market viability

• Addressable market potential

• Industry and competitive situation

• Firm advantages• Economic viability• Team ability,

ambition, connectedness

ApplicationsAvailable on the Institute websitewww.zli.bus.umich.edu/events_programs/dream_details.asp

• Three sections:– WHO:

• Team information

– WHAT: • OP: Technology/product/service description• AS: Business Hypothesis• IN: Feasibility Study

– DELIVERABLES:• Know what you are agreeing to do!

19

Grant Recipients• Announced at the Michigan Business

Challenge Awards Ceremony, Feb. 15• At least half the team members must

attend at least the corresponding Business Development Seminar on March 7– Hypothesis at 9:00– Feasibility Study at 12:00– Business Plan at 3:00

20

Grant Deliverables• Intermediate

– Opportunity – Hypothesis – not applicable– Assessment - Feasibility Study – 3/28– Integration - Business Plan – 4/25

• Final– Opportunity – Hypothesis – 3/2– Assessment - Feasibility Study – 4/25– Integration - Business Plan – 7/25

21

22

Symposia and EventsMingle ‘n’ Match• Casual, networking events• Foster discussion between students with

business ideas and their colleagues insearch of concepts

• Students with ideas present one-minute overviews• Informal discussions about the presented ideas,

needs and ambitions• AFTER THE EVENT: presenters provided with the

contact information of interested students• Low impact. Only expectation is to continue the

discussionContact: teambuilding@umich.edu

February 7

Ann Arbor SPARK

23

Moving Beyond Dare to Dream

Tie in to other entrepreneurial activities– ES electives

• ES615: New Venture Creation• ES715: Innovation

– Michigan Business Challenge• Iterative, multi-cycle tournament for

student-led start-ups• Over $40,000 in prize money

– Marcel Gani self-hosted internships: Student CEOs paid to work on their own start-ups• Applications due on 3/21

23

24

Past Participants• Mobius Microsystems – Winter 2002

– Relocated to CA, raised $8MM

• Style High - Assess Fall 2004– Now Spirit Shop, operating in AA, post-raise

• Incept Biosystems – Integrate Fall 2004– Currently in multimillion fund raise

• Gregory Sports Management – Assess Fall 2005– Operating as a lifestyle business

• MicroNeural Interfaces– Assess Winter 2006– Competing in MBC 2007, currently semifinalist

24

25

Past Participants

25

26

Past Participants

26

Questions?

Dare to Dream Grants

Paul Kirsch Rachel UlrichProgram Manager Program

Coordinatorpskirsch@umich.edu

rachelul@umich.edu

Questions• What kind of businesses are you looking

for? – These are student “Dreams” not ZLI Dreams– Preference for applications that show

• Innovation– innovation does not have to be technology

• High growth potential• Committed teams

– Discourage restaurants and real estate flippers– Applications do not have to be for future

Fortune 100 firms

28

Questions• How does this relate to business plan

competitions?– These are separate programs– Mutually supportive– D2D is more developmental, incubator–

ish– BPCs are more competitive, more

personal with more feedback

29

Questions• Do you have to have a business

student on the team– Yes, for Assessment and Integration– No, for Opportunity

30

Questions• Can I apply for Dare to Dream in my

last semester?– Yes, for Opportunity and Assessment

• Deliverables are due the SAME semester as awards are granted

– No, for Integration• Deliverables are due six months after award

date

31

Questions• What if the Feasibility Study shows

the idea is NOT feasible?– Team still receives $$ if the Feasibility

Study is completed properly– Emphasis is learning HOW to evaluate

ideas, WHAT questions to ask, WHEN•Answers are NOT predetermined

32

Questions• Can I be on more than one team?• Can I make more than one

submission?– Yes, but….– Instills doubt about commitment, focus

and motivation– Discouraged

33

Questions• If someone receives an Assessment

grant, they can still apply later for an Integration grant and receive the $10,000 for the same idea, correct? – Absolutely– The grant applications do not have to be

in sequential terms– However, one business can only get each

grant once

34

Questions• Do you have to wait a whole term to

move forward with your idea?– The Dare to Dream grants are awarded

once a semester– You can work independently on your

business to get it started– If means you “leapfrog” from Opportunity

to Integration, that is okay

35

Questions• How in depth is the application for

Opportunity? I only have a very vague idea– Opportunity grants are designed to be

very easy to apply for– What you need is a well thought out and

clearly articulated product/technology/service description

36

Questions• What is the benefit of applying for

Opportunity instead of Assessment?– Opportunity was originally designed for

non-business students who have an idea but are unsure what to do with it

– If you can comfortably complete the Assessment application, there really is no advantage to applying for Opportunity first

37

Questions• Can you add pictures to your

application?– Use them sparingly– You should be able to describe your

product/technology with plain language

38

Questions• Do judges prefer huge businesses

with designs to revolutionize the market?– Not at all– The review panels are encouraged to

look for successful ideas of all sizes, not just the next Wal-Mart or Google

39