Competition Rules & Guidelines

DFJ $250K ECVC East Coast Venture Challenge

The DFJ East Coast Venture Challenge (ECVC) is open to students from select schools along the East Coast. Each participating university will be invited to submit one business-plan team to compete against top teams from other leading East Coast universities. All participants must submit their business plan and presentation deck tohttp://ecvc.studentbusinesses.com/studentLogin.php by the May 6, 2009 Deadline. Five finalists will be chosen by the general public through online voting, and five will be chosen by VC investors from DFJ and DFJ Gotham by May 13, 2009. The ten finalists will be invited to New York City on May 27, 2009, to pitch to a panel of venture capital investors. All student teams will be notified on May 14th regarding their final event status. One winner will receive a $250,000 seed investment.

Event Guidelines (see the Official Rules below for details)

The East Coast Venture Challenge offers an opportunity for aspiring student entrepreneurs to pitch their ideas to a team of leading venture capitalists. To this end, DFJ has created the following guidelines for Challenge participants. Note that these guidelines are meant to describe the spirit of the East Coast Venture Challenge, not to define the qualifications of a competing team in absolute and complete terms. If you have any questions about these guidelines or about your team’s eligibility to compete, please do not hesitate to contact Jeff Hui at jeff@dfjgotham.com. Good luck.

1. Competition Eligibility:

• School Participation: Each competing school may nominate one team for participation in the ECVC.

• Student-Team Participation: Student teams must be first-time competitors in the ECVC event.

• Funding Status: Ventures that have accepted a preferred equity investment from an institutional investor or have received more than $500,000 in financing are not eligible to participate.

• Legal Standing: Teams who are in mid process of receiving a patent approval, negotiating a licensing agreement or participating in an event of similar legal nature are welcome to participate.
  

2. Team Composition: Teams must be composed of students who are bachelor’s, master’s or PhD candidates and are matriculated in a full-time, part-time or executive degree-granting program during the June 2008-June 2009 period. Three-quarters of the presenting team members must be students. Teams may consist of one or more people.

3. Student Involvement: Student(s) must hold a key leadership role in the formation and daily operation of the business and own equity in the venture. At least one student team member must attend and deliver a substantive portion of the company presentation.
   

4. Faculty Involvement: Student teams are encouraged to seek faculty support; however, faculty support is not required.
   

5. Judging: The panel of judges will be composed of the same group of DFJ Network representatives throughout the day.
   

6. Sector Focus: Business plans must have an Information Technology focus.  Information Technology is any technology that helps to produce, manipulate, store, communicate, and/or disseminate information. To further clarify, information technology includes, but is not limited to, hardware and software solutions in the following categories: new media, e-commerce, wireless, network infrastructure, financial information technologies, healthcare information technologies, greentech information technologies, and information related security technology.
   

7. Review Process: Five finalists will be selected by the general public through online voting. An additional five finalists will be selected by the DFJ Network. The ten finalists will be invited to New York City to pitch to a panel of VC investors from the DFJ Network. The DFJ Network will consider a number of criteria including management, addressable market size, competitive positioning, barriers, capital efficiency, financial projections, and achievements to date in selecting one winner.

DFJ EAST COAST VENTURE CHALLENGE

OFFICIAL RULES

1. HOW TO ENTER: NO PURCHASE OF ANY KIND IS NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. Void wherever prohibited or where registration or bonding required, and subject to all federal, state and local laws. To participate in the DFJ East Coast Venture Challenge (the “ECVC”), beginning at 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time (“ET”) on March 24, 2009, through 12:00 p.m. ET on May 27, 2009 (“Challenge Period”), you must submit your team’s application and materials through the ECVC web page (collectively, the “Entry”). Visit www.studentbusinesses.com and follow the instructions described on the ECVC page, located at http://ecvc.studentbusinesses.com/studentLogin.php (the “Instructions”) on how to submit your Entry. All information on the Entry form must be completed. DFJ Gotham Ventures (“Sponsor”) reserves the right to request additional submissions and information for the purposes of judging Entries. Time of Entry will be determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion. Entrants acknowledge and agree that any tangible materials provided to Sponsor by the entrant will become the property of the Sponsor.
   

2. WINNER: Winner of the ECVC will be determined based on the following:
   

The object of the ECVC is to submit the best investment opportunity focused on Information Technology during the Challenge Period. Judging will be based on the business plan and presentation that Sponsor in its sole discretion determines has the best potential for investment opportunity (determining factors include management, addressable market size, competitive positioning, barriers, capital efficiency, financial projections, and achievements to date).

3. PRIZE:
   

One (1) Grand Prize: $250,000 in seed funding. The seed investment will consist entirely of one $250,000 (two-hundred-and-fifty-thousand dollars) convertible note. Winner will be required to agree to the term of Sponsor’s standard convertible promissory note. The total approximate retail value of the prize package described above is $250,000.

No financial or other compensation will be made for any other use of the Entry. Prize is not transferable. Winner (all team members) may be required to execute and return an Affidavit of Eligibility/Release of Liability/Assignment of Rights/Publicity Releases (where legal) within 21 days of notification attempt. Winner may also be required to form a corporate entity or change its entity status in order to be able to accept the prize. If winner fails to return by the deadline, the Grand Prize will be forfeited and an alternate winner determined, based on the criteria set forth above. TAXES, AS WELL AS ANY OTHER COSTS OR EXPENSES, IF ANY, RELATED TO PARTICIPATING IN THE ECVC OR THE GRAND PRIZE ARE THE RESPONSIBILITY OF ENTRANTS AND WINNER. No responsibility or liability is assumed for damages, losses or injury resulting from acceptance or use of the Grand Prize. All other expenses and costs not expressly listed above are the winner’s sole responsibility.

4. ELIGIBILITY: Select colleges and universities on the East Coast may nominate one student team to participate in the ECVC. Teams may consist of one or more participants. At least 75 percent of a team’s members must be students. Student(s) must hold a key leadership role in the formation and daily operation of the business and own equity in the venture. For purposes of the ECVC, a student is any individual enrolled as a candidate for a bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral degree in a full-time, part-time or executive-degree program during June 2008 to June 2009. Entrants may be required to show proof of school enrollment, and Sponsor shall determine in its sole discretion whether entrants meet eligibility criteria. Faculty support is encouraged but not required.
   

Entrants must be willing to agree to the terms and conditions of Sponsor’s standard convertible promissory note, a copy of which will be provided by Sponsor upon entrant’s request via email to jeff@dfjgotham.com. Affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising, promotion, fulfillment agencies and existing clients of Sponsor, immediate family members of employees, officers and directors of Sponsor, and other persons living in the same household of employees, officers and directors of Sponsor, are not eligible to participate in the ECVC. By entering, entrant gives permission to Sponsor to contact entrant about its services, whether or not entrant is chosen as the Grand Prize winner.

Any person who previously was a member of a team that competed in the ECVC is ineligible. Teams, individuals or ventures that have accepted a preferred equity investment from an institutional investor or have received more than $500,000 in financing are ineligible. Teams that are in the process of receiving a patent approval, negotiating a licensing agreement or participating in an event similar to the ECVC are eligible to participate.

5. GENERAL RULES: Each participating school will be invited to submit one team to compete against top teams from other select East Coast colleges and universities. All entrants must submit a business plan and presentation deck to http://ecvc.studentbusinesses.com/studentLogin.php during the Challenge Period. Five finalists will be chosen by the general public through online voting and five finalists will be chosen by venture capital investors selected by Sponsor. The ten finalists will be invited to New York City on May 27, 2009, where each finalist will pitch their business plan to a panel of venture capital investors selected by Sponsor. At least one student member of each team must attend the pitch and deliver a substantive portion of the team’s presentation. Entrants must pay for their own travel expenses in connection with coming to and presenting in New York.

Judges will consider a variety of criteria, including management, addressable marketing size, competitive positioning, barriers, capital efficiency, financial projections, and achievements to date.

Business plans must focus on Information Technology, which is defined for the ECVC as any technology that helps to produce, manipulate, store, communicate, and/or disseminate information. Information Technology includes, but is not limited to, hardware and software solutions in the following categories: new media, e-commerce, wireless, network infrastructure, financial information technologies, healthcare information technologies, greentech information technologies, and information-related security technology.

In the event of a dispute regarding any Entry, that Entry will be deemed made by the authorized holder of the primary email address associated with the Entry at the time of the Entry submission. Entrant must indicate members of entrant’s team. Any dispute among team members (including as to inclusion on any team) must be resolved by and among team members. A dispute among team members may result disqualification. Entrant must use an email address for the purposes of entering. Return of any prize or prize notification as undeliverable may result in disqualification and alternate determination. Sponsor reserves the right at its sole discretion to disqualify any entrant that tampers or attempts to tamper with the Entry process or the operation of the ECVC or the web site www.studentbusinesses.com; violates the Official Rules; or acts in an unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner, or with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any other person. Any attempt by any person to deliberately undermine the legitimate operation of the ECVC may be a violation of criminal and civil law, and, should such an attempt be made, Sponsor reserves the right to seek damages from any such person and entrant to the fullest extent permitted by law. Sponsor's failure to enforce any term of these Official Rules shall not constitute a waiver of that provision. Sponsor reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the ECVC if it is not capable of running as planned, including, but not limited to, infection by computer virus, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures or any other problems beyond the control of Sponsor and award the prize from among all eligible online entries received prior to cancellation. Sponsor and each of its respective affiliates, officers, directors, agents, and employees will have no liability or responsibility for any claim arising in connection with participation in the ECVC or the prize awarded. Each entrant assumes all liability for any injury or damage caused, or claimed to be caused, by participation in the ECVC or use or redemption of any prize.

Each Entrant agrees to comply with all terms and conditions of the web site used for entering the ECVC, www.studentbusiness.com.

For questions about the ECVC, please see the DFJ ECVC East Coast Venture Challenge Guidelines http://ecvc.studentbusinesses.com/studentLogin.php or contact Jeff Hui at jeff@dfjgotham.com. In the event of any conflict between these Official Rules and the DFJ ECVC East Coast Venture Challenge Guidelines, these Official Rules shall govern.

6. NOTIFICATION: Finalists will be attempted to be notified on or about May 14th, via telephone and/email. Winner will be attempted to be notified on or about May 28, 2009, via telephone and/or e-mail. By participating, entrants agree to the Official Rules and the determination of winner by Sponsor, which shall be final and binding in all respects. Acceptance of the Grand Prize constitutes permission to use winner’s business plan information and winner’s participating team members’ names and likenesses without further compensation, except where prohibited by law and as otherwise provided herein. Other than the name of winner, no information regarding the judges’ decision will be disclosed.
   

7. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY: Ownership of an entrant’s underlying intellectual property remains the property of the entrant, subject to Sponsor’s rights to reprint, display, reproduce, perform, and use the Entry for the purpose of administering the ECVC. By participating in the ECVC, entrant grants Sponsor unrestricted rights to reprint, display, reproduce, perform, use, exhibit and otherwise exploit (including the right to make derivative works of) the Entry and materials and information submitted in connection with the ECVC or use or receipt of the prize, as well as materials and information provided by Sponsor for the benefit of entrant (including description of Sponsor’s services provided to winner) for any and all purposes in any medium. Each entrant hereby warrants that any Entry and other materials and information provided by entrant are original with entrant and do not violate or infringe upon the copyrights, trademarks, rights of privacy, publicity or other intellectual property or other rights of any person or entity, and do not violate any rules or regulations, and entrant indemnifies Sponsor for any breach of the foregoing. If the Entry or information or materials provided by entrant contain any material or elements that are not owned by entrant and/or which are subject to the rights of third parties, entrant represents he or she has obtained, prior to submission of the Entry and information or materials, any and all releases and consents necessary to permit use and exploitation of the Entry and information and materials by Sponsor in the manner set forth in the Official Rules without additional compensation.
   

Each entrant warrants that the Entry and materials and information provided do not contain information considered by entrant or any third party to be confidential, and that the Entry, materials and information provided do not violate any laws or regulations. Entrant recognizes that all Entries will be posted for judging on the Internet and that no materials and information will be considered confidential. Entrant agrees that Sponsor has the right to verify the ownership and originality of all Entries and that, upon Sponsor’s request, entrant must submit a written copy of any release or permission entrant has received from a third party granting entrant the right to use such property. Entrant understands and acknowledges that in the event that ownership, rights and originality of winner’s Entry cannot be verified to the satisfaction of Sponsor or is in any other way ineligible, Sponsor may select an alternate winner based on the same judging criteria.

8 RELEASE/LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY: YOU HEREBY HOLD SPONSOR HARMLESS FROM AND AGAINST ANY THIRD PARTY CLAIM ARISING FROM USE OF THE ENTRY. SPONSOR AND ITS AGENTS ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR LOST, LATE, DAMAGED, MISDIRECTED, ILLEGIBLE, INCOMPLETE, OR MUTILATED ENTRIES, OR FOR ANY COMPUTER, ONLINE, TELEPHONE OR TECHNICAL MALFUNCTIONS, DELAYS OR HUMAN ERRORS THAT OCCUR IN THE PROCESSING, TRANSMISSION OR RECEIPT OF ENTRIES, OR FOR INACCURATE TRANSCRIPTION OF ENTRY INFORMATION, OR FOR ENTRIES THAT ARE STOLEN, MISDIRECTED, GARBLED, LOST OR DELAYED BY COMPUTER TRANSMISSIONS, OR IF FOR ANY REASON, THE ECVC IS NOT CAPABLE OF BEING CONDUCTED AS PLANNED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, INFECTION BY COMPUTER VIRUSES, BUGS, TAMPERING, UNAUTHORIZED INTERVENTION, FRAUD, TECHNICAL FAILURES, OR OTHER CAUSES BEYOND THE CONTROL OF SPONSOR. SPONSOR RESERVES THE RIGHT AT ITS SOLE DISCRETION TO CANCEL, TERMINATE, MODIFY OR SUSPEND THE ECVC. SPONSOR IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR INCORRECT OR INACCURATE ENTRY INFORMATION WHETHER CAUSED BY INTERNET USERS OR BY ANY OF THE EQUIPMENT OR PROGRAMMING ASSOCIATED WITH OR UTILIZED IN THE ECVC OR BY ANY TECHNICAL OR HUMAN ERROR THAT MAY OCCUR IN THE PROCESSING OF THE ENTRIES IN THE ECVC.

9. CHOICE OF LAW; VENUE: Any disputes in connection with the ECVC will be resolved in the appropriate courts in New York, New York, in the United States, exclusively, and subject to the laws of the state of New York. Should there be a conflict between the laws of the state of New York and any other laws, the conflict will be resolved in favor of the laws of the state of New York.
   

10. WINNER’S LIST: The name of the winner will be posted on the DFJ Gotham Ventures web site for a period of time beginning on or about May 28, 2009. Requests for the name of the winner may also be made by sending a self-addressed stamped envelope to DFJ Gotham Ventures, East Coast Venture Challenge, 132 West 31st Street, New York, NY 10001. Vermont residents may omit return postage.
    

11. SPONSOR: The Sponsor of the ECVC is DFJ Gotham Ventures, 132 West 31st Street, New York, NY 10001.
    

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