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• Plan to be financially sustainable or profitable; whether it is a commercial business or a tax-exempt organization, it must be self-sufficient on its earned revenue.
• Be scalable. This criterion will be unique for each business plan. Scalability will take into account the potential for growth of the business (and how well both the financial and social goals can be scaled).
• Have a quantifiable social and/or environmental bottom line incorporated in to its mission and practices.

2. Each entrant team must include an MBA or equivalent student from any business 
    school in the world or an individual who has graduated from an MBA
    or equivalent programme within the past two years from the date that the plan is
    first submitted. The MBA or equivalent student must be actively involved in
    the venture i.e., actively participating in development of the business plan
    and presentation or actively working on the business.                                        

• The business plan must include a statement describing the MBA or equivalent student's level of involvement.
• If the plan advances to the final round of judging, the business student must be one of the plan's presenters and must be available to answer judges' questions regarding the business.
• Have a quantifiable social and/or environmental bottom line incorporated in to its mission and practices.

Teams are strongly encouraged to include seasoned entrepreneurs and professionals with relevant skills and experience.

3. The proposed venture must not have been in operation for more than 3 years,
    with the start of the venture marked by first income or first patent, which
    ever comes first.

4. The proposed venture may not be a wholly owned subsidiary of an existing
    entity (either a for-profit or non-profit entity). The proposed venture must
    seek capital from outside sources.

5. A business plan cannot enter the competition in more than two consecutive years.
    A team cannot enter the competition more than twice. Whether or not a team
    re-entering is considered the “same team” as before is determined at the
    discretion of the GSVC organisers, but is mainly based on the business plan itself,
    with lesser emphasis on the team members and the team name.

6. The business plan must include a financial analysis, as well as the following
    three items:

• Definition of the Social Value Proposition.
• Listing of the top three Social Indicators.
• Social Return on Investment (SROI) analysis. Additional Social Impact Analysis (SIA) support can be found in the Entrants->Guidelines->SIA section on the web site.

7.  The plan must include a statement on what the team would do with the
     prize money.

8.  All plans must be written in English.

Benefits

An opportunity to

• showcase your ideas to bring sustainable social transformation
• interact with venture capitalists and academicians who support social ventures
• be mentored by people associated with nurturing social ventures
• travel to Berkeley to present your plan in front of a global judging panel
• use prize money to grow your business

The Global Social Venture Competition reserves the right to revise these dates and will give as much advance notice as possible of any changes.    


 

GSVC Asia Final Agenda March 8, 2008 Venue: Khemka Auditorium 1:00 – 1:15 Introductory remarks Dr V Chandrasekar, Executive Director, Wadhwani Centre for Entrepreneurship Development, ISB 1:15 – 2:30 Panel discussion on “Financing Social Ventures: An investor perspective” Arun Diaz – Consultant, management and banking sectors Don Mohanlal - CEO, Khemka Foundation Karthik Muthuswamy - Country Head, Elliott Varun Sahni - Country Director, Acumen Fund Moderator: Reuben Abraham- faculty at the ISB and Director of the Base of the Pyramid Learning Lab in India 2:30 – 3:00  Tea break 3:00 – 3:10  Welcome remarks M R Rao, Dean, ISB 3:10 – 3:30 “Being the common man’s Commerce Minister” Address by the Chief Guest Shri Jairam Ramesh, Hon’ble Minister of State for Commerce 3:30 – 3:40 “Innovative CSR – How can India Inc make a difference?” Special address by Rabin Dhoble, Director, Helios & Matheson North America 3:40 – 4:00 “Reaching sophisticated healthcare to the masses in developing countries” Keynote address by Dr Devi Shetty, Founder Chairman, Narayana Hrudayalaya 4:00 – 4:20 Elevator Pitch (Each team gets 1 minute) 4:20 – 4:30 Vote of thanks Ajit Rangnekar, Deputy Dean, ISB 4:30 – 4:45 Tea Break 4:45 – 6:15 Presentations by four social entrepreneurs followed by Q&A Green Oil, Anupam Jalote  (15 minute presentation) Green Mango, Yasmina McCarty (15 minute presentation)     Q&A with the two entrepreneurs (15 minutes) Life Spring, Anant Kumar 1298 Ambulance, Sweta Mangal (15 minute presentation)     Q&A with the two entrepreneurs (15 minutes)  Moderator: Aarti Kothari   March 9, 2008   Venue: AC3 Max Lecture Theatre  Each team gets 15 minutes to present, followed by 5 minutes of Q&A. Judges Arun Diaz – Consultant, management and banking sectors Don Mohanlal - CEO, Nand & Jeet Khemka Foundation Jeroninio Almeida – Founder, iCongo Karthik Muthuswamy - Country Head, Elliott Rabin Dhoble - Director, Helios & Matheson North America Varun Sahni - Country Director, Acumen Fund 9:30 – 9:50  AccessAbility, Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, India 9:55 – 10:15 BioPower Technologies, Prasetiya Mulya Business School, Indonesia 10:20 – 10:40 Chance, Yonsei University, Korea 10:40 – 11:00 Break 11:00 – 11:20 Defen Safety Syringe, NationalChengchiUniversity, Taiwan 11:25 – 11:45 Grassroutes, Xavier Institute of Management, India 11:50 – 12:10 Herbel Med, Chiangmai University, Thailand 12:10 – 1:00 Lunch at the Atrium 1:00 – 1:20 Influx, Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand 1:25-1:45 Laborer Express, CEIBS, China 1:50 – 2:10 My NGO, ISB, India 2:10 – 2:30 Break 2:30 – 2:50 Pragati, FMS Delhi, India 2:55 – 3:15 Saksham, ISB, India 3:20 - 3:40 Smart, Thammasat University, Thailand 3:40 – 4:30 High tea 4:30 – 4:50 Results announced by Rabin Dhoble, Director, Helios & Matheson North America, followed by vote of thanks.

How to Submit

• Understand the competition
• Prepare your submission for executive summary round as per the section titled What to Submit -> Executive Summary Round
• Remember to convert all financial numbers to USD and use metric number system
• Submit only one word or pdf document. Combine the Executive Summary and the Resume booklet in one document. Also, bring all the excel sheets, diagrams etc into the same document 
• The file name for the document you submit should be in the following format only “ProjectName_TeamLeaderName_SchoolName”
  (eg: Pathfinder_AnitaReddy_ISB)
• Please submit your entry electronically*. To do so, please download the following PDF How to Submit and follow the given instructions.
  For queries, please contact gsvc@isb.edu. 
  
  *All submissions from Korea should be sent to Social Venture Competition Korea by sending an email to gohoon77@yonsei.ac.kr or siahn@dreamwiz.com
  
  *All submissions from Thailand, Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Indonesia should be sent to Thammasat University 
  ( http://www.bus.tu.ac.th/imba/ ) by sending an email to gsvc.sea@gmail.com
  
  For more information, visit www.gsvc-sea.org

• Executive Summary section, not to exceed 5 pages (typed and double-spaced, 12- pt font, and 1-inch margins on all sides) of text, charts, and diagrams.

• Resume section, wherein each individual’s resume should not exceed 2 pages in length.
  

Your Executive Summary will be used for the preliminary judging round. The preliminary judging round is a means to identify teams who will compete for the Asia final. You will be requested to submit a full business plan only if you are selected for the Asia final.

The following documents should be submitted both in hard copy and electronic versions:

• Executive summary (may not exceed 2 pages in length)
• Business Plan must be limited to 25 pages (typed and double-spaced, #12 font,
  and 1-1-1-1 inch margins) of text, charts, and diagrams, including appendices
  Appendices are limited to 5 pages, which may include detailed spreadsheets
  and other appropriate appendices. Total plan length is no more than 30 pages
• One team resume booklet, wherein each individual’s resume should not exceed
  2 pages in length

Within the financing section of the business plan, entrants must include an explanation of the offering to investors which indicates how much money is required, how it will be used, and how a deal might be structured, i.e., stock, debentures, etc. The team is not required to reveal its desired deal, although the judges may ask questions about it. Also, delineate the possible exit strategies. Detailed financial data should be displayed in spreadsheet form as an appendix. Financial data should include a cash flow statement, income statement, and balance sheet.

Please note that your business plan will be judged not on the length of your submission, but on the overall quality, analysis and presentation of your business opportunity. The page limits will be strictly enforced.

 

Guidelines

Executive summary format
Business plan format
Social impact analysis
Presentation guidelines

Executive summary format (example)

The executive summary should be approximately 1 - 2 pages long when it is sent as part of a complete business plan. GSVC is allowing a slightly longer executive summary (5 page max) for the first judging round- as it is the only document being sent.

I. Business overview

• Company description and business model
• Value proposition- financial
• Value proposition- social or environmental
• Vision
• Current status

• Why is this such a great idea? Describe the pain, define the problem
• Competitive analysis (analysis of the current competition and assessment of
  why the pain or problem is not being solved by them)

• Product(s) or service(s)
• How you will remove the pain, solve the problem
• Unfair competitive advantages, ability to create barriers to entry

• Identification of Customer(s)
• Industry analysis and forecast (Comparative Analysis- for example see     EDGAR on the web www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml. Find a company in a similar space or with similar model and compare their growth rate, etc. to yours)

• Founders and key management
• Industry experience, education
• Board of advisors (Critical to the assessment of the overall viability- Can
  augment team experience if needed)
• Optional: Board of directors (3 required by law, usually not until first round
  of institutional funding in place)

• Narrative overview of financial summary
• Outline overall financial model with basic projections
• Discuss assumptions and capital requirements
• Narrative overview of social/environmental impact summary
• Framework by which you are assessing your impact (see examples
  elsewhere on the competition website)
• Basic projections; discuss assumptions and outcome measurements

Business plan format (example)

The body of the plan must not exceed 25 pages. This does not include financials or other appendices (a.k.a. exhibits). Exhibits must not total more than 5 additional pages for a total of 30 pages. Resumes of the team members and/or advisors are also not included in the page limit restrictions.

I. Executive summary (1 - 2 pages)

• Your business idea or concept
• Your social mission
• The target market and size
• The target customers
• Your competitive advantage
• Barriers to entry
• Estimated year of breakeven profitability
• Estimated quantitative social impact
• Three years of estimated revenues and net income
• Your funding requirements

II. Business overview

• Company description and business model
• Value proposition- financial
• Value proposition- social or environmental
• Vision
• Current status
• Current or committed funding and all funding sources

III. The market opportunity (the problem, the customer's pain)

• Why is this such a great idea? Define the problem, describe the pain
• Competitive analysis (how the problem is not being solved by competitors)

IV. Market solution

• Product or service
• Description of a working model or prototype, if appropriate
• How you will remove the pain, solve the problem
• Ability to create barriers to entry

V. The market

• Identification of customer(s)
• Market size, analysis and forecast
• Industry analysis and forecast

VI. Management team

• Founders and key management
• Industry experience, education
• Board of advisors (Critical- it can augment team experience if needed)
• Optional: Board of directors (3 required by law, usually not needed until first
  round of institutional funding is in place)
• A statement describing level of involvement of MBA student

VII. Financial analysis

• Outline overall financial model with detailed projections through Year 3
• including pro forma cash flow and budget analysis
• Other analysis, as appropriate (i.e. break even analysis)
• Discuss assumptions and capital requirements

VIII. Social/environmental quantitative impact analysis                                         

• Framework by which you are assessing your impact
  (see Social Impact Assessment Guide III)
• You must specifically discuss, where applicable, how you are addressing each
  of the following areas, but your plan does not need to excel in all of the areas
  to be considered:

Community economic development <Community involvement Environmental practices Governance Hiring and workplace practices Sourcing/supply chain

IX. Funding request

Social impact analysis

Details for Social Impact Assessment and Social Impact judging criteria can be found by clicking here.
   
Presentation guidelines

• During the finals, each team will be given 15 minutes to present its business plan followed by a 10 minute question-and-answer session between the presenting  team and the judges. THESE TIME LIMITS WILL BE STRICTLY ENFORCED.
• Only two members of the team may present. The graduate business/management student must be one of the two presenters during the formal presentation of the plan.
• Equipment needs: the presentation room will be set up with a LCD projector and
  screen and microphone. Any additional requirements must be coordinated
  with the school hosting the final three weeks in advance. 

Judging

The Asia round of the GSVC at the ISB involves:
 
Preliminary evaluation: Your executive summary will be used for the preliminary judging round. The preliminary judging round is a means to identify teams who will compete for the Asia final.

Asia final: You will be requested to submit a full business plan only if you are selected for the Asia final. Two teams will be selected from the Asia final for the Global final which will be held at Haas, Berkeley, CA. One team will be nominated for SIA; this team can be one of the 2 selected Global finalists, or it may be a different team. Teams nominated for SIA will be judged virtually by Haas, in advance of the Global final”

Judging criteria                                                                                  

While GSVC is unable to technically “invest” in ventures entering the competition, the panel of judges will consider themselves a panel of investors, and reward the prizes to ventures in which they would most likely invest given the GSVC judging criteria- which will serve as a proxy for investment criteria. Entrants will be exposed to potential investors through the GSVC network.

The judging criteria includes:

Financial return on investment

• Financial viability
• Rigor and validity of FROI calculation

• Reach, depth and quality of social impact
• Venture's potential to meet its social goals i.e. rigor and validity of SIA calculation

Feasibility of business model

• Market opportunity
• Analysis of competitors, suppliers, buyers, & barriers to entry
• Market entry strategy
• Operations plan

Fundability

• Potential for follow-on funding to grow the venture through self-sufficiency or profitability, given current market and capital trends (including opportunities for funding from foundations, social venture funds, angel investors, and venture capitalists)

Scalability

• Market size and growth opportunity
• Potential for business model to be replicated or scaled up (including scalability or both the financial and social goals)

Management team

• Depth of relevant industry/issue experience
• Evidence of previous training in management, leadership, sales, technology, and industry specific skills
• Previous work experience including entrepreneurial experience

Integration of business and social missions

• The integration of the financial and social goals- functionally and organisationally
   

FAQs

 1) What defines a “social venture”?
 

For the competition, a social venture is defined as a business that:

• Plans to be financially sustainable or profitable; whether tax-exempt or not, it must be self-sufficient on its earned revenue

• Has a quantifiable social and/or environmental bottom line incorporated into its mission and practices

2) What does the term ‘Global’ in the GSVC mean, exactly? Should plans have ‘global impact?’

‘Global’ describes the composition of entrants and not the geographic scope of their ventures.  Ventures may target local or global operations, but judges should not attribute greater weight to ventures whose reach is global. Judges should assess a venture’s scalability and fundability, which shows that its model is replicable by others, not reliant upon a particular donor or government, respectively. The management team must also recognize its venture’s scale potential and plan for it.

3) Can one be eliminated from the competition in the executive summary round?

Yes. The executive summary is submitted for evaluation in the preliminary judging round. The preliminary judging round is a means to identify teamsthat will compete for the Asia final    4) How many plans will make it to the final round?

ISB will select two teams for the Global final. In addition, one team will be nominated for SIA; this team can be one of the two selected Global finalists, or it may be a different team. Teams nominated for SIA will be judged virtually by Haas, in advance of the Global final. The Global winner for SIA will be invited to present at the Haas final round.

5) What evaluation criteria will be used?

Please see Judging criteria.6) How does GSVC evaluate not-for-profit social ventures?

The GSVC welcomes both for-profit and not-for-profit business plans, but the majority of plans are for-profit. The GSVC evaluates all ventures on “their ability to self-sustain.” In evaluating non-profits, we do not require a minimum threshold of cost coverage. However, incoming-earning activities should be clearly tied to the non-profit’s social impact and operations. 7) Must the student be an MBA student, or is another master's degree student acceptable?

Each entrant team must include an MBA or equivalent student from any business school in the world, or an individual who has graduated from an MBA or equivalent programme within the past two years, from the date that the plan is first submitted. The MBA or equivalent student must be actively involved in the venture, i.e., actively participating in development of the business plan and presentation, or actively working on the business.8) Must the MBA student be from Haas, London, Yale, ISB or Columbia?

No. Each entrant team must include MBA or equivalent student from any business school in the world or an individual who has graduated from an MBA or equivalent programme within the past two years, from the date that the plan is first submitted.9) How many members can a participating team have?

There is no maximum limit imposed on the number of team members. A team can have as many members as it requires.10) How many teams from one MBA programme may enter?

There are no limits to the number of applicants from a particular school. 11) Can a team enter other business plan competitions?Yes.12) Can ISB students who are competing also help with organising GSVC?

Some ISB students will be involved in the preliminary judging round. ISB students who are involved in judging CANNOT compete in GSVC. ISB students who are competing can only volunteer for marketing and logistics support. Further, ISB student judges are expected to keep confidential the fact that they are judges.  

13) Can I submit my full plan if I don't enter an executive summary? No, you must submit an executive summary. The strongest executive summaries will be invited to submit a full business plan. These ventures will also be matched with a mentor.14) How do I submit an executive summary?

The executive summary must be submitted electronically.
Please see How to Submit.

15) Will I receive feedback?

Teams will receive comments and feedback by e-mail. 16) Is there a calendar of dates/events for the Asia round at ISB?
Yes. Please see Calendar.

17) Which teams are offered mentoring? When does mentoring occur?

Once the preliminary judging round is complete, each team selected to present at the Asia finals will be assigned a mentor. The mentor will work with the teams until the business plans are due for the Asia finals. Once the Asia round is complete, mentors will continue to work with teams that are selected to attend the Global finals.

18) Do you have any information about how to write a business plan?

Yes. Please see Business plan format (example).

19) Does the business plan page restriction (30 pages) include the appendices?

The body of the plan must not exceed 25 pages. This does not include financials or other appendices (a.k.a. exhibits). Exhibits must not total more than 5 additional pages for a total of 30 pages. Resumes of the team members and/or advisors are also not included in the page limit restrictions. Plans that do not conform to the size guidelines in terms of number of pages, font etc will be disqualified from the competition. 

20) Are resumes mandatory for the Advisory board members? No. However, resumes are useful in showing how the advisor’s skills relate to the industry, market, strategy, operations, etc. of the product/service you are pitching. The same might be accomplished with a summary about who the advisors are and how their knowledge is relevant or how it fills gaps on management team.21) Can resumes exceed one page?

Resumes should be limited to two pages per team member. 22) Should there be a link between the discount rates for FROI and SROI?There is no inherent link between SROI and FROI rates, although the business’s fortunes impact both measurements. The SROI discount rate should represent the risk or uncertainty inherent in the assumptions about returns. Please click here for more information on calculating SROI. 
23) What are the rules for presentation during the Asia final?

Only two team members can make the presentation, although the other team members and the faculty audience can be present among the audience. The graduate business / management student must be one of the two presenters. Equipment needs: The presentation room will be set up with a LCD projector and screen and microphone. Any additional requirements must be coordinated with the school hosting the final three weeks in advance.

24) If I am selected for the Global final, do I make edits to my plan between the semi- final and final rounds? Entrants are expected to modify their plans between rounds, although they may not be able to do everything the feedback suggests.

25) Do I need to present my business plan if I make it to the final round?

Yes, you must present your business plan in person to a panel of judges. The dates for the final event are available on the website.

26) What is the Confidentiality and Intellectual Property policy?

• The authors of the business plan will retain all rights to the plan regarding its use at all times prior to and following the competition except as stated below. Due to the nature of the competition, we will not ask judges, reviewers, staff or the audience to agree to or sign non-disclosure statements for any participant.

  All public sessions of the competition, including but not limited to oralpresentations and question/answer sessions, are open to the public at large.
  Any and all of these public sessions may be broadcast to interested persons through media which may include radio, television and the Internet. Any data or
  information discussed or divulged in public sessions by entrants should be considered information that will likely enter the public realm, and entrants should
  not assume any right of confidentiality in any data or information discussed, divulged or presented in these sessions.

• The partner schools of the Global Social Venture Competition and the organizers and/or audiotapes of the presentations including the business plan and other documents, charts or material prepared for use in presentation at the GSVC Competition. Students retain all proprietary rights. GSVC may use the materials in any book or other printed materials and any videotape or other medium that it may produce, provided that any profits earned from the sale of such items is non-exclusive world rights in all languages, and in all media, to use or to publish the materials in any book, other printed materials, videotapes or other medium.

Still have questions?
Contact us at gsvc@isb.edu