Opportunity brief
Guidelines
- Event Type: Startup Simulation / Entrepreneurship and Leadership Challenge.
- Eligibility: Open to UG and PG students from all departments and years.
- Team Size: Each team must consist of 2–4 members.
- Inter-College Teams: Inter-college teams are allowed, as the event is part of an inter-college fest.
- Inter-Specialization Teams: Students from different branches, specializations and academic backgrounds may form a team. Cross-disciplinary teams are encouraged.
- Number of Rounds: The competition consists of 2 connected rounds.
- Total Event Duration: The official format lists a duration of 2 hours 15 minutes.
- Maximum Capacity: The event is limited to 25 teams.
- Registration Fee: ₹200 per team, paid online by the team lead. Registration is subject to organiser approval.
- Prior Experience: No prior startup experience is required.
- Preparation: The startup concept, branding and strategic decisions must be developed during the event. Participants should not prepare the complete solution in advance.
Round 1 – Startup Creation & Venture Building
- Each team will receive a startup problem statement/problem card during the event.
- Teams must build a startup venture around the given problem within the allotted time.
- The team must develop the startup concept from scratch during the competition.
- The venture should include:
- Startup name
- Business/venture concept
- Logo and brand identity
- Market positioning
- Target audience
- Basic strategy for addressing the given problem
- Teams must demonstrate innovation, practical thinking, branding ability and leadership.
- The startup created in Round 1 will form the basis for the team's performance in the final round.
- Judges will evaluate the teams and shortlist participants for Round 2.
Round 2 – Crisis Challenge & Investor Pitch
- Shortlisted teams will receive a live crisis/twist related to the startup they created in Round 1.
- Teams must adapt their existing strategy in response to the new situation.
- Participants must demonstrate their ability to make decisions under time pressure and modify their business strategy appropriately.
- Teams will then present their complete startup journey to an investor-style judging panel.
- Each team will receive 8 minutes for the final pitch.
- The pitch will be followed by 2 minutes of questions from the judges.
- The judging panel may question teams regarding:
- Feasibility
- Scalability
- Financial sustainability
- Innovation
- Branding
- Adaptability to the crisis
- Leadership and decision-making
- Teams must be able to defend the decisions made during both rounds.
Rules
- Each team must consist of 2–4 members.
- All team members must be properly registered for the event.
- A participant should not be registered as a member of multiple teams for the same competition.
- Teams must develop their startup concept during the event.
- Participants must not bring a completely prepared startup solution, presentation or branding package to the competition.
- The problem statement/problem card provided by the organisers must be used as the basis for the startup developed in Round 1.
- Teams must complete the required startup development within the time allotted by the organisers.
- The startup created in Round 1 must remain the basis for the team's Round 2 challenge and final pitch.
- Teams must respond to the crisis/twist introduced by the organisers during Round 2 rather than replacing the entire concept without justification.
- The final pitch must be completed within the allotted 8-minute presentation time.
- The subsequent 2-minute Q&A must be used to answer questions from the judging panel.
- Teams must be prepared to justify their business model, target audience, positioning, strategic decisions, feasibility and financial sustainability.
- Plagiarism, copying another team's concept or using another team's work as one's own is prohibited.
- Any form of unfair assistance, impersonation, misrepresentation or malpractice may result in disqualification.
- Participants must maintain professional conduct and follow the instructions of the organisers and judges.
- Teams must report to the designated venue at the time specified by the organisers.
- Participants must comply with all time limits. Late submissions or presentations may be subject to penalties or disqualification as decided by the organisers.
- The decision of the judging panel regarding evaluation and qualification will be final, subject to the organisers' event procedures.
- The organisers reserve the right to make necessary changes to the schedule or event procedure in case of unforeseen circumstances.
- Any violation of the event rules may result in a warning, penalty or disqualification.
Event Format
- Round 1: Startup Creation & Venture Building
- Round 2: Crisis Challenge & Investor Pitch
- Team Size: 2–4 members
- Final Pitch: 8 minutes
- Q&A: 2 minutes
- Total Event Duration: 2 hours 15 minutes
- Maximum Capacity: 25 teams
- Eligibility: UG & PG students – all departments and years
- Event Type: Non-technical Startup Simulation