1ST FICOD 09 ENTREPRENEUR COMPETITION
FICOD invites all entrepreneurs from the digital content industry to participate in its first entrepreneur competition, to be held in October and November 2009. The aim of this competition is to promote investment in the digital content-based industry.
This is a great opportunity for entrepreneurs like you to share your ideas with investors and experts from Silicon Valley, Boston, and other areas of innovation around the globe. By participating in this competition you will receive useful and valuable feedback from our recognised group of judges and be able to create a video on your idea/company, which you will later be able to use for promotional purposes.
Competition finalists will have the chance to personally meet frontline investors, they will have a stand at the forum and there will also be cash and service prizes for the three projects that receive the most votes.
So, what do you need to do to take part? You simply need to create a video in which you clearly and concisely explain your idea/project in 90 seconds (elevator pitch). Don't forget to visit this page because we will soon be publishing the terms and conditions, dates for free training sessions and video recordings, the evaluation criteria and the names of the judges and investors.
If you have any queries, please get in touch with us at [email protected]
Legal Terms and Conditions
1st Ficod 09 Entrepreneur Competition
Thank you for your interest in the Ficod 09 Entrepreneur Competition
The aim of this competition is to promote investment in digital content-based businesses.
This is a great opportunity for entrepreneurs to share their innovative ideas with investors and experts from the digital content industry in Silicon Valley, Boston, and other areas of innovation around the globe. By participating in this competition you will receive highly valuable feedback on your idea from our recognised group of judges and be able to create a video on your project for future personal use. What's more, the finalists will have the opportunity of sitting down with top line investors, and the three most voted projects will receive cash prizes and free services. What do you need to do to register? Simply record a 90 second video in English (an “Elevator Pitch”) giving a clear, concise summary of your idea.
Important dates:
- Wednesday 21 October – Competition's official opening date.
- Friday 13 November – Deadline for entries. All videos must be sent before 11:59 PM (GMT+01:00).
- Monday 16 November – The finalists will be announced.
- Thursday 19 November – At FICOD: Final round of the competition and investment forum.
Recordings:
A team from Ficod will record the projects in specific cities on set dates. This section will be updated with information on places, dates and how to register as the schedules are confirmed.
Investment forum:
After the final round there will be an investment forum in which the finalist teams will have the opportunity to personally present their proposals to investors from different parts of the world, above all the United States.
Judges and investors:
Many thanks to all the judges and investors who have contributed to make the Ficod 09 Entrepreneur Competition happen.
Prizes:
All the teams will receive valuable feedback from the prestigious panel of judges and training to produce a video in elevator pitch format, which they can use once Ficod09 is over.
The competition finalists will have the opportunity of sitting down with a group of investors from around the world - mainly from the USA - to present their projects.
Other prizes: the three projects that receive the highest score in the final competition will receive an additional prize, yet to be confirmed.
For further information on how to register, please follow the instructions below or write to us at [email protected]. You can also see our instructions on producing an effective elevator pitch.
Registration requirements
To participate in the Ficod09 Entrepreneur Competition (hereafter referred to as "the Competition”):
- 1.You may enter either as an individual or as part of a team (hereafter referred to as "the team").
- 2.Entrants must be legal entities or individuals over 18 years of age with independent legal status and full capacity to act.
- 3.All members of the team must reside within a jurisdiction where the Competition and the Competition projects are not prohibited.
- 4.The required material must be submitted in English. However, the owner of the project may assign another person to record the elevator pitch speech for them.
- 5.The project must be for an idea, a start-up or a company in the field of digital content.
- 6.All material submitted must belong entirely to the team that submits it or to a member of this team. It must be free from any associations or obligations of any kind that could restrict the team's capacity to use it.
- 7.The teams must, at all times, remain authorised to participate in the competition. The teams must duly notify the Competition organisers of any changes that may affect their suitability to participate.
- 8.The finalist teams, or at least one member from each team, must be present at the final round of the competition to appear before the judges and the panel of investors. This will be on 19 November.
Instructions for the Competition
- 1. Record your Elevator Pitch on video.
- a. Your presentation must last no longer than 90 seconds and must be recorded in a quiet, well lit location. Only the entrepreneur must feature in the video (with no editing of extra images or slides). Additionally, the team may show a prototype if applicable.
- 2. Upload your video on YouTube and save the url for step 3.
- a. Go to your YouTube account or, if you do not have one, create a new one. You will find instructions on how to do this on YouTube's Help page.
- b. Upload your video following the instructions in this link YouTube's Help page.
- c. Save your video's url so you can enter it when you register on YouNoodle.
- 3. Send your video to YouNoodle.
- a. Go to www.younoodle.com/groups/ficod09.
- b. Under the competition logo in the top right hand corner, you will find a green button that says "Submit an entry”. Click on this button to start the registration process.
- c. Fill in the spaces with your name, e-mail, password, and a title (we recommend that you select “Entrepreneur"). Click on the green “Go” button at the bottom of the screen.
- d. On the next screen you can upload your CV. The information you give here will be available to all YouNoodle users, so you may wish to skip this step.
- e. On the next screen you will be asked to type in your e-mail and password for your personal account. This information is used to check if any of your contacts are already registered on YouNoodle. You can also skip this part if you want to.
- f. Fill in the registration form. IMPORTANT: For “Link to YouTube Video”, please paste in the url of your YouTube video that you were given in step 2. Where it says “Public one-liner”, type in a sentence describing your project and please give as complete information as possible on your website and contact details. Make sure you accept the Terms of Service and click on “Next.”
- g. That's it! Registration is complete. Thank you for sending your information. We will notify you through our website if you are a finalist in our competition.
- 3. Send your video to YouNoodle.
- Each team has sole responsibility for ensuring and protecting their intellectual property rights. Please seek advice on protecting any intellectual property that the team may have before entering the competition.
- 2.The judges ("Selection Committee"), the Organiser and the investors taking part in the forum will not be asked to sign any kind of confidentiality agreement.
- 3.On entering the Competition, each team grants the Organiser and the Selection Committee licence to access the materials and documentation submitted and to use these publicly during the competition for publicity purposes. Except where prohibited, by choosing to participate in the competition, each team grants the Organiser permission to use their names, information about the team's project and information on the prize in publicity, world-wide and without any form of compensation or prior review, except where prohibited by law.
- 4.All entries must be original versions produced by the team. This material must not breach the intellectual property laws or any other legal or moral right of any person or entity, regulation or agreement. The Organiser will not check whether entries breach laws but if a team is found to be in breach of a law, the Organiser has the option of disqualifying said team.
- 1.The Organiser reserves the right to change the dates of the competition for any reason at its total discretion and within a period of 30 days.
- 2.The Organiser reserves the right to disqualify or prohibit participation in the Competition of any team submitting material that does not correspond to the terms and conditions and which is not in keeping with the spirit of the Competition.
- 3.By participating in the Competition, each team accepts the terms and conditions of the competition and accepts any decision reached by the Organisers and Selection Committee as final, including the choice of winners. The team also accepts that the interpretation of any ambiguity or error in the terms and conditions of the competition, or the competition itself, will be fully resolved by the Organiser. Upon acceptance of the prize, the team releases the Organiser, including affiliate entities, their respective directors, employees, license holders and agents, promotion entities or any person associated with the production, selection or administration of the competition, from any liability for loss or damage caused by, or relating to the prize or misuse of the prize.
- 4.Upon participation, candidates accept that the Organiser, their representatives, affiliates, publicity, agencies and legal advisers, are not liable for: (i) technical problems with telephones, hardware, electronic equipment, software, (ii) any condition caused by events beyond the control of the Organiser that may cause the Competition to become corrupted, (iii) any printing or typographical errors in material associated with the Competition, (iv) any loss, damage, claims or actions of any kind relating to participation in the Competition, or acceptance of the prize, including, but not limited to, claims in relation to publicity rights, defamation or invasion of privacy. The Organiser accepts no responsibility for entries that are not made appropriately within the registration period. The Organiser reserves the right to suspend or cancel the Competition at any time if a virus or technical problem compromises the security or the administration of the Competition. All issues relating to the construction, validation and interpretation of the Competition Terms, or the rights and obligations of the participants and the Organiser in connection with the Competition, shall be governed by and constructed in accordance with Spanish law, annulling any choice of law, or conflict between laws or provisions that may be caused by the application of the law of any jurisdiction other than that of Spain.
Evaluation criteria
The jury's decision will be based on two basic questions: "Would you be interested in meeting up with this team of entrepreneurs in person?" and "Would you invest in this project taking into consideration the risk/reward ratio?" For this reason, the evaluation criteria are based on the following points: Potential: The commercial potential of the business. Businesses aimed at growth will be viewed more positively.
Degree of innovation: The innovative nature of the idea and its viability.
Sustainable success: The chances of the business described in the plan being sustainable and competitive.
Team: The credibility of the individuals who make up the project.
Note: Less attention will be paid to the quality of the pitch with regard to pronunciation or grammar given that English is not the candidates' mother tongue.
Confidentiality and intellectual propertyTerms and conditions
Note: If you wish for your video to remain private or you have any questions, please write to us at [email protected].
