Berkley
Center Competition
Awards $50,000 Cash Prize
|
NYU
Stern's 4th annual Maximum Exposure Business Plan Competition
awarded cash prizes totaling $50,000 to the top two teams in the
business plan competition. Princeton Pharmaceutical Research,
a plan to provide high quality, competitively priced contract
research services to biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies,
won the $35,000 first prize. The Canine Experience, which seeks
to create an upscale dog boutique, focused exclusively on smaller
dog breeds, garnered second place and an award of $15,000. The other two finalists in the competition included 88 Watt Inc., a premier specialty light bulb manufacturer, and the National Sports Museum, an interactive museum dedicated to the celebration of sports and their significance in American culture. The four finalists were chosen from 16 teams competing in the semi-final/final competition on April 25. The Maximum Exposure Business Plan Competition, sponsored by the Berkley Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at NYU Stern, is designed to promote the business aspirations of entrepreneurial students and to expose students and their ideas to venture capitalists and other investors. "We are all very excited to receive this prize. It will help take the venture to the next level which includes beta testing the concept and searching for potential investors," said Tim Herpin, who is enrolled in The Langone Program: A Part-time MBA for Working Professionals, and one of the members of the Princeton Pharmaceutical Research team. "The business plan competition has been a unique experience for us. Writing a full-fledged business plan forced us to take a hard look at the business concept from many angles. The feedback we received from the judges during the competition helped us to understand how best to adjust and position our concept." In addition to Mr. Herpin, the Princeton Pharmaceutical Research team included Roman Fleck, MBA '03, Jothi Kesavan and Samuel Ponraj. All team members were students in The Langone Program. This year marked the first time that the competition was opened to Stern alumni. Among the 16 teams competing in the semifinals, nine were composed of students currently enrolled at Stern, five were composed entirely of Stern alumni and two teams were a mix of Stern alumni and current students. Overall, nearly half of the 65 teams entered in the 2003 competition had some form of alumni participation. Judges for the semifinal and final competitions in the Maximum Exposure Business Plan Competition included a distinguished group of business executives led by William R. Berkley, BS '66, Chairman and CEO of the W.R. Berkley Corporation. Mr. Berkley, who founded the Berkley Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at Stern through a generous endowment in 1995, also is Chair of the NYU Stern Board of Overseers and a Trustee of New York University. "We were very pleased by the quality of plans we received and by the excitement the presentations generated among the judges," said Richard J. Miller, Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship and Associate Director of the Berkley Center for Entrepreneurial Studies. "It was particularly gratifying to hear the winning teams acknowledge the role our educational programs have had on the development of their business plans." The Berkley Center for Entrepreneurial Studies is already planning next year's Maximum Exposure Business Plan Competition. Be sure to check the website for dates, to be announced soon. |
