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Guidelines

2015Global James McGuire Business Plan Competition

2015 Global James McGuire Business Plan Competition
Student Guidelines

The 2015 Global James McGuire Business Plan Competition is an internal Laureate International Universities contest to encourage and motivate students to leverage your skills and expertise to create new business ventures.

The competition offers the following benefits:

  • The winning teams of each university will receive an award as defined by their local institution.
  • Up to two representatives from six teams (three undergraduate and three graduate/alumni/working adult finalist teams) will be invited to presenttheir business plans in an interview with James McGuire and other entrepreneurs at the 2015 Laureate Leadership Summit inMiami, Florida in June 2015.
  • The winning team from each of the two categories (undergraduate and graduate/alumni/working adult) will receive a low-interest loan of $50,000 USD for the company proposed in its business plan. The four other finalist teams (two per category) will receive a $5,000 cash award to be distributed evenly among team members.

James H. McGuire

Jim currently assists investors and boards with their portfolio companies, including oversight, directional, transitional and restructuring support. In July of 2008, Jim retired after 16 years in the role of President of NJK Holding Corporation, a private equity firm located in Minneapolis, MN. NJK is a privately-held company whose investments have covered a broad scope of industries including financial services, health care, litigation services, information services, and enterprise software. Prior to NJK, his background included commercial lending with a major Eastern U.S. bank and executive positions, including CEO-level, in the technology and software industry. Jim's career included 12 years with Control Data Corporation where he was a Vice President in the Peripheral Company.

He has served on numerous public and private company boards, including Laureate Education, Inc. and Digital Insight Corporation (Internet Banking-now owned by Intuit). He has chaired both public company audit and compensation committees. Jim currently serves as both chairman and board member for multiple companies. His current board chairman responsibilities include: Averion International Corporation, Southborough, MA and Content Analyst Company, Reston, VA. Jim also sits on the boards of Meritas Family of Schools (Meritas LLC), EVCI Career Colleges Holding Corp., and Integral7, Inc. Jim is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame with a BBA in finance.

According to Douglas Becker, Chairman and CEO of Laureate Education, Inc., “James McGuire has been one of the most important role models and mentors in my career. His leadership and active participation on Laureate's Board of Directors was an important factor in our success and growth. His executive experience spans from large-scale companies to small start ups. All of his experience is matched by his outstanding judgment and absolute integrity. Making him feel proud and living up to his high standards is one of my main personal goals.” To honor James McGuire's service to Laureate's Board of Directors, Mr.Becker created the James McGuire Business Plan Competition in 2007.

Contest Requirements

1)The primary deliverable for the global level of the competition is a business model canvas. Those business model canvasesthat follow the guidelines in Attachment 1 and shouldshow strong potential to be launched within six months of receipt of the loan funds will receive the strongest consideration. This potential can be demonstrated through the development of product prototypes, capital raised or invested to date, patents obtained, and/or a detailed plan that shows strong potential for launch and success. etc.

2)The contest has two categories: 1) traditional undergraduate and 2) graduate/alumni/working adult.Students from any academic area (i.e. business, hospitality, health sciences, etc.) are eligible to compete. To create an equal playing field, teams must be comprised of students in the same category (i.e. undergraduate and graduate/alumni/working adult). Please note: alumni candidates must be graduates from 2014 or 2015.

3)If selected as the winning team and recipient of one of the $50,000 loans from Laureate, the student teams agree to invest or raise matching funds equivalent to the amount of the $50,000 loan.

4) Students from all academic disciplines and specialties under the guidelines specified in the preceding point (#2) may participate in the business plan competition.The teams can include members from diverse academic disciplines and specialties.

5)An individual may not belong to more than one business plan team and must apply under the category that applies to his or her course of study: traditional undergraduate OR graduate/alumni/working adult.

6)Participating students should be in good standing with their home institution.

7)Business plans may be submitted by individuals or groups of any number. Attachment 1 contains a recommended format for preparing the business model canvas.Please note: The canvases and attachments may not exceed twopages. Many members of the review committee may choose not consider any material that falls outside this page limit, which will negatively impact the ranking.

8)Business model canvases shall not explicitly or implicitly propose a business in any of the following areas: toxic or illegal substances or products, firearms or weapons, human trafficking or abuse, intellectual property violations, breach of any laws or regulations, gambling, provision of immoral goods or services, the production or sale of tobacco or its derivatives, production or sale of endangered species protected by the laws of any of the participating countries, and production or sale of goods or services that affect public health. Similarly, they should seek to comply with national legislation on individual, family, environmental, and intellectual property law. Any business model canvas that is determined at any time during the competition to have violated this requirement will be elimintated from the competition.

9)Laureate network institutions will not finance any student or accept any cost incurred by the participants while preparing their business model canvas. However, if the university's team is one of the six finalist teams in the undergraduate and/or alumni/graduate/working adult categories, the institution will pay economy class travel expenses of up to two members only for their interview at the Laureate Leadership Summit in the United States in June 2015.

Phases

Local Selection: A local Selection Committee at each Laureate institution evaluates all plans submitted by students and may select one semi-finalist each for the undergraduate category and one semi-finalist for the graduate/alumni/working adult category. Please note: Participating institutions may also choose to offer the contest in one category only.

Global Selection: Each university will forward its institution's winning undergraduate and / or graduate/working adult business model canvasesin English to the Global Selection Committee, which will select six finalists (three for each category). The Global Selection Committee may request to interview different teams via videoconference before selecting the six finalist teams, should they feel one or more plans warrant additional consideration. The McGuire Competition committee will inform all institutions of the decisions regarding the global round and the finals of the competition. A panel of entrepreneurs, including Mr. James McGuire, will make up the McGuire Competition Jury. They will interview the finalist teams and then select and announce the winner of each of the two categories at the Laureate Leadership Summit in June 2015.

Awards

Local Award:1,000 €for traditional undergraduate team and 1,000 € for graduate/alumni/working adult.

Global Award: Laureate will offer the winning teams of the undergraduate and graduate/working adult categories a US$50,000 loan. The four other finalist teams will receive a $5,000 cash award to be evenly distributed among team members.

Process of Evaluation

1)The Local Selection Committee at each institution is comprised of a team of internal professors and executives. Their functions are listed in the "phases" category, lines a) and b) of this document. Their decisions are final.

2)Global Selection Committees will be comprised of Laureate executives, who will, in turn, select six finalists teams (three for each category). If the Global Selection Committee feels that there are more teams that clearly merit additional consideration, they will have the opportunity to interview one or more teams via videoconference. The McGuire Competition committee will be responsible for informing participating institutions of the outcomes of each round of reviews and will organize video conferences if deemed necessary.

3) The six finalist teams will meet with the McGuire Competition Jury at the 2015 Laureate Leadership Summit. The jury, which is composed of business leaders and entrepreneurs, including Mr. James McGuire, will interview the student teams and select the winners of each of the two categories.

3)The Local and Global Selection Committees are the final authorities of the competition in their respective levels of the competition. Their decisions are final.

4)The Local and Global Selection Committee, as well the panel of entrepreneurs, will reach their decisions based on the information contained in each business model canvas.

5)The Committees and Panel of Entrepreneurs are empowered to:

  • Interpret the Guidelines.
  • Select the winners of the 2015Global James McGuire Business Plan Competition, according to their own judgment.
  • Act as it sees fit to fulfill its duties.

6)The quorum for Committees and Panel will be a simple majority of members. Decisions will be taken by simple majority of the current members. In the event of a tie, the Chair will cast the deciding vote.

7)The author(s) of the business plan shall retain all intellectual property rights to their document. Laureate shall be entitled to use information on the business plans exclusively for statistical or promotional purposes.

8)Laureate shall ensure that all members of the Local and Global Selection Committees and Panels sign and accept a confidentiality agreement covering the content of the business plans.

9)The business plans shall be presented by a date determined by the local university.

Important dates:

  • Date of submission of the Business Plan to the School Administrator of the Business School: 2 February 2015
  • Date of presentation of the Business Plan: 13 February 2015

10)Each university will present its winning team's application in English to the Global Selection Committee byFebruary 27, 2015. Winning finalists will be informed of the committee’s decision by April 10, 2015

11)By enrolling, participants register their unconditional acceptance of these guidelines, as well as the decisions taken by the Committees and Panel. All student teams that reach the finals, and their home universities, agree to to arrive and depart the Leadership Summit as requested by the McGuire Competition Committee. The student teams that reach the finals and their home universities will be expected to follow the agenda established by the committee. The student teams and their home universities understand that the finals of the competition are conducted in English.

Attachment 1: Format for the business model canvas

Please note: Business model canvases should be no longer than twopages in length, written in English and in Arial or Times New Roman Font Size 12.A great framework for a business canvas model can be located at:

A business model defines how a business can be created and how it will deliver value. The objective is to identify cleary identify a problem and then present potential solutions with a short term and long term action plan.There are three excellent sources for information on developing a business model canvas:

  1. The Laureate Network Products and Services group has developed a course on Entrepreneurship that describes the process of developing
  2. Steve Blank from Stanford University in the United States developed a free online course on the business model canvas:
  3. Another link that includes details on the methodology can be located at:

The business model canvas contains seven different elements:

  1. Client summary – who is the product or service designed for? What are the characteristics of the customer?
  2. Type of market: will it focus on selling directly to customers (B to C) or will the company sell to other companies (B to B).
  3. Client segmentation: characteristics, purchase habits, behavior and requirements
  4. Segment selection: based on the most needed elements for the benefit of the product or service
  5. Confirm segment: What is the size of the segment, how easy is it to address,
  6. Value proposition – what, in the eyes of the client, will the product or service do for the client?
  7. Identify the unmet or under-served needs of the selected segment
  8. Developing an understanding of the value of the proposed product or service
  9. What are the benefits of the product or service
  10. What are the best ways to communicate the benefits of the product or service
  11. Client relationship model – What activities will the company use to interact with clients during the purchase and post-purchase process?
  12. Identify the objectives at each part of the purchase process (consideration, evaluation, purchase, developing loyalty)
  13. Define the principal activities that must be undertaken at each step of the process
  14. Selection of the ideal communication channels
  1. Product or service development – how will the company build and develop the proposed product or service?
  2. What are the primary gross materials required to build the product or service?
  3. How will you obtain these resources and continue to obtain these resources?
  4. How will you set a competitive price, based on the market and customers? Some options include cost based, market based or based on the perceived value to the client.
  5. Operational model – What are the key activities of the company and the primary resources needed to carry out these activities?
  6. What activites are necessary for your company to deliver its primary products or services? Some options include innovation, operations (planning, productivity, etc), marketing, client services or sales.
  7. What resources are needed in the development of the product or service? Could include physical resources (machinery, vechicles, real estate, etc.), intellectual property, human resources and financial resouces.
  8. Partnerships – What partners (individuals or companies) will collaborate in the delivery of the products or services?
  9. How important are partners to carry out those activities that you cannot or are not well positioned to deliver?
  10. Who are these potential partners?
  11. What are the benefits and disadvantages of each of the potential partnerships?
  12. Costs – What are the key cost drivers of the business?
  13. How will you organize the key activities and obtain the key resources needed by your company?
  14. Centralized or de-centralized management
  15. How will marketing and communications be carried out?
  16. How will you manage costs and remain competitive?

Student Guidelines | 1