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@InnovationACT.

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What will this program teach me?
Am I eligible to take part in the program?
Do I need an idea to take part?
Do I need a team to take part?
Let’s get down to business, how much money can I win?
What is this ‘development funding’ you keep mentioning?
OK, sounds good, how do I register?
I have a huge idea, but I’m worried about it being stolen throughout the competition. What can I do?
How much work and time will the competition take up?
I heard I can get a mentor, how does that work?
My idea isn’t a technical invention, can I still enter it in IACT?

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What will this program teach me?

As a participant in the program you will learn (in roughly chronological order):

how the entrepreneurial game is played, from startup, through fundraising and growth all the way to exit.
how to network, build rapport and persuade people.
to work together in a team.
the process of not only coming up with ideas for businesses, but learning how to screen these ideas so you don’t
waste time on ideas that can’t work.
to pitch your ideas to investors, business people, academics, industry leaders, etc.
to identify legal issues like IP, and how to get help with them.
how to calculate the economics of the new venture.
how to market the new venture.
how to write a business plan that will be used to secure funding.

Am I eligible to take part in the program?

Participation and attendance of IACT seminars, workshops, camps, challenges or online discussions is open to anyone in the ANU or UC communities. That includes but is not limited to current students, alumni and staff. If you want to be eligible for prizes however you need to form a team consisting only of

students of ANU and UC

alumni of ANU and UC who graduated no earlier than 24 months before the start of the competition.
staff of ANU and UC

However, there are limitations that you’ll need to note.

To be considered an undergraduate team the team must be at least ⅔ made up of undergraduate students
A team cannot be completely composed of alumni and/or staff. Every team must have at least one student who is an active member of the team throughout the competition.
A team cannot compete with an idea that has already won a major prize in a previous InnovationACT.

Do I need an idea to take part?

No, you don’t need an idea to take part. If you don’t, we’ll be encouraging and helping you to either join a team that already has an idea but needs more help, or you can create a new team and come up with a new idea during the competition. There will be plenty of opportunities for that because a good fraction of the competition is about how to find, identify and test an idea.

If you really want, you can just turn up to all the activities without a team and without creating and developing an idea, but that won’t be much fun.

If you already have an idea, then great! Most likely your idea will evolve as you learn in the competition, and the idea generating and vetting part of the competition will make your idea stronger.

Do I need a team to take part?

You do not need to have a team to participate. You’ll get the most out of the program though if you’re part of a team. That’s why we have activities and workshops to help you find one.

If you have a team already, your team is welcome to participate. But make sure you team satisfies the [criteria] above.

Let’s get down to business, how much money can I win?

There are $45,000 worth of prizes to be won. Here is the list of the major prizes

First prize: $25,000 ($10,000 cash + $15,000 [development funding])
Best undergraduate entry: $10,000 cash (can be won by the same team as the First Prize)
Runner-up: $5,000 cash

That still leaves $5,000 in prizes that will be given away during the competition through mini competitions, challenges, etc.

What is this ‘development funding’ you keep mentioning?

Well, it wouldn’t be very responsible of us to give you a huge wad of cash so you can blow it all on cocktails in Ibiza, would it?. To ensure the winners get the most out of their prize, a fraction of the major prize will be ‘development funding’. This money is not given up front to the IACT winner, but instead is only released after application to and approval from the ANU Office of Commercialisation for:

personal development and training for the team members, and/or
further development of the venture.

On the plus side, you’re free to be “creative” with what you propose as good for your development. All development funding needs to be claimed within 12 months, any money not claimed within this time is foregone by the winner.

This ensures the winners benefit personally beyond the frisson of pleasure cash can provide, and can help continue the venture if the team so chooses.

OK, sounds good, how do I register?

Actual formal registration that your team wants to take part in the competition happens later in the program. This waits until everyone is sure they want to contribute and waits until the teams have gone through the process of being formed. This formal registration will occur during workshop 2 on the 31st August.

However, individual events should be RSVPed so we have an idea for catering, transport, etc. The events are some way off still, so calls for RSVPs will happen later. To ensure you don’t miss out, sign up to our mailing list here.

I have a huge idea, but I’m worried about it being stolen throughout the competition. What can I do?

This is a hard one. By the very nature of the competition, the general idea (as opposed to specifics) must be made public to the other competitors and by extension potentially everyone else. This is not the same as disclosing your Intellectual Property though, which you’re free to protect however you choose (we’ll help you with that). There are a few things to note though

If you’re serious about the idea, at some point you’re going to have to tell either potential partners, customers or investors about it. If you can’t do that, how do you think you’re going to get supporters, feedback or funding? This competition is a great chance to learn how to build and recognise the necessary trust you’ll need and how to talk about your idea without “giving the game away”.
The pitches and parts of the training sessions will be recorded so there will be some proof that the idea is yours.
You will learn about non-disclosure agreements and we can help you get one organised within your team.

But all these things above are in no way guarantees that your idea will be ‘safe’. Basically the reason for this is that there is no way to guarantee that your idea will be safe. If you are nervous about this, keep this in mind:

There is a small chance (1%) that your idea will be stolen and someone else will make millions. There is a 100% chance that the people you meet and the lessons you learn in this competition will improve your idea and make it more successful. You do the math.

How much work and time will the competition take up?

The competition runs from Aug 17th until Nov 12th, 2011. This is:

for ANU students, semester 2: weeks 4 til 13
for UC students semester 2: weeks 1 til 11.

You can see the [event schedule] for more information about specific events. Just quickly there will be four non-compulsory seminars, each taking an hour on a Wednesday night. There will be three workshops each about two hours long (also Wednesdays) and two day-camps, about five hours long both on a Saturday. If you want your team to be eligible for the prizes, you’ll need at least one member at each of the workshops and camps.

There are plans to run challenges between some events. These would each probably take four or so hours of your time each. These challenges are voluntary, but there are prizes involved.

The most time consuming part will be writing the business plan. Near the end of the competition each team will write a business plan of less than 20 pages. If you want to do this well, you’ll need to actually go out and doing market research, get in touch with other organisations, etc.

If you have read this far you’ll realise the competition is a bit of work, rest assured though you will learn more than you think. There is a minimum amount of work you can do to be in the running for the big prizes, but you’ll only get out what you put in. This competition has changed people’s lives in the past. How will you approach it?

I heard I can get a mentor, how does that work?

Perhaps the most valuable part of involvement in InnovationACT is that each team will be put in contact with a mentor. The mentor will be an expert from an area relevant to your idea. The role of the mentor is to provide guidance to a team and help the team along the way.

In the past, mentors and team members have often kept in touch and the relationship has gone on to help all parties long after the competition has ended.

My idea isn’t a technical invention, can I still enter it in IACT?

Absolutely. One may be excused for thinking that only engineers and geneticists would win the competition because they tend to come up with inventions and improvements in efficiency for industry. More and more however we are seeing ideas make a difference that are web-based, social and frankly unprecedented. Also, if you think about it, more than half of the brain power at university does not revolve around the technical.

Here are some non-technical ideas that made it to InnovationACT in the past, to give you an idea of the possibilities

A venture that helps people find venues in your city that are accessible to people with disabilities (Greatvenue)
A smartphone program to help individuals offer and accept favours in their neighbourhood
A website allowing people who live near congested cities to sell space on their lawns as parking