by Jeremy Hunt
Daily Lobo
The Anderson Schools of Management kicked off the second Technology Business Plan Competition on Tuesday in the SUB.
The competition has a top prize of $25,000. The second-place team gets $10,000 and the third-place team, $5,000.
The competition is open to UNM students. The deadline to apply is Nov. 15.
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For the competition, students write a business plan and present it to be judged by two panels composed of venture capitalists, said Charles Crespy, dean of the Anderson Schools of
Management.
The plans are judged on their potential for profit and ability to remain competitive in the market, Crespy said.
The competition is funded by donations from a variety of public and private entities, Crespy said.
Students Ryan Smith and Scott Lovald founded Satyrne Biotechnologies, which won last year's competition.
The company has prototypes and patents pending for its products, which it will market as kits for internal surgery on fractured jaws, according to its
proposal.
Smith said Satyrne Biotechnologies would not exist if not for the competition.
"Winning the business plan competition was absolutely key to starting our business," he said. "If we had not won, no doubt in my mind, our business would have folded. We would have never gone through with it."
Smith said the competition opened doors for his business to grow by giving recognition and connections in the business
community and providing $25,000, which it has used for patents and prototypes.
"It (the competition) has pushed us up to that next level that you need in order to start a viable business," he said.
Crespy said the competition is an important part of the University's commitment to economic development.
"The technology business plans that are presented today will become the businesses of tomorrow," he said. "The purpose (of the competition) is to help these students turn their dreams into reality."
