Daily Lobo Staff Reportˇ
The UNM Technology Business Plan Competition begins today with a reception from 4 to 6 p.m. in the Paul R. Jackson Student Center in the Anderson School of Management.
Students with common interests should attend to create teams and vie for the $25,000 prize, said Leslie Venzuela, spokeswoman for the Anderson School of Management.
The competition is open to all students enrolled in at least one course for the fall or spring semesters, she said.
Teams will create a business plan for a technological product, developed either at UNM, Los Alamos or Sandia national laboratories, or any other participating businesses. Team members can then assess the product's market potential.
Venzuela said the student teams will help product creators come up with a marketing strategy.
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"This team will go in and take that product and build a whole business plan around it," Venzuela said. "Scientists, sometimes they are into their research and they don't know how to exactly get their idea out to the masses. These students come in and say, 'You have a great product; let us help you get the word out about it. We will show you how you can market this item.'"
On April 3, the teams will present their plans to a panel of judges that will include entrepreneurs and venture capitalists.
Ten teams competed in the competition last year, but the coordinators are expecting more teams to participate this year, Venzuela said.
The winning teams can take their prize money back to the business they created and try to make it grow, Venzuela said.
The first prize winner will receive the Michael Gallegos Prize for Entrepreneurship of $25,000. Second prize winners will be awarded the TVC Lockheed Martin Prize of $10,000, and third prize winners will receive the vSpring Capital Prize of $5,000.
Teams that don't win a prize are eligible for Potential Seed Funding, money provided by local businesses to follow through with a business plan.
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