| This year’s Women 2.0 Conference and Pitch Night is coming soon — and it will be bigger and better than last year’s sold-out Pitch Night 2007! | |
 The Competition How to Submit Eligibility and Rules Frequently Asked Questions The Judging Panel
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Women 2.0 Business Plan Competition
Applying companies must be in concept or beta-stage and have not received significant funding. Submissions are accepted worldwide.*
Ask yourself “Is this a fundable venture?” Eligible teams have at least 50% female ownership and are invited to submit their business ideas not only via a business plan but a 7×7 inch paper napkin. Selected finalists will pitch in front of a judging panel and live audience at the Women 2.0 Conference and Pitch Night on May 10th for a chance to win one-on-one meetings with some of the top venture capital investment firms in the world. Previous year’s prizes were meetings with Michael Mortiz, Sequoia Capital and Tim Draper, Draper Fisher Jurvetson. This year, prizes include a meeting with Esther Dyson.
How to Submit - Deadline to Apply is April 15, 2008
The Women 2.0 Business Plan Competition submission consists of 2 parts:
- Business Plan (Apply here)
You will be asked questions about your business and to submit a financial plan. You may preview the submission form here. If you would like to update your application after you have submitted, you may edit your application anytime prior to the closing date of April 15, 2008. 
Paper Napkin (7×7 inches max.)
Submit your business idea on a paper napkin no larger than 7×7 inches. Make sure your name and contact info is on the napkin so we can match it with your online application. Napkins will be exhibited to the public at the conference. If you do not wish to participate in the exhibition, please state on the napkin. By default, your napkin will be exhibited. Napkins must be received by us no later than April 15, 2008 to 63 Bovet Road, #519, San Mateo, CA 94402
Semi-finalists will be notified by April 17, 2008 and are required to submit a PowerPoint presentation and a 2 minute video pitch by April 21, 2008. Finalists will be notified by May 2, 2008 and will pitch to a live audience and a judging panel consisting of venture capitalists, seasoned entrepreneurs, and successful women executives at the Women 2.0 Conference and Pitch Night on May 10, 2008. If you are selected as a finalist, the entire team must be present.
Why should I apply?
You have an idea of how to change the world – it’s a pretty great business idea but you have not really tested it out or maybe you already have a beta out. You are driven and curious to know what investors and other entrepreneurs think of this idea. You are eager and keen to seek feedback. You are now looking for more ways to improve your idea to take it to market. You are smart, ambitious, and excited to make a change in the world with your idea. All submissions will receive written feedback from judges
Eligibility and Rules - Women 2.0 Business Plan Competition
The business plan must represent the original work of members of the team. You can submit as many business ideas on napkins and online applications as you want. You may have a team of up to SIX individuals. At least half of the team must be female or the majority shareholder must be a female — this is a Women 2.0 production after all! Submissions that do not adhere to the submission process and rules will be disqualified.
We accept business ideas that are in concept stage or in beta launch only. The competition is for new, independent ventures in the seed, start-up, or early stage. Pitch 2008 is intended for growth companies and the judging panel will ask “Is this a fundable venture?”. Generally excluded are the following: buy-outs, expansions of existing companies, real estate syndications, tax shelters, franchises, licensing agreements for distribution in a different geographical area, and spin-outs from existing corporations. As if you’d be silly enough to submit that anyway.
The submission process utilizes Angelsoft, the industry standard to manage deal flows. By submitting your business plan, you are agreeing to the Terms of Service for the Angelsoft platform and agree to be bound by the terms described in the Angelsoft Privacy Policy.
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
These are some commonly asked questions. If you still have questions after reading this, email us.
» Who is eligible to apply?
Any team that is at least 50% female or with a majority female shareholder is eligible to apply. There is no age limit. Submissions accepted worldwide.
*If you are selected as a finalist the entire team must be present on May 10, 2008 at the Women 2.0 Conference and Pitch Night to provide a pitch to the live judging panel and audience. The winner will be selected on that day.
» What kind of business idea can I submit?
Anything you like! Last year, we received submissions in consumer technology, wireless, Internet, biotech, social development, and retail sectors. The judging panel will review the submissions and ask “Is this a fundable venture?”. Generally excluded are buy-outs, expansion of existing companies, real estate syndications, tax shelters, franchises, licensing agreements and spinouts from existing corporations.
» Can I submit more than one idea?
You can submit as many ideas as you’d like, but you will have to complete a separate application form and a napkin for each idea.
» What is the maximum team size?
The minimum team size is one and the maximum team size is six.
» What stage of business do I have to be in?
We are accepting business ideas in the concept phase or beta launch phase only.
» Who will be evaluating my idea?
The judges consist of VCs, angel investors, and seasoned entrepreneurs. (See bios)
» What kind of questions should I prepare for?
You can preview the submission form questions here. Most importantly, ask yourself “Is this a fundable venture?”
» Is there a fee to apply?
There is no cost to apply.
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Judges for the Women 2.0 Business Plan Competition
Alka Gupta (Managing Director, The Ojas Group)
Alka is veteran of and has strong interest in the digital consumer media and internet services space. While serving as an advisor to and board member for startups in this space, she is also the former Vice President of Corporate Development at Lycos and founding member of the company’s Community and Communications products team. Alka holds a B.S. (cum laude) from Case Western Reserve University and MBA from Wharton.
Alyssa Rapp (Founder and CEO, Bottlenotes)
Alyssa is the Founder and CEO of Bottlenotes, Inc., a customized wine club service, wine retail website, and wine special events firm. She previously served as the sales/marketing manager for RO Imports, an importer of boutique New Zealand wines in New York and co-presided over a 500-person wine club at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business. Alyssa priorly served as the National Finance Director for Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky’s re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2002 election cycle, raising over $1 million. She serves on the Board of Trustees for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. Alyssa co-resides in Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area but greatly enjoys traveling around the world in search of today’s best wines. Alyssa earned a B.A. in Political Science and the History of Art from Yale University in 2000 and an MBA from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business in 2005.
Angela Strange (Senior Associate Partner, Bay Partners)
Angela is a Senior Associate Partner at Bay. Prior to Bay, Angela worked at Mercer Management Consulting, where she focused on strategic and operational issues in the technology practice. While at Mercer, Angela won several marathons and achieved a seventh place national ranking in Canada. She spent two years training as a professional athlete. Angela has also worked at Nike, where she assisted in developing the product and go-to-market strategy of a new footwear category. While pursuing her MBA at Stanford, Angela helped to develop curriculum for a new course on Women in Entrepreneurship, and served on the Board of StartUP, a nonprofit organization supporting entrepreneurs in East Palo Alto. Angela rceived her B.Sc. from Queen’s University and an MBA from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business.
Anurag Nigam (CEO & Founder, Surfiing.com; Board Member, Sand Hill Angels)
Anu is an active angel investor and serial entrepreneur. He is currently the CEO of Surfiing.com, his 6th startup in the last 12 years being a founder in the past at hi5.com, 411Sync, Cerent (Cisco), and Siara (Redback). Anurag is on the Board of Directors and leads the Screening Team at the Sand Hill Angels, a group of 50 accredited technology angels who are entrepreneurs, executives and venture capitalist. He has invested in over 20 startups and is always looking to meet more. Anu is active in the non-profit and social enterprise space being on the board of the Zero Divide Foundation and Friends of the Urban Forest. He is an advisor to TakingITGlobal.org, YouthRadio and 2 social enterprises. Anu is a graduate from Carnegie Mellon University in Computer & Electrical Engineering.
Chris Shipley (Co-Founder and Chairman, Guidewire Group)
Chris is a leading technology and product analyst. Best known as the executive producer of the DEMO Conferences for IDG Executive Forums, Chris has helped technology companies bring over 1,000 new products to market since 1996. As a founding partner and Global Research Director of Guidewire Group, she analyzes emerging technology companies around the world to identify market opportunities and accelerate products to market. Fortune Small Business Magazine placed Chris on its “Top 10 Minds in Small Business,” and the San Jose Business Journal named her a “Woman of Distinction.” She has often been cited as a leading influencer by Marketing Computers magazine. Chris has covered personal technology since 1984 and has worked as a writer and editor for a variety of technology and consumer media. She is currently working on a book on the social impact of technology-driven change. Chris holds B.A. degrees in Literature and Communication Arts and pursues knowledge and understanding relentlessly.
Christine Herron (Startup Advisor)
Christine is a venture advisor for First Round Capital and an independent startup consultant. Previously, Christine was a director at Omidyar Network, where she invested in participatory content systems. Prior to Omidyar Network, Christine held operational roles with Mission Research, NetObjects, and Microsoft, and co-founded both Cycle Partners and Mercury2. Christine started as an investor with Geocapital Partners, where she funded early Internet and network infrastructure businesses such as Netcom and AXON Networks. Her current board participation includes Mission Research and Nickel Tour Productions. Christine was ranked among the Top 20 Women in Technology in 2000 by AltaVista and holds degrees from Stanford University and Columbia University.
David Hornik (Partner, August Capital)
David joined August Capital in 2000. He invests broadly in information technology companies, with a focus on enterprise application and infrastructure software and consumer facing software and services. Prior to joining August Capital, David was an intellectual property and corporate attorney at Venture Law Group, Cravath Swaine & Moore, and Perkins Coie LLP. In his legal practice, David represented high tech startups in all aspects of their formation, financing and operations, including Yahoo!, When.com (AOL), Sonique (Terra Lycos), Pure Payments (Excite@Home), BuyDirect (Beyond.com) and Ofoto (Kodak). David has taught business and law internationally and is a lecturer at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. David also has an eclectic technology background. At Stanford, he studied and taught the impact of technology on music, earning a degree in Computer Music. At Cambridge, England, he explored the power of technology in tracking and combating bias crime, receiving an M.Phil. in Criminology. At Harvard Law School, from which he received a J.D., magna cum laude, David focused upon the convergence of technology and the law, serving as an editor of the Harvard Journal of Law and Technology and publishing papers on digital audio and software piracy.
Katherine Barr (Partner, Mohr Davidow Ventures)
Katherine is a member of the investment team at MDV focused on Internet-enabled companies. Prior to joining MDV, she was a Senior Consultant at Vantage Partners (spin-off of the Harvard Negotiation Project) helping high tech clients such as IBM, Cisco and HP to better negotiate and manage their critical business relationships (including customer, supplier, outsourcing service provider or buyer, and alliance partners). Before Vantage, she worked as a Product Development Manager at HSA, an education technology startup in Boston, leading a team that developed multi-media products and online learning systems. Katherine teaches a yearly Professional Education Negotiation program for the School of Engineering at Stanford. During her graduate studies at Stanford, she was a research and teaching assistant for the US-Asia Technology Management Center in the Dept. of Electrical Engineering. She was also involved in running the E-Challenge business plan competition for BASES (Business Association of Stanford Engineering Students). Katherine received her B.A. from McGill University, and completed an M.A. and the M.S. core curriculum in Management Science and Engineering at Stanford University.
Kevin Braithwaite (Director, Tech Impact)
Kevin is an entrepreneur with a particular interest in technological innovation and currently divide his time between Silicon Valley and Cambridge, UK. Over the last 10 years, Kevin has advised very early stage academic spin-outs through to multinational technology corporations, telecom operators and banks. He has worked with or founded companies in a variety of industries including software, media, Internet solutions, and business services. Kevin has worked with new spin-outs and start-ups from Cambridge University through his role as an advisor to Cambridge Enterprise and mentor at The Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning at The Judge Institute of Management. Most recently, Kevin became involved in social entrepreneurship. This has led to the founding of various initiatives that empower technology based ventures to solve social and environmental issues in disadvantaged communities around the world. Kevin holds an MBA from London Business School.
Kevin Jones (Principal, Good Capital)
Kevin is a successful serial entrepreneur, having led six of his seven businesses to be dominant in their market and having sold them for an average of 10x. He built the first web-based legislative monitoring system, using an alpha version of Cold Fusion in 1994, was a columnist for , was CEO of Net Market Makers, which defined the category of internet marketplaces. He sold that business 10 days before Nasdaq peaked in 2000 to the company that offered the most cash, the least stock, and the shortest earnout. He is a principal in Good Capital, which is raising a venture fund to help social enterprises expand and grow, and is producing an industry defining event for social entrepreneurs and its investors in October, 2008 in San Francisco.
Mark P. Jacobsen (Managing Director, O’Reilly Alphatech Ventures)
Mark has over 20 years of experience advising companies and entrepreneurs. He has significant investment and board experience, along with extensive deal-making expertise and executive-level operational experience. Mark was a co-founder of O’Reilly AlphaTech Ventures in 2005. Mark is currently a board member of Chumby Industries, CollabNet, Instructables, O’Reilly Media, and TripIt. Mark joined O’Reilly Media in 1995 and, as Executive VP for New Ventures and Business Development, managed its investment portfolio for nine years delivering impressive returns. While at O’Reilly, he also had extensive operational experience including managing two startup companies, developing and managing O’Reilly’s conferences business, and running its corporate sales and international divisions in Asia. Prior to joining O’Reilly Media, Mark was the Business Affairs Director at Colossal Pictures, an animation studio in San Francisco. Mark was also a partner at Mandel, Buder & Jacobsen, representing many small and medium size companies, and an associate at Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison. Mark holds a B.A. from St. Olaf College and a J.D from Georgetown University Law Center.
Navam Welihinda (Associate, Sierra Ventures)
Navam is an Associate at Sierra Ventures, a venture capital firm with $1.5b under management, focusing its investments in technology companies in the United States, Canada, China and India. At Sierra, Navam is responsible for the identification and qualification of investment opportunities across stages and sectors, but is primarily interested in energy (both efficiency and generation), enterprise infrastructure technologies, and consumer technologies/services. Prior to Sierra, he was an Associate at American Capital Strategies where he worked on mid-market leveraged buyout opportunities in the education, technology, and services sectors. Prior to joining American Capital, Navam was an Analyst at Insight Venture Partners where he focused on growth stage equity investments and leveraged buyouts in the software, services, and media sectors. Navam graduated from Dartmouth College, with a B.A. in Computer Science.
Patricia Roller (Co-Founder of Frog Design; The Angels’ Forum)
Patricia has been one of the owners and Co-CEOs of frog design inc., a strategic, creative consulting firm operating in the US, Asia and Europe. She blends creative leadership with hands-on style and has architected one of the most significant business agreements in the industry with manufacturing giant Flextronics in 2004, and a subsequent deal with the distinguished private equity fund of Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co. in September 2006. While at frog, Patricia had a key role in managing major accounts such as HP and Motorola and she has worked in sectors ranging from hi-tech, entertainment, medical, mobile services and automotive. She is still a strategic advisor to the company in the capacity of frog fellow. Patricia is an investor in start-up companies and a member of the Angels Forum in Palo Alto. Patricia was honored by YWCA’s Tribute to Women in Silicon Valley in 2003. She is a member of the Board of Blink Twice, a NY based company that she has guided through product launch of a communication device for people with cerebral palsy. Patricia lives in Los Gatos with her world-renowned designer husband Hartmut Esslinger and their children Max (12) and Anna (10). They are also the owners of the San Jose Frogs, a semi-professional soccer club playing in the USL/PDL division. Patricia was born in Germany where she studied languages before coming to the US in 1984.
Rob Hayes (Partner, First Round Capital)
Rob joined First Round Capital in 2006. Rob came to First Round Capital from Omidyar Network where he was their first venture investor. He led most of Omidyar Network’s initial venture capital deals and later built and ran the technology investing group. Prior to joining Omidyar Network in 2004, Rob was at Palm where he started up their corporate venture fund. While in that role he also managed the strategy effort around Palm OS that led to the spinout of PalmSource. Rob started at Palm as product manager for the initial device-independent releases of Palm OS. During this time, Rob was responsible for the versions of Palm OS on dozens of devices including the initial Treo products. Rob previously spearheaded complex, system-level product development efforts at companies such as Geoworks and Go Corp where he focused on building products for the Japanese market. He began his career with the Japan External Trade Organization, studying international trade issues and building relationships between US and Japanese businesses, at a time when trade friction between the two countries was at its peak.
Rob has a B.A. in Political Economy from the University of California, Berkeley and an MBA from Columbia University.
Saad Khan (Partner, CMEA Ventures)
Saad joined CMEA Ventures in 2007 as a Partner and is focusing on the firm’s software investments. Currently, Saad sits on the board of directors for CMEA portfolio company Jobvite, a company that developed an on-demand recruitment application to drive and manage talent acquisition for small to mid-sized enterprises. Saad also serves on the advisory board for start-up Lending Club, and is a founding member of the FilmAngels. Prior to joining CMEA, Saad was a Venture Partner and lead the advisory services group at Garage Technology Ventures (GTV), a seed stage venture fund. During his career at Garage, Saad focused on emerging technology investments in the software and digital media space, working closely with many companies including TripleHop (acquired by ORCL), cFares, and Savage Beast (Pandora). Before GTV, Saad worked for the IBM alphaWorks group in Cupertino, CA, focusing on commercializing IBM R&D. Saad also worked for the Strategic Planning and Business Development Groups at the Walt Disney Company, helping to develop the strategic and operating plans for ABC, ESPN and Disney’s e-businesses. Saad received a B.S. degree in Symbolic Systems and an A.B in Economics with Honors in Science, Technology, and Society from Stanford University.
Stewart Bonn (Angel Investor - New Media, Gaming, Entertainment)
Stewart is one of the pioneers who turned computer games into a business. He joined Electronic Arts in 1983 as one of the first employees and produced many of Electronic Arts’ most successful titles during his 12-year career. As Senior Vice-President and General Manager of EA Studios, he directed the development for all PC and videogame cartridge game. In 1999 he joined There Inc, a massively multiplayer Internet services start-up in Menlo Park where he was
Vice-President, Production. In early 2006, he joined Bix.com as VP, Talent and Co-founder. Bix.com hosts contests that include “American Idol”-style singing, but can range beyond that into comedy, photography, art, or writing. Company was sold to Yahoo in January, 2007. He has been advising a handful of consumer Internet start-ups since then. Stewart earned a BS in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from UC Berkeley.
Tami Zhu (Vice President, Business Development, AOL Truveo Video Search)
Tami heads up business development focusing on platform and content partnerships with global online media networks at Truveo. Before this role, she led corporate development within the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Besides collaborating with VCs and Angels on deal flows, Tami works closely with the CEOs, board members of startups and AOL senior executives to identify potential M&A candidates as well as operating opportunities. Tami holds dual B.S. degrees in Information Science and Psychology from Beijing University in China, a M.S. in Computer Science from UC San Diego, and an MBA from MIT Sloan.
Venky Ganesan (Managing Director, Globespan Capital Partners)
As a Managing Director of Globespan, Venky sources new investment opportunities, evaluates and negotiates investments, and serves on the boards of portfolio companies. Based in Palo Alto, he focuses on investments in Software and Internet/Infrastructure start-ups. Venky, a successful entrepreneur himself, shares his intense focus on results, strategic market view, and technical expertise to help the firm’s portfolio companies achieve market leadership. Venky serves on the boards of Agitar, Amobee, Exeros, Jajah, Market Live, Nominum, oDesk, Palo Alto Networks, Plaxo, and Strongmail. Venky previously served on the board of Sendia (acquired by Salesforce.com). Prior to Globespan, Venky served as Vice President of JAFCO Ventures. While at JAFCO, Venky co-founded Trigo Technologies, Inc. Venky earned degrees in Math, Economics and Computer Science from Reed College and the California Institute of Technology. He was a Rhodes Scholar Finalist from India and played squash for his college. He lives in San Francisco with his wife and two daughters. When he finds the time, he loves to read, enjoys sports, and is a die-hard cricket fan. He actively volunteers for Caltech and Reed and is very involved with The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) as a charter member.
The winning team meets with Esther Dyson!
Esther does business as EDventure. She sits actively on a variety of boards, including that of 23andMe, Yandex (Russia), Boxbe, Eventful, Meetup Inc., NewspaperDirect, WPP Group, and CVO Group. Esther spends most of her time with emerging companies, emerging markets and emerging technologies. Her past investments have included Flickr (sold to Yahoo!), Medstory (sold to Microsoft), Postini (sold to Google), and Brightmail (sold to Symantec). She posts actively on Flickr, Dopplr, and the Huffington Post, where her blog is called Release 0.9 – a sly reference to Release 1.0, the seminal newsletter she wrote/edited from 1982 to 2006. Esther is also on the board of several nonprofits: the Santa Fe Institute, the National Endowment for Democracy, the Eurasia Foundation, and the Sunlight Foundation. She swims every day and loves the pool at the Bayerischer Hof.
Pitch 2007’s Sponsors Included:
