We attended the final of the Edison der Preis idea contest! Out of 60 entrants only 6 teams were invited for the technical category.
Why Should You Attend?
Entering the second phase of the contest allows attendees to visit various workshops that help during the development of business models, finance plans and to structure and improve pitches. At the beginning of every idea, these workshops offer an important input for the development of business concepts.
The three projects rated best of each category received a prize money of EUR 1,000, EUR 2,000 resp. EUR 3,000. Additionally, the winners of the Edison der Preis idea contest were presented in various local magazines.
After the finals the award ceremony took place where all teams of the second phase were presented and had the possibility to represent their ideas and products. This could be used as a marketing activity and to acquire new important contacts. For instance, we met new customers for our product. Furthermore, a successful presentation could spark the interest of potential investors and to receive new contacts for future customers.
Effort of the Submission
This year the participants had to submit the following submissions:
- An application document describing the idea in detail. The assessment of this document determines if a participant enters the second phase of the contest. The main topics intersect with a regular business plan: details to products and services, customer values, market, unique selling point, current state of development and team competence.
- Participation at a video shoot for each team of the second phase. This took up to three hours for the preparation and the shoot itself.
- The conception of a business paper for the second phase of the contest. Which included topics of the application document and expand them with issues regarding marketing, the business model and finance plan.
- Pitch presentation in front of an advisory board that rated the submitted projects.
- Attendance at the award ceremony for a whole evening.
The time required for the application document, business paper and the pitch presentation depends on the sophistication of the business idea, i.e., does a business plan exist with appropriate texts phrases of the application? Is this the first pitch of the business idea?