Ideas for Topics and Sponsors?

[Guillermo Söhnlein]

As some of you may already know from our previous discussion in the Early Stage Finance group, we are planning to roll out a series of IASE Business Plan Competitions. Until we're ready to launch, we will be using this Group to solicit input and maintain updates. After our launch, we will continue using this Group for ongoing discussions related to the competitions.

While we get ready for the first set of competitions, we would like input from the IASE community on what topics may be ripe for GLOBAL business plan competitions. On a related note, we would also like your input on potential sponsors for these competitions.

Here's a sampling of some initial ideas:

- GeoEye Space Imaging Competition
- SpaceX Avionics Competition
- iRobot Robotics Competition
- Sirius/XM Satellite Media Competition
- Magellan GPS Competition
- etc.

You get the idea, right?

If you have strategic connections with any potential sponsors, please let us know. Over the coming weeks we'll be posting more details about the competition program. In the meantime, let's get the brainstorming started with potential topics and sponsors.

Thanks for your help!!!

[Martin Schwab, Ph.D.]

As a former interim president of the Mars Society – Ohio Chapter, I strongly encourage folks to poke around the Mars Society website at www.marssociety.org for stated competition ideas. Most people in the Mars Society I would classify as either bona fide entrepreneurs or like me, “entrepreneur friendly.”

For example, the university Mars rover competition is an old standby of the Mars Society. New up on the site is the need for airlocks for Mars habitats. Another old call for proposals is spacesuit designs for Mars that are pressurized but retain flexibility for rugged “rock hounding” on the surface for resources (“neo-propane like”). Maybe still a bit down the road but not that far down the road…

[Joe Latrell]

While not exactly a topic for the competition, I do think that a series of online help files/tutorials that can provide basic information such as 'helpful financial statements' or 'identifying your market' could prove useful for the contestants.