The Competition

Official Rules

I. Competition Rules

The GSVC awards prizes to the business plans that show the highest, most integrated financial and social returns (i.e. blended value), as well as an award for Social Impact Assessment (SIA).

II. General Rules

1. To qualify for the Competition, a proposed venture must:

  • Plan to be financially sustainable or profitable; whether it is a commercial business or a tax-exempt organization, it must be self-sufficient on its earned revenue.
  • Be scalable. This criterion will be unique for each business plan. Scalability will take into account the potential for growth of the business (and how well both the financial and social goals can be scaled). 
  • Have a quantifiable social and/or environmental bottom line incorporated into its mission and practices. 

2. Each entrant team must include a graduate business student from any business school in the world or an individual who has graduated from a graduate business program within the past two years (from the date that the plan is first submitted). The graduate business student must be actively involved in the venture (i.e., actively participating in development of the business plan and presentation or actively working on the business).

  • The business plan must include a statement describing the graduate business student's level of involvement.
  • If the plan advances to the final round of judging, the business student must be one of the plan's presenters (and must be available to answer judges' questions regarding the business). 

Teams are strongly encouraged to include seasoned entrepreneurs and professionals with relevant skills and experience.

3. The proposed venture must not have been in operation for more than 3 years, with the start of the venture marked by first income or first patent, which ever occurred earlier.

4. The proposed venture may not be a wholly owned subsidiary of an existing entity (of either a for-profit or non-profit entity). A business plan cannot enter the competition in more than two consecutive years. A team cannot enter the competition more than twice. Whether or not a team re-entering is considered the “same team” as before is determined at the discretion of the GSVC organizers, but is mainly based on business plan itself, with lesser emphasis on the team members and the team name.

5. The business plan must include a financial analysis as well as a Social Impact Assessment (SIA) which includes the following three items:

  • DEFINE: Definition of the Social Value Proposition 
  • QUANTIFY: Listing of the top three Social Indicators
  • MONETIZE: Social Return on Investment (SROI) analysis. Additional SIA support can be found in our SIA Resource Section.

6. To request a mentor, executive summaries must be received by the stated deadline.

7. The plan must include a statement on what the team would do with the prize distribution. All plans in the final round must be written in English.