| 7min Read
Published on February 18, 2023
Model Entrepreneur® Competition
Model Entrepreneur® Competition
Model Entrepreneur® Competition, also known as MEC, is a global competition hosted by Venture For All (VFA), the international entrepreneurship program launched at the Columbia Business School. Each year, students worldwide participate in MEC to learn how to be an entrepreneur and pursue their business dreams. It hopes to inspire youth’s interest in business from an early age and further cultivate students’ business thinking and insights.
A Global Competition
Model Entrepreneur® Competition
Model Entrepreneur® Competition, also known as MEC, is a global competition hosted by Venture For All (VFA), the international entrepreneurship program launched at the Columbia Business School. Each year, students worldwide participate in MEC to learn how to be an entrepreneur and pursue their business dreams. It hopes to inspire youth’s interest in business from an early age and further cultivate students’ business thinking and insights.
A Global Competition
First Round Submission - 26th March 2023 | Team Size - 2-3 people | Grade 8 -12
Official Competition
The world’s first and only official entrepreneur competition was founded by an ivy league business school.
Total Prize Exceeds $100,000
Seed Funding for startups, scholarships and a Methena college assessment.
Judges from Current Columbia Business School VFA Professors/Instructors
Each year, the judging panel consists of top executives from corporate and current professors and instructors from Columbia Business School and Columbia Business School VFA. All team members will have a chance to consult directly with professors and domain experts.
Your path to Top Business Schools!
MEC is the quintessential entrepreneurship competition. It bridges learnings from the most coveted entrepreneur course in the MBA program at Columbia Business School to students interested in entrepreneurship and business. Students joining the competition will have an opportunity to get exposed to real-world business problems by composing a business plan that consists of product analysis, market analysis, marketing plan, financial planning, and risk management. In addition to the business plan, students also need to produce a promotional video of their products/services and present to the judging panel
Student Testimonials!
A Word From the Judge
Martin Andersons
Columbia Business School has nurtured numerous innovative entrepreneurs, and now we bring the entrepreneurship courses from the MBA program to students all over the world. Through MEC, we hope to provide guidance and enable students to immerse themselves in the field of innovation and entrepreneurship.
Competition Process
MEC will be divided into First and Final rounds. The business plan’s direction will be to address the pain points in the market, develop a solution in a form of products or services, and build a feasible business model. After submitting the business plan, Columbia Business School VFA professors/instructors will evaluate and select the teams that will enter the Final rounds.
Form a team of 2-3 people to apply and submit a business plan. Please refer to Example 1 or Example 2.
The Requirements of Business Proposal:
PART 1: The cover should include your team name, logo, team members’ names, school name, and the supervising teacher’s name if any.
PART 2: How did you come up with your business idea? Why do you want to create this product or service?
PART 3: Describe an existing business pain point that you want to solve or a business opportunity you have identified.
PART 4: Introduce the product or service you have designed.
PART 5: Describe your target customers. Who are they? What are the main customer segments that need your product or service the most?
PART 6: Business value proposition.
Professors from Columbia Business School VFA will provide feedback and advice for each team. Some teams will move directly into the Final Round.
Finalists will be determined and announced. Depending on the number of teams participating, you might also be waitlisted.
1. The orientation will cover the details and rules of the Final Round. Team order and the peer review team (PRT) will be pre-drawn and announced. All teams will be divided into three batches.
2. Please click here to download the Orientation brochure (2023).
3. Please click here to download the Orientation PPT (2023).
To watch the recording of the orientation, please click here (2023).
The requirements of the business proposal for the Final Round are as follows. You can also refer to Example 1 or Example 2.
Part 1: The cover should include your team name, project name, logo, team members’ names, school name, and the supervising teacher’s name if any.
Part 2: How did you come up with your business idea? Why do you want to create this product or service?
Part 3 : Introduce the product or service you have designed.
Part 4: Customer analysis
Part 5: Business value proposition
Part 6: SWOT analysis
Part 7: Competitor analysis
Part 8: Simplified financial calculation for the next 3 years (you should at least include sales forecast, various expenses, breakeven, and the amount you require to launch your business)
Part 9: Who are your team members? What are their roles?
Part 10: What is your realistic next step?
The final business plan (in PDF file) and 2 videos (in MP4 files) should be uploaded via Methena before the deadline.
Please follow the naming convention for the business plan, promotional video, and the roadshow video:
TEAM NAME_Business Proposal
TEAM NAME_Promotional Video
TEAM NAME_Roadshow Video
Once your final business plan has been submitted, your team will receive a short video feedback from MEC judges.
Video #1 (Promotional Video): Each team will be required to shoot a promotional video explaining your business ideas and/or product services. The video will be no more than 1 minute and 15 seconds. There is no limitation on the form and style of the short video, but the video content must comply with relevant international video and advertising laws and regulations. Racial discrimination, pornographic violence, and excessively exaggerated, vulgar, and false advertising content must not appear in the video. Examples
Video #2 (Roadshow Video): Each team will need to prepare a roadshow video that lasts no more than 3 minutes and 15 seconds. Example
The video will cover the following seven items:
1. Describe the current problem or opportunity.
2. Customer archetypes. Who are your customers? What type of customers would find your product or service most useful?
3. What is your business model? How will you make a profit?
4. Competitor analysis.
5. Simplified financial calculation for the next three years (you should at least include sales forecast, various expenses, breakeven, and the amount you require to launch your business).
6. Who are your team members? What are their roles?
7. What’s your realistic next step?
1. Permission marketing is a critical skill for any successful entrepreneur, let’s see how good you are!
2. All videos will be made available for public access. Each team can then get friends and families to vote for them.
3. The score of each team will be calculated based on the ranking of the voting results. Please refer to the scoring rubrics below.
2021 MEC Final Round Competition Recordings:
1. Example 1
2. Example 2
3. Example 3
The Final Round will consist of 4 parts. Please peruse the Final Round Scoring Rubrics section below for more information.
Part 1 will take place online, Part 2 and Part 3 will be reviewed offline, and Part 4 will be reviewed by the Judging Panel online.
Part 4 will last a total of 20 minutes in 2 rooms:
Room 1 (10 minutes)
* 20 seconds for the first team to briefly describe its business model (elevator pitch)
* 2 minutes of Q&A with the peer review team.
* 20 seconds for the second team to briefly describe its business model (elevator pitch)
* 2 minutes of Q&A with the peer review team.
* 5 minutes of Judging Panel Q&A for both teams. The judges may ask questions regarding the following topics:
1. Your business idea.
2. The product or service you have designed
3. Customer analysis
4. Business value proposition
5. SWOT analysis
Room 2 (10 minutes)
* 20 seconds for the first team to briefly describe its business model (elevator pitch)
* 20 seconds for the second team to briefly describe its business model (elevator pitch)
* 9 minutes of Judging Panel Q&A for both teams. The judges may ask questions regarding the following topics:
1. Competitor analysis
2. Financial analysis
3. What is your realistic next step?
2022 MEC Awards Ceremony Recording
Awards for the Final Round:
1st Place: $7,500 ($1,500 start-up fund; $1,000 in scholarship for IEG programs and one Platinum college assessment at Methena per member)
2nd Place: $5,700 ($1,200 start-up fund; $1,000 in scholarship for IEG programs and one Gold college assessment at Methena per member)
3rd Place: $4,550 ($800 start-up fund; $1,000 in scholarship for IEG programs and one Silver college assessment at Methena per member)
4th Place: $1,000+ ($100 Amazon gift cards and $500 in scholarship for IEG programs per member)
5th Place: $1,000+ ($50 Amazon gift cards and $500 in scholarship for IEG programs per member)
6th Place: $1,000+ ($25 Amazon gift cards and $500 in scholarship for IEG programs per member)
Other team awards will be listed out in the MEC Orientation pamphlet.
Previous Judges
Dr. Jack McGourty
CBS Venture For All® Founder
Jack McGourty Ph.D. is Director of Community and Global Entrepreneurship at the Columbia Business School and a faculty member teaching courses about entrepreneurship, venture creation, and product innovation.
Manoj Pooleery
Current CBS Venture For All® Professor
Manoj Pooleery is the Founder and CEO of M-Phi Innovators, a specialized technology services company that provides full range of innovation services to businesses. He provides end-to-end technology and business strategy definition and implementation to both startups and established businesses. He has helped many companies get started, out of the Columbia Business School as well as outside.
Paul Shih
Current CBS Venture For All® Professor
Paul is expecting his Doctorate in Education from The Johns Hopkins Unviersity. He received his MBA from Columbia University and his BA in Psychology from The Johns Hopkins University.
Dr. Joseph Rios
Current CBS Venture For All® Professor
Joseph received his Ph.D. in International Comparative Education: Cultural Anthropology and Linguistics from Stanford University, his MA from Middlebury Institute of International Studies, and his BA from the University of California, San Diego. He is currently a senior consultant at Google.
Tatsuhito Sugaoi
Current CBS Venture For All® Professor
Tatsuhito worked for Philips Japan as Director of the Business Transformation where he led his team to improve the operational efficiency that contributed to the improvement in operating profit. Prior to Philips, Tatsuhito worked at General Electric as the ECLP (Experienced Commercial Leadership Program) and mostly served in the area of new business development. He graduated with a MBA from Hitotsubashi University.
