Guest: Tom Olson. Topics: NewSpace Business Plan Competition 2013. Please direct all comments and questions regarding Space Show programs/guest(s) to the Space Show blog, http://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. Comments and questions should be relevant to the specific Space Show program. Written Transcripts of Space Show programs are a violation of our copyright and are not permitted without prior written consent, even if for your own use. We do not permit the commercial use of Space Show programs or any part thereof, nor do we permit editing, YouTube clips, or clips placed on other private channels & websites. Space Show programs can be quoted, but the quote must be cited or referenced using the proper citation format. Contact The Space Show for further information. In addition, please remember that your Amazon purchases can help support The Space Show/OGLF. See www.onegiantleapfoundation.org/amazon.htm. We welcomed Tom Olson back to the show for a one hour discussion with important updates for the NewSpace Business Plan Competition 2013. Tom told us that the date for submitting applications had been extended to August 29. To see the instructions, rules, etc. for submitting an application, please visit www.newspacebpc.com. The prize money remains the same with a $100K grand prize from NASA, a $25K second prize from ATK, plus an additional $5K NASA prize and an additional $5K ATK price for a total of $135,000 purse. Tom clarified some of the rules, the 50% owned by an American citizen requirement and he answered lots of listener questions about submitting the 3-5 page Executive Summary and writing the actual business plan. The date for the competition is still fluid but they are looking for Oct. 24 at Stanford University. Tom received several email questions about business plan metrics, contestant track records, success stories, and more. Several examples of businesses were mentioned, especially those falling into the space scalable category. We also talked about the competition being open to everyone as there were no government imposed diversity requirements and those submitting do not have to be engineers or space tech pros. Just have a good idea, a good team, and be able to present your idea clearly and with common sense. As we were approaching the last quarter of the show, Business Plan Team Member Meagan Crawford called in to add to what Tom was saying and to give us a marketing perspective. Meagan said she was interested in developing metrics for tracking business plan successes and outcomes. Tom and Meagan went over the schedule, we talked about Boot Camp which is not open to the public and they told us about the plans so far for the main event on Oct. 24th. Meagan and Tom talked about sponsorships for the competition still being available. They were also asked if there was a plan to move the competition to different cities in a way similar to the old Space Investment Summit meetings. Toward the end of our discussion, we talked about missed opportunities by not entering the competition with your idea. Even if your idea does not win, there are superb networking opportunities at the completion, plus the potential for meeting those that can help out financially with your plan/idea. Please post your comments/questions on The Space Show blog. You can contact Tom or Meagan through me.
Guest
The Space Show
