• Official Template for the Idea Summary
• Sample idea summaries from past competitors
• General feedback from the judges to the competitors
• Guy Kawasaki's thoughts on Executive Summaries
• How to Draw Attention to Your Executive Summary by Mark Peter Davis '01
• What An Executive Summary Is by Mark Peter Davis '01

• Free Business Plan Software

  

  FREE business plan software available for all participants of the Duke Start-Up Challenge courtesy of our sponsor Palo Alto Software -- $100 value!
  Sample business plans from past competitors
• Presentations from Duke speakers
• "Business Plans 101 - a reprise" (pdf) -- DEES Jan 22, 2009
• "Business Plans 101" (pdf) -- DEES Oct 16, 2008
• "The Brass Tacks of Market Research" (pdf) -- how to conduct market research to assess the market for your idea -- Suzanne Miglucci, VP of Marketing and Strategic Alliances at SciQuest -- Nov 2006
• "Entrepreneurship Notes: The Business Plan" (pdf) -- Mark Dibner, President and founder of BioAbility -- Nov 2006
• "The Elevator Pitch, the Business Plan, & How VC's Think" (pdf) -- Rik Vandevenne from River Cities Captial Funds, Nov 2006
• External Resources
• "Business Plan Building: Section by Section" (web) -- INC Magazine
• Samples
• Generic Outline (pdf)
• Novoculi - Business Plan (pdf) -- 2001 Duke Start-Up Challenge Runner Up
• Sun Dance Genetics - Business Plan (pdf) -- 2002 Duke Start-Up Challenge Winner

• Sample investor pitches from past competitors
• Video of the 10th Annual Duke Start-Up Challenge Investor Pitch Finals
• Video of the DukeGEN Angel Pitch Event in May 2010
• Ryan Spoon '03, Polaris Ventures, "How to Create an Early Stage Pitch Deck"
• Venture Hacks tips on your presentation
• Guy Kawasaki's 10/20/30 rule
• Pitching Hacks: How to Pitch Investors
• OnStartups - 13 Ways To Pull Off a Killer Demo Day Presentation

How to Give an Elevator Pitch

• List of Duke alumni attorneys who focus on startups, provided by DukeGEN
• External Resources
• Patent application process from the United States Patent and Trademark Office

Other Business Plan Competitions

Duke Organizations