Resources for Competitors

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Blank, S. G. (2005) Four Steps to the Epiphany: Successful Strategies for Startups that Win, 1^st ed., K & S Ranch, LLC Publications.
Swanson, J. A. and Baird, M. L. (2003), Engineering Your Start-Up, 2nd ed., Belmont, CA: Professional Publications.
Christensen, C. M. and Raynor, M. E. (2003), The Innovator's Solution: Creating and Sustaining Successful Growth, Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.

"Selling Your Innovation" guidelines developed by Linda Plano, PhD, Associate Director of the Mass Tech Transfer Center.
If you are an entrepreneurial technologist and member of the UMass community, make sure to first familiarize yourself with the University's guidelines for protecting your discoveries.
UMass Library Guide: ENTREPRENEURSHIP [1]
ISOM Center for Entrepreneurship [2] (C4E) & VentureCoach, a service of the C4E
When raising capital or preparing for competitions such as the Innovation Challenge you need to tell your story in a clear, persuasive way. Judges and investors will view the content of your pitch with a skeptical eye. The hypotheses underlying your business must be explicitly defined and supported by facts. As important as the content of your presentation is the style and logical flow of that presentation. If judges/investors are confused by what you say, your chances of success diminish. Using screen-sharing technology such as www.join.me [3] the Director C4E will provide you with one-on-one online feedback on your presentation. The Director, Dr. Jim Theroux, is the Flavin Professor of Entrepreneurship at UMass. Prior to joining the faculty at UMass Dr. Theroux founded a venture-backed company that grew to 150 employees. And for the past 20 years he has been an angel investor. That means he knows what investors and judges are looking for in your presentation. To schedule an online appointment: theroux@isenberg.umass.edu [4].