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Want to win up to $30,000 to launch your student start-up?

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Important: Registration is only accessible through an IU account (@iu.edu). Please ensure you're logged into your IU email before filling out the form.

  1. Home
  2. Faculty & Research
  3. Centers & Institutes
  4. Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation
  5. Events
  6. Clapp IDEA Competition
  • The Velocity Conference
  • Indiana University Entrepreneurial Connection Day
  • Clapp IDEA Competition
  • Haeberle Entrepreneurial Legacy Award

2025 Vernon Clapp IDEA Competition

The Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation hosts the Clapp IDEA Competition annually. The competition provides you the opportunity to pitch your idea to investors who want to help you succeed.

Teams with innovative and well-thought-out business ideas compete in April each year to win up to $30,000. In addition, there are mentors to help you through the business planning process. All you need to start off with is an idea and the motivation to turn it into a business.

Key dates

Registration due:
February 21, 11:59 p.m.

Idea plans due:
February 28, 11:59 p.m.

Semifinalists notified:
March 7, 11:59 p.m.

Final round presentations due:
April 2, 11:59 p.m.

Clapp IDEA plan competition:
April 4, 11:00 a.m.

Clapp IDEA Competition rules, guidelines, and submission requirements

Download guidelines

Eligibility requirements

  1. The idea plan must represent the original work of the members of the team. The author(s) shall retain all rights to the plans regarding their use prior to and following the competition. The plans may not contain any fabricated information about (but not limited to) the background, experience, or education of the management team, the stage of product development, product performance claims, or market survey results.
  2. Only undergraduate or graduate students from Indiana University may participate in the competition. At least one student must be a member of the management team. Non-students may be members of the management team and participate in planning the venture but only IU students may participate in the final presentation. A student may submit only one plan to the competition. Teams are limited to five people total.
  3. The competition is for students enrolled in the current academic year. Students who graduated in the preceding academic year are not eligible to participate.
  4. The competition is for students who created, managed, and owned ventures. In other words, students are to have played a major role in conceiving the venture, to have key management roles, and to own significant equity. The goal of the competition is to develop a new idea that can lead to the creation of a business. The idea may not have received prior external funding/financing besides investments from the founders, friends, or family. Ideas which have been funded by venture capital or other professional equity investors are not eligible.
  5. Ventures with revenues in excess of $30,000 between January 1, 2024, and December 31, 2024, are excluded. A team member having previously worked on other ventures prior to this competition does not exclude a new venture or team members, regardless of the success of funding or prior ventures.
  6. The competition is an educational experience. Teams should respect the rights of their opponents. The Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (JCEI) reserves the right to disqualify teams who act in a less than a professional manner.
  7. All teams must register by February 21, 2025.

Register now

Important: Registration is only accessible through an IU account (@iu.edu).
Please ensure you're logged into your IU email before filling out the form.

Business proposal guidelines

  1. Proposals are limited to seven pages maximum (12 point font) of text, excluding cover page, title page, and exhibits. Proposals must follow the Clapp 2025 Business Proposal Format.
    1. Exhibits: You may provide exhibits (no more than five pages). You will NOT be graded on the content of the exhibits (or lack thereof); however, they may allow us to better understand your proposal. Financial statements are not required.
  2. Official Application Form is due February 21 by 11:59 p.m. via registration link.
    1. After registration has ended, instructions to submit business proposals will be sent to the participants on February 17 from icfellow@iu.edu. All business proposals are due on or before February 28 by 11:59 p.m.
    2. Digital copies of the finalist’s presentation are due on or before April 2 by 11:59 p.m. Finalist announcements will be notified and instructions to submit finalist’s presentation will be sent to participants on March 7 by 11:59 p.m. from icfellow@iu.edu.
  3. All eligibility criteria can be reviewed by the JCEI on a case-by-case basis for exceptions.
Kelley students presenting a business proposal at the Clapp IDEA competition.

Business proposal format

Purpose: After reading the business proposal document, someone should be able to understand the business proposition. Three key factors to include are: 1) uniqueness, 2) clarity, and 3) viability.

Instructions: Please answer the questions below. You have flexibility in how you answer them, but please adhere to the page maximum guidelines. Please provide enough information that anyone can understand your business, but please do not add filler material just to fill the page. Once completed, please save it with the file name as VentureName_ClappBusinessProposal.

Exhibits: You may provide exhibits (no more than five pages) within the exhibit document. You will NOT be graded on the content of the exhibits (or lack thereof); however, they may allow the judges and coaches to better understand your proposal. Financial statements are not required.

One final note: If this is your first time doing something like this, don’t stress it! We’ve tried to construct it in such a way that it is as painless as possible. If you get stuck, feel free to take advantage of your assigned Competition Coach or the Business Coaches at the Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (Godfrey Center [CG2050], second floor).

Suggested business proposal format

Venture Name:

Venture Lead Name (Team Lead):

Venture Lead Email address:

Summary (one page maximum)

Tell us about your business (avoid any technical jargon here).

S1. What is your product/service? What are the problems or pain points you are trying to solve?

S2. What is unique about it?

S3. Who is it for?

S4. Why does this idea excite you?

Great! Now let’s get down to the nitty gritty.

Businesses are affected by what’s happening around them.

  1. Who is doing the same thing or something similar? (Their business model may be different than yours)
  2. What value do you bring that they do not? (Try to describe your value simply beyond price: ideas are rarely sustainable if the only difference is that they are cheaper)
  3. Why do you think potential customers will value your product? What evidence do you have to support this?
  4. Describe any industry/market challenges that you foresee and how you plan to address them (should not be blank):

Businesses need to have customers and getting those customers can be a challenge.

  1. Who is your ideal customer? (Pro tip: you want to choose a market that is large enough to sustain your business, but specific enough that you can precisely speak to their unique needs)
    1. Macro description: Consumers (general characteristics such as age, income, etc.)/businesses (general characteristics such as industry, employee count, etc.)
    2. Micro description (also called psychographics): factors such as values, behavior, preferences, attitudes, etc.
  2. How many people fit the description above (your market size)?
  3. How do you plan to reach your target market, so they know about, consider, and buy your product?
  4. What is the message you wish to convey to your customers?
  5. Describe any challenges that you foresee in marketing and how you plan to address these? (should not be blank):

Businesses need to have a plan for managing day-to-day operations.

  1. What technology do you need to develop/license to make this work? How do you plan to do this?
  2. Who will manufacture and distribute your product / provide your service? How will this work?
  3. Describe any challenges that you foresee in operations and how you plan to address them? (should not be blank):

Businesses (including nonprofits) need to make money to continue operating.

  1. What is the estimated average price a customer will pay for your product/service?
  2. What will it cost the company to provide this product/service per sale (estimated)?
  3. Keeping in mind the challenge of reaching new customers, how many sales do you expect to see in year one? Year two?
  4. Using the equation below, how much money (gross profit) do expect to make/lose in year one? Year two?
    1. Year one number of sales *(price paid per sale - cost to company per sale) = Year one gross profit
    2. Year two number of sales *(price paid per sale - cost to company per sale) = Year two gross profit
  5. Describe any financial challenges/risks that you foresee and how you plan to address them? (should not be blank):

Time is your most precious resource and knowing what happens when is vital to your business.

  1. What key events need to happen to launch your business and become profitable? When do you anticipate these happenings? Please list in time order.
  2. Describe any time challenges that you foresee and how you plan to address them? (should not be blank):

Your management team is the most important asset of your business.

  1. Describe your management team structure with skills and roles.
  2. What partnerships do you need (e.g., manufacturers, distributors, advisors etc.)?
  3. Describe any team challenges that you foresee in and how you plan to address them (should not be blank):
First and second place winners standing with Vernon Clapp at the Competition

Questions?

Contact icfellow@iu.edu with any questions

Frequently asked questions

The competition is open to all Indiana University students (including graduate and undergraduate) in any course of study.

Yes! Part of the innovation process is iterating and changing. You are not locked into the idea you submitted for registration.

Yes, but the summary section will be sent on to the competition judges in its submitted form. It is recommended that you stay as close to the summary as possible after you submit your business proposal.

Once you are registered, we will pair you with a Kelley MBA coach to help you along the way. Business coaching will be on the following schedule by walk-in or by appointment. Please email icfellow@iu.edu to schedule your coaching session.

Business Coaching Hours
March 24 to April 11
(No business coaching hours on Friday, April 4 due to Clapp IDEA Competition)

Monday
11 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 3 to 4:30 p.m.
Tuesday
9 to 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Wednesday
11 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Thursday
9 to 10 a.m. and 1 to 4:30 p.m.
Friday
12 to 1:30 p.m. and 2 to 4 p.m.

It’s okay! The business proposal is designed to be as user-friendly as possible and your Kelley MBA competition coach will help you along the way.

1st Prize: Up to $30,000 with additional prizes awarded at the discretion of the judges.

Sponsored by the Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation and Vern Clapp of Clapp Investment Ltd.

For additional questions, email icfellow@iu.edu.

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