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Text: Problems Worth Solving

Overview

Steve Jobs famously said “You've got to start with the customer experience and work back toward the technology, not the other way around.” Understanding your customers’ experiences requires that you become experts in the progress they are trying to make in their businesses and personal lives and the problems they encounter along the way. The Problems Worth Solving Competition asks participants to explore this critical part of the entrepreneur’s journey - identifying and exploring problems that could be the basis for a great business.

This competition does not require a solution to the problem, only an important problem that could be the seed of a startup or investment made by an established enterprise.

Format

Contest entries will use an online form that asks for short answers and to upload a short 60 second video. There will be a limit of one application per person and only the first 50 entries will be accepted.

Five finalists will be invited to present their problems live in front of judges at the Main Event. The presentations will consist of five minutes of presentation using slides and/or visuals and five minutes of Q&A.

There will also be three honorable mention prizes awarded. Honorable Mention winners will receive a cash award and an invitation to a private reception with judges and finalists at the Main Event

Prizes

Each finalist will receive a cash prize. Judges will determine the prize winners as follows:

  • $2,500 - First Place
  • $2,000 - Second Place
  • $1,500 - Third Place
  • $1,000 - Fourth Place
  • $500 - Fifth Place
  • $250 - Honorable Mention (3 awarded)

In addition to a $2,500 award, the first place finisher will also be awarded the honor of being the guest sponsor of a 2023-2024Aggies Invent. One Aggies Invent for next school year will feature the winner’s problem as the theme for the event and the winner will present their problem, provide coaching during the event and serve as one of the event judges.

Judging Criteria

Judges will evaluate the entries based on:

  1. Is the problem clear and concise?
  2. Is it clear what people and/or organizations have the problem?
  3. Is a compelling case made that the people/organizations with the problem perceive it to be worth spending money to solve?
  4. Is the target market large enough to support a high-growth business?
  5. Is it clear that the existing solutions to solve the problem are inadequate or absent?
In addition to these criteria, finalists will also be judged on their ability to communicate through their presentations and during Q&A.

Judges

We will have judges representing Texas A&M faculty from across campus as well as entrepreneurs, innovators and experts from industry.

Eligibility

所有当前德克萨斯农工大学的学生eligible.

应用Tips

The best problems will combine the size (how many people or organizations have the problem), severity (how much pain, cost or opportunity is created) and importance (with what significance do people perceive the problem).

The written portion of the application should be used to illustrate the details and specifics surrounding your selected problem. A general problem statement won’t differentiate your application.

Use credible external sources to support any examples and estimates.

The videos maye be recorded using your laptop, smartphone or a more sophisticated camera. Pay attention to the lightning, background noises, recording volume and other distractions. You may use multimedia, advanced editing software and other embellishments but they are not required. The judges will use the video to determine how well you know the problem and your ability to communicate it.

Intellectual Property

All intellectual property is owned by the competitors unless otherwise assigned. In developing their application, pitch and presentation materials, competitors should again keep in mind that it is their full responsibility to protect all proprietary and confidential information.

Competitors concerned about the protection of intellectual property may research intellectual property protection at the Texas A&M University Libraries Patent & Trademark Resource Center or the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

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