Judges and Mentors

Judges and Mentors are an essential element in the success of a Business Plan Competition. EnterPRize will provide all the support and resources for our judges and mentors to use their limited time prudently and to make their experience as positive and fulfilling as possible.

EnterPRize 2008 is seeking volunteers from the venture support community to act as judges and mentors in this year's competition. We are looking for current and harvested entrepreneurs, successful business owners and managers, venture capitalists, angel investors, consultants, accountants, academics and other members of the community to participate in this important component of the Competition.

Being a judge or a mentor provides invaluable support and feedback to the participants in the competition. It also provides the opportunity to interact and engage with some of the most exciting and creative people in the venture community.

Judges and mentors will be required to attend a 2-hour workshop, in which guidelines and objectives will be discussed.  Besides the workshop, mentors are expected to commit 2 hours of their time to the assigned team while judges are expected to attend the finalists' private presentation session on December 6th.  Both judges and mentors are strongly encouraged to attend the morning session of the PRVF Summit on December 9, 2008 in which finalist will make a short presentation.

The judging and mentoring process also meets a broader Competition objective. By establishing world class evaluation criteria and providing the support necessary for participants to develop their business ideas, and prepare plans that can meet that criteria, we hope to "raise the game level" of the entire venture creation and support community. We hope this will result in a significant increase in both the number and quality of new venture creation and development opportunities in Puerto Rico.

Judging and mentoring is also a very personally rewarding experience. This is evidenced by the experiences of other competitions where many judges come back year after year in order to contribute their time and insights as well as take away new and enriching experiences.

Judges will be asked to evaluate the assigned entries using an assigned templates (please call EnterPRize for your copy). Mentors are provided a guide to help them work with their teams in developing the full business plan. In the case of mentors, latitude is provided to accommodate the necessities of the team and the mentors, but emphasis is placed on focusing your participation in completing a Business Plan capable of both, winning the competition and of being implemented.

If interested in participating as a volunteer in EnterPRize 2008 as a mentor or judged, please let us know by sending us an email, including name and contact information. We will contact you shortly to discuss your interest in volunteering for an interview.