UCSC Competition History
The annual UCSC Business Plan Competition was founded in 2009. The competition is a response to the desire of cultivating an entrepreneurial spirit in the Santa Cruz community. It upholds the intention of merging the novel ideas of students with faculty, staff, entrepreneurs, and the community. The committee that began the competition also emphasizes a collaboration of various disciplines on the business plans.
The two-quarter long competition plays witness to the high-caliber business plans produced by Santa Cruz students. Within these business plans reside the beginnings of a new standard of innovation and entrepreneurship. The competition gives students the opportunity to network with entrepreneurs, faculty, staff, and the community of Santa Cruz and Silicon Valley. Students develop their business intuition through workshops, advisory, and presentations of their plans.
A group of students in cooperation with staff at UCSC successfully launched the first ever student-run Business Plan Competition on the Santa Cruz campus in 2009. The UCSC Business Plan Competition has the privilege of working with members of the Santa Cruz community to continue promoting a space for potential entrepreneurs to contribute their ideas.