About NEXT
NEXT is a platform dedicated to creating business ideas, inspired by the concept of Shark Tank. Our platform offers intuitive features that help entrepreneurs develop, analyze, and pitch their business ideas. Participants will sign up in groups of 4-5, and the entrance fee is 300 NTD per person. During the competition, each group will be given a room of their own. They will have the whole morning from to work in their room and brainstorm ideas. Participants are required to create a product or a service that aligns with a prompt that will be given on the competition day. The prompt will be based on social and environmental issues such as global warming, the rise in the average age of the population, and facilitating the disabled and elderly. Students will create products and services that will essentially “solve” or improve the prompt. Not only are students required to innovate a product or a service, they need to create a visual presentation in front of judges. The presentation could take form in google slides, Canva, video presentation, etc,.. . The judges will be school teachers and school alumni that are studying in foreign universities.
How does the tournament work?
Teams will go through a bracket elimination tournament. The winners of each round will go through and the losers will move on to a losers’ bracket. Losers of each round will play against each other in a separate bracket(sub-bracket).
The grading of the projects will be based on five main criteria: Creativity, Applicability, Feasibility, Marketing/Pitch, and how it answers the prompt. The goal of this competition is to make sure that the students’ projects are not just ideas and frameworks. They need to make sure that their ideas are realistic and feasible for the general public.
Furthermore, in the visual presentation, participants have to include a simulation or prediction of their product or service in the current market. For example, they need to include how they would market their product: convenient stores, supermarkets, online websites,etc,.. Participants are required to create a business plan showing how their products will be sold, their target consumer, and their expected growth through the years.
Prizes of the tournament
Prize money is an essential motivator for teams to perform at their best. Setting aside funds for first, second, and third-place winners encouraging competitiveness while also rewarding the effort students put into their projects.
First Place One Crystal Trophy and 7000 NTD and individual gold medals
Second Place: One Trophy and 3000 NTD and individual silver medals
Sub-bracketWinner: 1000 NTD and individual medals
