Stony Brook DARE Competition

Stony Brook's DARE Competition encourages students at all levels in the University community to act on their talent, ideas and energy to create the next generation of Googles, Palms and OSI Pharmaceuticals, right here on Long Island. Still a start-up in its second year, DARE, allied with the National Science Foundation Partnerships for Innovation program on campus, will award $10,000 each to the two teams of student entrepreneurs whose business plans for new technology-based ventures show the greatest ingenuity and potential. Over the next five to ten years, DARE will refine its methods, grow its network of mentors, investors and potential partners, and ratchet up its cash prizes so every worthy team can realize its dreams. If you want to be your own boss, this is a great way to test your wings and and find out what it takes to succeed.

As a start, the Stony Brook DARE Competition will provide entering teams valuable resources crucial to successful entrepreneurship, including:

• A mentor who is a successful and seasoned professional
• Education in specific business planning skills as well as general entrepreneurial insight
• Feedback on your business model from successful entrepreneurs, professional service providers and investors on the Judging Panel
• Access to a regional network of entrepreneurs, investors, and potential partners
• And, for those that merit it, access to members of the private equity community in the greater New York metropolitan area, including new programs Stony Brook is initiating

Students from all of Stony Brook’s academic units (Arts and Sciences, Engineering, College of Business, Marine Sciences, Medicine, Dental Medicine, Nursing, Health Technology and Management, and Social Welfare) at the undergraduate and graduate levels are eligible to enter the competition; however, based on experience at MIT and elsewhere, it is anticipated that multi-disciplinary teams that combine members from technical disciplines with members from management-oriented programs will have a competitive advantage, because such teams bring together the pieces necessary for making the bridge between technology and the marketplace. Business plans will be judged by a panel of experienced entrepreneurs, investors and professional service providers, including a past winner of the MIT $50K, the oldest and most prestigious student entrepreneurship competition.