DATE: April 10, 2006

The UW Business School has won the prestigious international Venture Capital Investment Competition (VCIC) for the second time in three years. In the final round, held April 6-8 at the University of North CarolinaÕs Kenan-Flagler Business School, the team of UW MBAs Chris Howard, Rebecca Lovell, Andy Boyer, Brad Parker and captain Ian Scrymgeour won in a landslide over counterparts from NYU, Michigan, Harvard, MIT, USC, Duke, Colorado and Cambridge.

The VCIC turns the concept of a business plan competition on its head. In the finals, teams assumed the role of $185 million, early-stage venture capital firms and selected one of five real-world business plans in which to invest. Fourteen judges representing major national VC funds evaluated the teams on their interviews of the entrepreneurs, investment strategy and presentation skills.

The UW team chose to invest in a company developing digital microfluidics technology, a Òlab on a chipÓ with potential applications in medical diagnosis, environmental monitoring and drug discovery. But more important than whom the team selected was the way they went about it.

After receiving briefs on the five business plans, the UW team worked through the night on due diligence. ÒOne of the things that set our team apart was the level of depth that we went to in analyzing the companies ahead of time,Ó says Howard, Òso that we knew all the right questions to ask the entrepreneurs.Ó

The roots of this analysis actually run much deeper than an all-night cram session. Shortly after the team formed in Emer DooleyÕs venture capital class, the well-connected Business School lecturer provided coaching and introduced the team to the Seattle venture community. ÒEmer connected us to partners in venture capital firms to improve our understanding of specific industries and best practices,Ó Howard recalls. ÒIt was incredible ø we couldnÕt have done this without her.Ó

With help from Dooley and the UW Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE), the five met with all the major local venture capital firms, learning about expected returns, industry issues, deal making, red flags and deal killers. Then they got a live practice on one of Ignition PartnersÕ recent investments.

Supported by CIE, the UW team won a tough western regional at USC in March, topping UC-Berkeley (last yearÕs national champion), San Diego State (national runner-up in 2004) and Texas (perennial national finalist). In the international finals, no other team even came close.

Chalk it up to the UW Business SchoolÕs collaborative culture that trumped the analytical firepower of all the big venture capital feeder schools.

ÒIt says a lot about the strength of the CIE program that we all started our MBA studies without an ounce of venture capital knowledge,Ó says Boyer. ÒEven though many competitors from the other schools are either VC analysts or interns, we were able to beat them head to head.Ó

ÒIt was all about the team,Ó Howard adds. ÒWe had a lot of fun. None of us felt like we were even working. We all learned an incredible amount about the venture capital industry and how it works. How to analyze companies, how to build rapport with entrepreneurs, how to structure a deal. But in the end, itÕs not about how many industry experts you have on the team. ItÕs about having the team with the most interest and passion and, most of all, chemistry.Ó