[JohnHarthorne]

It should be easier. Agreed. We have not yet mastered the operations side of MassChallenge (and I lose significant sleep over it).

But it really isn't that hard, and there is explicit logic in every step. If you are even remotely serious as an entrepreneur, you should be able to get 4 diamond endorsements with a handful of emails/phone calls - each of them with an expert in your industry who has an opportunity to publicly support you without spending a dime. That process encourages startups to network/pitch and is intended to create or strengthen bonds with helpful resources. These resources are not isolated to MA by the way.

Likewise, if you are even remotely serious about your startup, you should be able to get your friends/network to rate your company profile 5 stars very easily. This encourages you to promote your startup and seek support from your community. Easy stuff. No cost. Something you should be doing anyway.

Keep in mind, the endorsements and team ratings are worth only 10% of the judging score each. We had teams enter and win last year with zero endorsement points and zero ratings. (I don't recommend that as a strategy, but it's possible).

The application form itself is very basic: 10 questions, with short character limits. All standard stuff.

[nikcub]

> If you are even remotely serious as an entrepreneur, you should be able to get 4 diamond endorsements with a handful of emails/phone calls

I dont think 'serious' entrepreneurship involves calling people and getting them to agree to give you a point in some scheme when it is of no cost to them.

How about putting your energy into getting users or finishing your product, is that an endorsement that 'serious entrepreneurs' should be pursuing?

I also don't understand why you are asking for an application fee, especially considering how expensive it can be for bootstrap businesses and international startups. You are, afterall, looking for companies to fund - putting a financial barrier to applying will only reduce the field. I am also not comfortable with companies who pay to apply and then who don't make it blowing that fee.

Your title is also misleading. It isn't $1M, it is up to 100k. Just be straight up.

The intentions here are good, but the model is totally backward

[jayzee]

you should be able to get your friends/network to rate your company profile 5 stars very easily.

What makes my friends competent to judge my business? This is complicated and silly. If you want to drive traffic to your site and want publicity, just say it. It is a fair bargain for the deal. But to say 20% of a startups evaluation is based on such flimsy metrics is silly.

[JohnHarthorne]

We are not relying on the expertise of the people making public ratings. The ratings account for a very small percentage of the judging scores. 80% of the scores are driven by ratings from expert judges. 10% by public ratings and 10% by endorsements.

The public ratings system encourages teams to ask for a small favor from people in their community (i.e. visit a site and rate my pitch).

The endorsements system encourages teams to ask for a small favor from known experts and network hubs in the community.

These are both devices designed to encourage networking, connectivity, pitching and collaboration. Many many teams from last year have indicated that they made critical connections via these processes, especially via the endorsements process, including meeting future investors, customers, service providers and team members.

These are easy steps but that doesn't mean they aren't valuable. They are starting points.

[lux]

Is it appropriate to cold-email people from your endorsement list? Just curious so we don't do anything faux pas.

I'm thinking that since it's a worldwide challenge, lots of companies applying won't have any real connection with a lot of these companies. And what about companies not on your endorsement list, is there a way to get external endorsements included too? Thanks!

[JohnHarthorne]

The people on our endorsement lis are all collaborative and are interested in meeting and helping startups -- so it's definitely OK to cold email. (be polite, obviously, and provide them with context). We try to get endorsers around the country and world, but there are limits to our reach and ability to vet the universe obviously ... let us know whom we should add to our list if you think someone is missing and we'll investigate for next year. Our hope is that remote experts will be able to connect you to one of the existing endorsers in the meantime. Send an email to endorsements -at- masschallenge.org you have questions or problems. We are a very small team but are serious about reviewing and responding to inquiries. Thanks!

[nikcub]

a comment here was offering 'diamond' to whoever emailed him, which should be a big hint to you just how much these endorsements are worth.

[PMHacker]

The matter of fact I endorsed only 1 team so far at platinum lvl out of 6 who emailed me

[lux]

I think he meant if he liked it he'd endorse it, but he was willing to take a look. Not saying the endorsement/voting idea isn't flawed, but that's how I interpreted what he was offering.