On June 11, 2010, we submitted our application for the first annual MassChallenge competition. Winners will be determined by the highest number of points from the judges' scoring, local experts' endorsements, and the public's (that's you!) voting on each company's idea.

I am writing this blog post to share with all of you a little bit about the competition itself (including the fabulous prizes which will help Microsoft BizSpark SocialGrow to succeed!), SocialGrow's entry (as only entrants' one-sentence "elevator pitches" and videos are publicly visible), and instructions for how to register and vote on the MassChallenge website.

How do we register, and then how do we vote five stars for SocialGrow on the MassChallenge website?

To view SocialGrow's elevator pitch and video, and to vote five stars for SocialGrow in the MassChallenge, you will need to first register as a "Supporter" on the MassChallenge website, and then go to the voting page to vote five stars for SocialGrow.

Step 1:
Register as a "Supporter" on the MassChallenge website at: http://www.masschallenge.org/competition/get-involved/. Note that no password is required, and you do not need to fill in all of the fields, just the required fields marked with red asterisks: username, e-mail address, first name, last name, and Captcha.

Step 2:
Complete MassChallenge's registration process by clicking on the activation link in your confirmation e-mail to validate your e-mail address, and then vote five stars for SocialGrow at: http://www.masschallenge.org/competition/team-pitches/socialgrow-inc by clicking on the fifth star (i.e., the last star on the right). Note that you will be able to vote only once for each team.

What IS the MassChallenge?

Sponsored by the state of Massachusetts, and designed to give a significant economic boost to the state of Massachusetts, the city of Boston, and its redeveloping waterfront, MassChallenge is "the largest-ever global startup competition to accelerate the launch and success of high-growth, high-impact new businesses". MassChallenge (video) is "designed to help entrepreneurs transform great ideas into great companies".

There will be 300 semi-finalists, 100 finalists, and 20 ultimate awardees. Finalists will receive Massachusetts resources including mentorship, work space, strategic advice, and networking opportunities to further their businesses. Ultimate awardees will receive cash awards, business guidance, and PR and marketing exposure from winning the competition. The objective of all of the awards is to help each startup to grow into a successful Boston-based business, creating new jobs and tax revenues.

Ending July 11, the first round of judging will determine the semi-finalists. Judging will be based on the teams' submission entries, endorsements, and public voting (which is why we need you!). Ending July 20, the second round of judging will determine the finalists. Judging for this round will be based on the teams' in-person pitches. Ending October 15, the third and final round of judging determines the ultimate awardees. Judging will be based on teams' in-person pitches, with the winners being announced at a formal awards ceremony.

What kind of information was SocialGrow asked to submit for their entry?

Along with sharing detailed information on our founders (Marsh, Ken, and Gary) and advisors (Dean, Raju, Charbel, and Mike), we were asked what customer "pain" we were addressing, and how we were solving it. We answered: It is time-consuming today for individuals and organizations to manually invite people to join their social networks. The SocialGrow application scans their emails and allows them to invite others to connect across multiple networks. Additionally, Social media marketers are challenged with finding ways to quickly and cost-effectively build their audiences. SocialGrow's application helps marketers to exponentially increase the reach and impact of their brands’ messaging by growing their social media audiences. Note that every answer had a strict character limit to keep everyone crisp and to the point.

We were also asked how people currently overcome the problem SocialGrow's solution will address. We answered: They don't. Today you have to manually invite people, one-by-one, to connect with you on your different social networks.

And finally, were were asked why we thought SocialGrow would succeed. We answered: We are going to succeed because our vision is to realize the human side of what our technology enables — new connections between people that might not have otherwise happened. Each new connection truly has the potential to be life-changing. Our application enables growth, not just the number of people one has in their multiple online networks, but the value received from the richness of having a large, diverse network.

To view all of the MassChallenge teams' submissions, click here; to view SocialGrow's submission, click here; and to view the entry form with all of the questions MassChallenge asked entrants, click here.

If you have not yet already done so, please take a minute now to register on the MassChallenge site, and give SocialGrow a five-star vote to help us win the mentorship, advice, guidance, networking, and free office space!

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