The SemanticHacker $1,000,000.00 Challenge
1. What is the SemanticHacker $1M Innovators’ Challenge (SHIC)?
SHIC is a unique opportunity to be awarded for a significant contribution to identifying and jumpstarting a new semantic discovery application for TextWise.
The judging panel will be selectively choosing up to 3 award recipients. That recipient is awarded:
* $100,000 immediate payout
* Development and rollout of the software prototype and/or business plan by TextWise
* Become a part of the team
* Up to an additional $900,000 during the first year after the application is released
2. How do I enter the Challenge?
To qualify for the Challenge, participants must submit:
* Software Prototype OR
* Business Plan OR
* Both a Software Prototype and a Business Plan
* as well as a complete Challenge Entry Form.
3. How many $1 million awards will be available?
Up to 3 awards will be made if an entry meets the Sponsor’s criteria.
4. Who is sponsoring the SemanticHacker $1M Innovators’ Challenge?
TextWise, LLC is sponsoring SHIC.
5. Who owns the intellectual property rights for entries?
You do. TextWise is granted non-exclusive worldwide rights. TextWise LLC cannot promise to retain confidentiality of any entry or that a similar idea or application prototype is submitted and awarded.
6. Who owns the intellectual property rights of my software prototype and/or business plan submission if I win?
TextWise does. The rights will be assigned to TextWise exclusively.
7. Why is TextWise running this Challenge?
We are looking for exciting applications to extend our technology into new markets.
8. Why should I enter?
This is an opportunity to:
* See your idea launched into the marketplace!
* Make a significant impact in the semantic space where few others have done so
* Earn an immediate payout on your work AND share in the revenue from a product in the market
* Join the TextWise team to see your vision become a reality (if applicable)
* Win up to $1,000,000
9. How can I improve my chances of being successful?
1. Develop an application that can have demonstrable commercial viability and has the potential for significant financial impact on the application space to which it is applied.
2. Focus your application or business plan on a vertical market. Areas such as finance, health and pharmaceuticals are just a few of the industries that might be good places to start.
3. Submit your application or business plan along with a complete entry form by the Challenge deadline.
10. How many entries can I submit?
There is no limit to the number of entries you can submit. Each will be judged independently of the others.
11. When is the deadline for entry?
The deadline to enter is Wednesday, June 18th 2008 at 11:59pm EST.
12. Who is eligible to enter?
Individuals who are legal U.S. residents and over the age of 18 at the time the entry is submitted are eligible to enter.
13. How can I apply?
Entries can be submitted at http://www.semantichacker.com/challenge/how-to-enter
14. Who reviews the entries?
Judging will be performed by a panel of judges selected by the Sponsor from the TextWise advisory board, venture capitalists, the semantic developer community and TextWise.
15. What are the judging criteria?
Qualified entries are judged based on the following subjective criteria:
* The potential to generate revenue via an application that can have demonstrable commercial viability and have the potential for significant financial impact on the application space to which it’s applied;
* The uniqueness of the idea;
* How it utilizes TextWise’s base technology; and
* How it solves a problem for the intended user/consumer/business audience.
16. When will the award recipient be announced?
We will notify all Challenge participants of the outcome on or before Wednesday, September 10, 2008.
17. Is a winner guaranteed?
We anticipate awarding a winner or winners within 12 weeks after the deadline. There is however a possibility that no entries meet our judging criteria. If that happens, we may consider extending the Challenge.
18. I don’t write code, how can I enter?
There are three ways to enter to this Challenge. Use whichever best suits your talents:
1. Software application prototype
2. Business plan
3. Both
19. What if someone submits the same idea that I submitted?
As the judging criteria indicates, the idea alone does not dictate the winner. It is the idea in combination of the execution of the application prototype and/or business plan that will be in consideration.
20. How will I know if I won?
We will notify you as to the outcome of the Challenge by email.
