Phase 0: Letter of Intent

Phase 0 Timeline
The Challenge will begin officially on August 1st, 2017 with the letter of intent phase.  Teams will be approved and accepted into the Challenge after thorough review of their LOI. Despite Phase 1 beginning on October 18th, 2017, the final due date for LOI submission is January 12th, 2018 at 11:59 pm Pacific Time. Keep in mind that this is the due date for Phase 1 deliverables, as well. Final  communication to prospective participants will be performed in a timely manner.

KEY DATES:
  • LOI Submissions Start Being Accepted: August 1st, 2017 12:00am
  • Start of Phase 1: October 18th, 2017
  • LOI Submissions Last Day Accepted: January 12th 2018
Phase 0 Overview and Submission Steps
  1. ​Read all information on this page: the Challenge overview, eligibility and rules section of this website and the FAQs before preparing your LOI
  2. Create your team: You can form a team with at least ONE (1) member. We realize that some teams will be formed across organizations and disparate geographic regions. If you are looking for additional members to augment your team or are looking for a team to join please go to the Find a Team / Member page
  3. Choose an invention from the inventions list
    1. A maximum of 10 teams per invention will be accepted. A counter on the inventions page will indicate the number of teams currently accepted
    2. Challenge Teams provide background information regarding the members of their Team and outline details regarding how they intend to participate in the Challenge
    3. Teams must explicitly state that they have the intent of creating a startup  
    4. Challenge Teams will provide an optional Stakeholder Engagement Analysis AND Collaborators list
    5. Please DO NOT contact inventors directly. All contact to inventors should be made through the CAI team
  4. Complete your Team Submission Online:
    • Online Submission: The Challenge uses an online system. All Challenge materials and attachments must be submitted electronically
    • Choose an Invention: The model of this Challenge encompasses high-value cancer-related inventions. Teams must choose an invention from the inventions list. Rules for these inventions can be found on the Inventions page
    • LOI Submission Form: The LOI form requires the following information: the invention selected, Challenge Team members and their capabilities, and an agreement to comply with confidentiality terms. Challenge Team leaders need to populate an LOI for the whole team
    • CDA Form: All Challenge Team members (team leaders, core team members, mentors and advisors) need to populate a different CDA form. To return to an existing CDA you've started and saved, simply use the same link
    • Resumes and Optional Documents: Challenge Team member resumes (Resumes are limited to two (2) pages per team member. Please include a header on the top of each resume indicating what their role is on the team (e.g. Core Team Member, Mentor, Advisor, etc.)) Submit this with your LOI

​Important Notes on Submissions:
  • File Naming Convention: In order for reviewers to easily identify attachments, please use the following naming convention for files to be uploaded to this attachment. 'Organization' and 'initials' must be the organization and initials of the Team Leader:
    • "Team Name" - "deliverable type" (e.g. Oncolinx - Resumes) 
  • If there are multiple groups within the same organization with the same initials, the CAI team will reserves the right to adjust team names
  • Only one file should be uploaded for each attachment category (Resumes, Stakeholder Engagement Form and Collaborators).  For example, if you are uploading resumes for each member of your Challenge Team, please combine all resumes into one file and upload that one file to the resume category
  • Each attachment should try to be no more than 1-2MB in file size
  • Image files and executable files will not be accepted (e.g. .jpg, .gif, .bmp, .tif, .exe)
Team Member Roles
When entering information about your team, you will need to indicate their role; please find below team roles:
  • Team Leader: a core team member and primary point of contact
  • Core Team Member: accountable for deliverables
  • Mentor: has domain experience and will actively work with the team on a daily basis, as the team needs
  • Advisor: has domain expertise, and the team uses for Q&A sessions only
  • Collaborator: an entity that can improve a team's probability of success in this challenge; it could include seed funders, services firms, e.g., Clinical Research Outsourcers, law firms, etc. 
​NOTE: Core team members can only join one team. Mentors, Advisors and Collaborators can be on multiple teams
Suggested Team Disciplines
Nearly every successful Challenge Team requires several disciplines to be successful. In the life sciences industry, it is even more important to have a cross-functional team given the complexities in launching a new product. As a result, we are suggesting that each Challenge Team have the following disciplines:
  • Business: can be pursuing an MBA, come from the business community, or in a business oriented role at a life sciences company
  • Medical/Scientific: can be in medical school, a post-doc, in residency or, alternatively, a medical doctor, graduate with a scientific degree, or someone in the medical/scientific profession working in the Life Sciences industry
  • Seasoned Entrepreneur: A person who has founded a Life Sciences, biomedical and/or health IT company; raised dilutive and non-dilutive capital for that company and have exited. We prefer entrepreneurs that have tenure of at least five years (a minimum of three years) in a start-up and also have had corporate experience  
Disciplines can come from the core team members, mentors, and/or advisors
Evaluation Process
  1. LOIs will be accepted on a rolling basis starting on August 1st, 2017
  2. We will evaluate your submission as it is entered into our system based on the criteria outlined below
  3. We will either reject or accept your submission and will communicate this to you within three days of your submission. If your submission is accepted, you may start working on your deliverables in Phase 1: Elevator Speech

We will no longer accept LOIs after January 12th, 2017
Criteria, Guidelines, and Scoring
Overall Criteria: Adhere to the Eligibility requirements and Official Rules 
Mandatory Documents: Provide all mandatory documents outlined above in the "Phase 0 Overview and Submission Requirements;" as indicated, you will find a sample of all the documents here
Scoring Criteria: Please find below criteria and guidelines that will assist you in entering the Challenge

DIMENSION 1 - ABILITY TO EXECUTE

Criteria I: Team Capabilities
Criteria II: Entrepreneur's Background
Criteria III: University Collaboration

DIMENSION 2 - SUSTAINABILITY

Criteria I: Industry Collaboration
​Criteria II: Funding​