Force.com Million Dollar Challenge FAQ

Back to Challenge Home

Q. What is the Force.com Million Dollar Challenge?
A. The Force.com Million Dollar Challenge is a venture investment competition sponsored by Emergence Capital that will provide a $1+ million investment offer to the winning startup using the Force.com platform.

Q. What kind of awards will the winner and finalists receive?
A. The winner will receive a $1+ million investment from Emergence Capital and office space at the salesforce.com incubator for one year. Finalists will receive complimentary passes to the Dreamforce 2008 conference and design consulting from Force.com technical experts.

Q. Who decides who will receive the investment award?
A. Emergence Capital will be solely responsible for evaluating competition entries and selecting finalists and the winner. Also, registrants and entrants may be eligible to receive financing from Emergence Capital prior to the selection of a winner. The receipt of a loan from Emergence Capital will not invalidate the recipient’s entry into the competition.

Q. How will entries be evaluated?
A. Entries will be evaluated on the following criteria (in no particular order):

Use, implementation and integration of the Force.com Platform and how effectively the Application meets the need in the marketplace
Likelihood of long-term company success
Management Team
Customer success with the Application, based on or feedback from customers
Financial plan
Market size and likelihood of becoming the market leader
Current or potential competition

Q. I’m interested – but how do I learn more if I’m not ready to enter the competition yet?
A. Signup to Stay Up to Date and receive additional information regarding the competition. Once you're ready, you can officially enter the competition at any time, beginning in March 2008 through September 15, 2008.

Q. I've already pre-registered. Do I still need to complete the entry form to enter the competition?
A. Yes, entrants will need to fill out the official entry form which will be available beginning in March 2008. The pre-registration form is not the official competition entry form and is meant only to identify for interested parties to who will receive additional competition information.

Q. What information do I need to provide to officially enter the competition?
A. Competition entrants will submit a variety of company and business plan information on the official competition entry form, which will be available beginning in March 2008.

Q. What types of companies are eligible for the competition?
A. Any U.S.-based company is eligible to enter the Force.com Million Dollar Challenge.

Q. When is the last day to enter the competition?
A. September 15, 2008 is the last day to enter the Force.com Million Dollar Challenge.

Q. I am concerned about the confidentiality of my company and competition submission. Will it be made public?
A. No, your competition entry will only be accessible by Emergence Capital and salesforce.com for the purposes of the competition. Your information will not be made public without your consent.

Q. How do I participate in the competition?
A. Follow the steps below:

Pre-register and receive up-to-date information regarding the competition
Build your applications using the Force.com platform (Get get started with a free Developer Edition account)
Market your applications and start growing your company
Enter your company in the competition, starting in March 2008

Q. How can I get more information before or after entering the competition?
A. Pre-register now to receive up-to-date information regarding the competition.

Q. Can I submit more than one entry in the competition?
A. Yes, but only one entry per individual or company will be selected as a finalist.

Q. Do I need to be a salesforce.com partner to be eligible for the competition?
A. No, but you can become a partner here.

Q. What business and/or technical support will I receive before or during the competition?
A. Competitors Competition entrants can join developer.force.com to access premium technical content as well as community features like discussion forums and events. Entrants can also engage salesforce.com as a prospective partner.

Q. Will competition entrants receive a meeting with salesforce.com?
A. Salesforce.com reserves the right to contact entrants during the competition period.

Q. Once I officially enter, how do I know what my status is?
A. All competition entrants will receive a confirmation email. Some entrants may be contacted by Emergence and/or salesforce.com after the entry is received.

Q. When will finalists be selected?
A. Emergence Capital will contact finalists by September 30, 2008.

Q. When will competition entrants get a meeting with Emergence Capital?
A. Emergence Capital reserves the right to contact entrants throughout the competition period for evaluation purposes.