I had been working at a startup for 3 years when I entered a few business plan competitions to stretch my skills. I entered MIT100K, Princeton, One run by the s

I had been working at a startup for 3 years when I entered a few business plan competitions to stretch my skills. I entered MIT100K, Princeton, One run by the state of RI, and one by OATV, O'Reilly's venture arm. What I "Won": - Met Tim O'Reilly/Went to FOO Camp: Part of winning the OATV competition was going to SF, Foo Camp - an amazing networking/educational event. - $25K in cash and services. Not a huge amount, but enough to be meaningful. - Connections: The judges of these things tend to be successful business people. They opened doors for me and passed on great info. - Experience: Pitched 10+ top tier VC firms, and learned how to create demand. Getting VC's competitive juices flowing was a great experience. You also get to talk to a lot of folks with training wheels, your ignorance doesn't seem out of place. - Knowledge: Thinking about markets: YC really seems to push product, but it is important to think through market opportunities. These semi-academic exercises force you to research the markets to a granular and overcome common criticism. - Knowledge: Most people who are starting companies haven't had a ton of exposure to legal issues. These competitions tend to be heavily sponsored by local law firms who are happy to share info. - Experience: Pick your team carefully. It is a lesson PG espouses, but is really impactful when you learn it first hand with founder fallout. Luckily I learned this before quitting my job. Is this as valuable as doing YC? I don't imagine so, but if you are in school anyway doing one of these competitions is a ton better than some useless elective.