AWS Start-Up Challenge FAQ
Who is eligible to enter and win this contest?
The 2011 Amazon Web Services (“AWS”) Start-Up Challenge (“Contest”) is open to:
- (a) individuals or sole proprietors who have reached the older of 18 years old or the age of majority in their jurisdiction of residence and have the full legal capacity to participate in this Contest at time of entry; or
- (b) privately held businesses that have not generated more than $10 million USD (approximately 6,909,656 EUR) in gross annual revenues and no more than $10 million USD (approximately 6,909,656 EUR) in outside funding.
The Contest and these Official Rules are void in Quebec and where prohibited by law, and are subject to applicable laws. Our and YouNoodle, Inc.’s (“YouNoodle”) employees, parents, affiliates and subsidiaries, and participating advertising and promotion agencies and prize suppliers (and members of their immediate family (spouse, parent, child, sibling and their respective spouses, regardless of where they reside) or those living in their household, whether or not related) are not eligible.
Entrants may not be a national or legal permanent resident of any of the following countries: Burma, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan or Syria. Entrants may not be members of any guild, union or other organization that may prohibit them from participating in this Contest and that would restrict, require due payment or otherwise have the right to oppose such entrant’s participation in this Contest.
Prizes will be awarded in the name of the individual or business that entered. By the time of submission, entrants must have an AWS account (see https://aws-portal.amazon.com/gp/aws/developer/registration/index.html). Any individual submitting an entry on behalf of a business entity represents and warrants that he/she is authorized to submit an entry on behalf of such business entity.
This Contest is a skill-based contest, and as such, the winners will not be selected randomly, but on the basis of objective judging criteria (as set forth in the Official Rules).
Contest ends October 2, 2011.
What are the judging criteria?
Contest applications will be judged on the following criteria: (a) implementation and integration of AWS paid services as described in the Official Rules; (b) originality and creativity; (c) likelihood of long-term success and scalability; and (d) effectiveness in addressing a need in the marketplace.
Can I submit more than one entry?
Yes, but only one entry per entrant may be selected as a regional semi-finalist, and any entry submitted by an entrant must be substantially different than any other entry submitted by that entrant. Please note that the AWS Start-up Challenge is a skill-based contest, and as such, the winners will not be selected randomly, but on the basis of objective judging criteria (as set forth in our contest Official Rules).
Do I need to have an Amazon Web Services account in order to be eligible?
Yes, part of the judging criteria is the implementation and integration of paid services from Amazon Web Services as described in your business proposition. In order to use Amazon Web Services, you must first create an AWS account at https://aws-portal.amazon.com/gp/aws/developer/registration/index.html.
Does my application need to include a new idea or business?
No, you can submit an existing business as long as it is an original idea or business proposition created solely by you or your team and meets the eligibility criteria as described in the Official Rules.
I am concerned about the confidentiality of my submission. Will it be made public?
No, your entry will only be reviewed by the AWS Start-Up Challenge judging panel for the purposes of the contest. It is not our intention to make your information public without your consent. All finalists will be notified to give their consent prior to announcement of the finalists.
What services can I use to enter the contest?
Applicable services are Amazon CloudFront, Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2), Amazon Elastic MapReduce, Amazon Flexible Payments Service (FPS), Amazon Mechanical Turk, AWS Elastic Beanstalk, Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS), Amazon SimpleDB, Amazon Simple Email Service (SES), Amazon Simple Notification Service (SNS), Amazon Simple Queue Service (SQS), Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3), or Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC).
If I experience technical problems using Amazon Web Services, whom should I contact?
Please post your technical questions to the AWS Developer Forums (http://developer.amazonwebservices.com/forums) where AWS staff and the community are best equipped to help you.
When will finalists be notified?
The second round of judging begins mid-October 2011. We will notify the finalists via email by early November, 2011.
If I am chosen as a finalist, can I bring someone with me to final judging event in Palo Alto?
If you are chosen as a finalist, Amazon Web Services will pay airfare and hotel for one individual to Palo Alto, CA, USA. However, you are welcome to bring along your business partner to present your business proposition to the judges panel at your own cost.
How do I get my $25 AWS credit?
After the grand prize winner is announced, in December 2011, AWS will provide credits information via email to all eligible entrants who submit a qualified entry into the contest.
If I have questions about the application or the rules, whom should I contact?
Please email your questions to awsstartups@amazon.com.
©2011, Amazon Web Services LLC or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
