There are just over three weeks remaining before the entry deadline of 2/15/18 at 8:00PM PT for the $1M CreatorCon Challenge. Thought I'd give interested developers, entrepreneurs, and startups the rundown in terms of guidance and some pro tips if you're thinking about entering. For an end to end overview of the what-why-how-when-where of the challenge, please watch the Startup Fame & Fortune Expert Event that includes a hands-on Kingston "lucrative" app dev and publish to Store demo by ctomasi

For step by step entry instructions, please watch this video.

Entry guidelines:

There are four mandatory entry materials:

1) Your app on your designated developer instance. You designate your developer instance in the App Profile form as part of the entry flow (ServiceNow developer account required to enter). If you're a partner, we do allow you to enter your app on a vendor instance, just email creatorconchallenge@servicenow.com

Your app need only be in demo-ware (or better/later) status at the entry deadline. As long as you can hands-on demo for real the key capabilities/feature/function/UI of your app (see 2), it's good to go.

Two important caveats to be aware of on this point:

i) all entries are vetted for technical viability by ServiceNow platform and app dev experts and technical viability is one of the judging criteria - so even though it need only be demo-ware at the entry deadline, it must be viable from a technical perspective to be production deployment quality by mid-August (3 months after Knowledge18). So no smoke and mirrors allowed.

ii) If your app is selected as a finalist, it is required to either be published to the ServiceNow Store (which requires passing the comprehensive Now Certified technical certification process), and/or made commercially available via the OEM Program, by mid-August 2018 (3 months after Knowledge18).

2) Hands-on, narrated app demo video (5 minutes or less). Show us your app, what it does, the key features and capabilities, the problems it solves, the value it delivers, how awesome the UI is, etc.

3) Investor pitch video (2 minutes or less). This is not the same as an app pitch video. This is a video with audience = ServiceNow Ventures and other senior ServiceNow executives. Your goal with this video is to convince a set of potential investors to invest in your company. Tell us about your company, your founding team, your CEO, your ServiceNow expertise and credibility, track record, ability to execute, any existing or in -the-pipeline customers, ideal customer profile, buyer/decision maker and evaluator personas, TAM, product and go to market strategy, sustainable competitive advantage, unique differentiating features of your app, how deep and wide you utilized the Now Platform in building your app. Of course your app (i.e. your product) is a key part of your overall investor pitch, but it's not the same thing. We suggest your CEO, Founder or co-founders deliver this pitch. Note: the 2 minutes or less is high level guidance to give you an idea we're looking for an executive summary level pitch video. If it turns out to be say 2:30 and cutting 30 seconds off ruins your pitch, 2:30 is fine. Hopefully you get the idea here.

4) Investor pitch deck - given the time limit of 2 minutes for the pitch video, you may/probably won't have time to dive into all the detail/background/supporting materials of your investor pitch, so the pitch deck is to enable ServiceNow Ventures and other ServiceNow execs to review additional information offline and in conjunction with your investor pitch video so that we get the complete picture of the investment opportunity with your company.

Optional entry materials:

We encourage you to submit any other supporting materials that you think strengthens your investor proposition. Examples include but aren't limited to product roadmap, business plan, solution brief, case study, customer/prospect explainer video etc.

You can enter in chunks:

You can build up your entry over time. In other words you can (and are encouraged to) start your entry now by completing the Personal/Company Profile. Then you can add the App Profile, then you can add the App Materials, all in parallel/while you're building out your app on your designated instance. You can access and update your entry at any time until the deadline on the Developer Portal at Manage->CreatorCon Challenge Entry.

Who can enter?

This is a competition for cash investments / seed funding. Eligible entities must by independent legal entities (e.g. an LLC in the USA), and must be product companies (primary source of revenue is off-the-shelf, packaged apps built on the Now Platform and sold via the ServiceNow Store and/or OEM program). If you're currently a services company, you can either i) spin off a product company to enter or ii) pivot from services to product with your existing company. For existing Services partners specifically, we've seen many partners spin off product companies and enter under that entity. You have until the entry deadline to specify your company name and website, so forming a company can be done in parallel with the rest of your entry.

What types of apps are eligible?

We are looking for NEW, NATIVE apps built on the Now Platform. NEW means either never submitted for technical certification or if it has been, it was submitted for first-time certification on or after September 1, 2017. NATIVE means that you have utilized the Now Platform extensively and that the principal value delivered by your app is delivered by functionality built on the Now Platform. In other words, think NATIVE APPS and not INTEGRATIONS.

More goodies that put this thing over the top!

1) ServiceNow founder Fred Luddy is on the judging panel.

2) The three finalists will receive mentoring and coaching in their pitch and on-stage at Knowledge18 keynote delivery from BJ Lackland, CEO of Lighter Capital. This is a great opportunity to improve your business and investor relations skills.

3) The finale is on-stage as part of the Day 3 Knowledge18 general session keynote from Pat Casey. The finale itself will once again be MC'd by Allan Leinwand. Day 3 is a full day at Knowledge18 this year and we are expecting a room full of ServiceNow customers given the keynote focus. This means a room (thousands of people) full of qualified prospects for your apps.

Watch last year's 2nd place $150K winner Clear Skye describe their experience and what it's meant for their company growth trajectory. It's a tremendous opportunity to fast-track your startup to app revenue, market adoption, and notoriety within the ServiceNow ecosystem. We hope you accept the challenge!