CreatorCon Challenge - Entry Period Starts NOW. Get the Inside Scoop.

[Martin Barclay]

Today at 8:00AM the CreatorCon Challenge Entry Period begins and the Entry website is now open for business. Here's a rundown of the requirements for an eligible entry, and the three-step entry process. Note: this blog post is not a substitute for the official Terms and Conditions that you must read and accept as part of the entry requirements. This blog post hits only selected highlights, sort of like a Cliffs Notes, and also contains tips and guidance.

Eligible Entity Requirements

1. Open only to independent legal entities (if in USA, an LLC, S Corp, or C Corp). The name and website of the independent legal entity must be specified in the Personal/Company Profile (see below) by the entry deadline of 2/15/17 at 8:00PM Pacific Time. You can enter now if you're an independent developer, but if you're serious about advancing in the Challenge, you'll need to create a company and submit the name and website in the Personal/Company Profile by 2/15/17 or your entry is not eligible.
2. Have not received an entity valuation as a result of equity financing (very early stage startup)
3. Have received total cash funding of less than $3M USD
4. Entity's principal business must be developing and selling commercial pre-packaged software-as-a-service. Companies that are today primarily Services/Implementation companies must spin off an ISV independent legal entity to be an eligible entity.
5. Entity cannot be managed by current ServiceNow employees, or former ServiceNow employees as of 9/28/15 or later
6. Must create (or use an existing) a single designated ServiceNow developer account to enter and develop the app on the developer instance associated with that designated account.
7. Read, accept, and comply with the official Terms and Conditions

Eligible App Requirements

1. One app per entity.
2. App cannot have been submitted to ServiceNow for technical certification prior to August 1, 2016
3. Entity agrees to publish a winning app on the ServiceNow Store by August 15th, 2017
4. Apps must be developed on the ServiceNow platform Helsinki or Istanbul release by the entry deadline. Shortlisted and finalist apps must be on Istanbul by CreatorCon (May 9th-11th 2017)
5. The principal value must be delivered by the app running on the ServiceNow platform. We are not seeking out integrations where the primary value is delivered on another platform. In support of this, part of the app evaluation criteria is the extent (depth and breadth) of your app's utilization of ServiceNow platform services. You are of course welcome and encouraged to use the ServiceNow platform's extensive REST API and integration tools platform services in your app and to integrate with whatever you want to, but be mindful that the principal value of your app must be delivered on the ServiceNow platform.

Entry Process

Step 0. If you don't already have one, you need to create and be logged into a single designated ServiceNow developer account.

Step 1. Complete and submit the Personal/Company Profile Entry form at the Entry website, or click on Enter from the CreatorCon Challenge landing page. Again, if you are currently an indie developer, you must submit your Company Name and Website by the entry deadline (2/15/17) for an eligible entry.

Step 2. Complete and submit the App Profile. If you do not already have a developer instance at the time of submitting your App Profile, click on the Get One Now link right below the Developer Instance Name field and follow the instructions to obtain your developer instance. When you return to the App Profile entry form, you may need to refresh the page for your developer instance to populate. Your developer instance is where you must create your app and where ServiceNow will go starting on 2/15/17 to evaluate apps for technical viability and match to your app demo video. Developer instance name cannot be changed.

Notice the three circles in the Entry nav. They are white with three dots while incomplete,   and toggle to red with a white checkmark when completed. You can click on any of the dots to go immediately to that form to make changes and updates (App Materials Submission opens on Dec 9th).

Step 3. (Opens December 9th) Submit Application Materials

Mandatory Application Materials

1. Your app, resident on the developer instance associated with your designated ServiceNow developer account (the developer instance in your App Profile).

2. A 2-minute investor pitch video

3. An up to 5-minute on-screen app demo video from both the admin and end user perspective.

Optional Application Materials

Supporting content such as a business plan, investor presentation, whitepaper, explainer video etc. are welcome but not required.

Updating Your Entry

After your initial submission of the Personal/Company Profile form, you can come back at any time as often as you like until the entry deadline to make changes (except your name, email address, and developer instance - these are fixed by your designated ServiceNow developer account, and cannot be changed) and add/update new information.

You can get to the Entry website directly from the Developer Dashboard - click on Manage->CreatorCon Challenge Entry.

With $500,000 in cash investments and approximately $325,000 worth of non-investment (marketing/publicity and business development) prizes on offer, this is a golden opportunity for your startup   to partner with ServiceNow and take your company to the next level faster. We are looking forward to seeing what you build.