These terms govern your use of this website and the application forms on it. By using the site you agree to them. The fund is operated by [legal entity name and state of incorporation, to be confirmed] ("we", "us").
The competition itself is governed by the Official Competition Rules, which control if anything here conflicts with them.
An information and application site for the Movement Cohort and the Big Move Fund. Nothing on it is an offer of funding, and submitting an application does not create any entitlement to an award or to a place in a cohort.
Nothing we publish or say in the program is legal, tax, accounting, investment or financial advice. Cohort sessions, coaching, templates and referrals are general business education. We are not your attorney, your CPA, your banker or your broker, and no relationship of that kind is created by taking part. Get your own professional advice before acting on anything.
We help you prepare for a conversation with a lender. We do not control the outcome of it. We do not guarantee that any bank, credit union or other lender will approve you, that your credit will improve, that you will win an award, or that your business will reach any particular result. Any figures, examples or past outcomes we describe are illustrative and are not a prediction of yours.
Your application stays yours. By submitting it you give us permission to use it for the purpose of running the program: screening, scoring, administering an award and meeting our reporting obligations. Publicity use is dealt with separately in the Official Competition Rules, and requires the release described there.
The text, layout, curriculum and materials on this site belong to us or our licensors. You may read, print and share them for your own use. You may not republish them commercially without permission.
We point to outside organizations because they are useful, including Small Business Development Centers, SCORE, workforce boards and lenders. We do not control them, we are not responsible for them, and a mention is not an endorsement of any particular product or loan.
The site is provided as is. We try to keep it up and accurate, and we do not promise it will be uninterrupted or error free.
To the fullest extent the law allows, we are not liable for indirect or consequential loss, lost profits, or lost business arising from your use of this site or participation in the program. Nothing in these terms limits liability that cannot be limited by law.
These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Texas, and the courts sitting in [county, to be confirmed] County, Texas have jurisdiction.
We may update these terms; the version and effective date at the top will change when we do. Questions: contact@sowhatmovement.com, or [registered mailing address, to be confirmed].
Plain-language answers to what this site used to spell out on its front page. Where an answer here and a numbered term above disagree, the numbered term controls.
Any business owner, or anyone wanting to become one, operating in the Dallas Fort Worth metroplex. No revenue minimum, no credit check, no age limit beyond 18.
Yes. Entry requires a current paid membership at the Gold ($49.95 a month) or Platinum ($99.95 a month) level, held when you enter and still current on the pitch date. Bronze and Silver do not include entry.
Your level decides which prize ladder you compete on, not how you are scored. Every entry is judged on the same published rubric by the same judges, and no judge is told which level an entrant holds. The Official Competition Rules control.
Yes. Aspiring owners go into the Growth Division alongside early-stage businesses.
Between $10,000 and $100,000 depending on your division and where you place. Growth pays $50,000 / $25,000 / $10,000. Scale pays $100,000 / $50,000 / $25,000.
Not in one lump. It is yours, released against a plan you write across the five moves: 40% at award, 35% at 90 days, 25% at 180 days.
Sometimes we pay a vendor directly. You still choose them.
A lump sum with no plan behind it tends to be gone in a year, with the business no stronger. Staging it is the difference between capital and a windfall.
Talk to us first. Plans move and we usually approve the change. What we cannot do is pay for spending that never happened. The Grant Agreement covers this.
You qualify if your business address is in a low-to-moderate income area, or your home address is, or your household income does. Any one of the three is enough. The program is open to all regardless of race, gender or creed.
Three independent judges score every applicant out of 100 on a rubric published before applications open: business viability 25, use of funds 25, community impact 20, founder capacity 15, pitch delivery 15.
Ties break on community impact, then on use of funds. Never on chance.
Yes. Directing the spend does not change that. W-9 before funds move, 1099 at year end, and you confirm it on the application so it is never a surprise.
You get your scores in writing, with the judges' reasoning. Enter again next quarter.
No. There is an optional field for a link, and nobody is scored down for leaving it blank. What we do need is a clear answer on what the money would do in the next twelve months.
A private link to a longer form: your team, your last twelve months, cash and debt, who keeps your books. Fifteen minutes, estimates fine.
A loss is a normal answer. So is being behind on filings. An honest number scores better than a flattering one that falls apart under questioning.
Attach a P&L or bank statements if you have them. We never ask for an account number, an EIN or a Social Security number.
About ten minutes, one question at a time, and you can go back and change anything before you send it. Have your revenue range, employee count and entity status to hand.
We screen for the service area, assign your division, and three judges score you. Semifinalists get pitch coaching before the live pitch day. Winners sign a grant agreement and report back at 90 days.
A quarter runs when its pool is funded. We publish the balance and the date together, never a date before the money is in the account.
Email contact@sowhatmovement.com and we will cancel before your next renewal date. There is no cancellation fee, no minimum term and no notice period.
Cancelling stops future payments. It does not refund a month already paid, and access continues until the end of the period you have paid for. If you cancel a Gold or Platinum membership you are no longer entered in the pitch competition, including a quarter you had already entered.
Four packages. Bronze is free and carries daily access to the YouTube channels, the accountability community and a merchandise discount. Bronze and Silver do not include pitch competition entry. Silver is $29.95 a month and adds a monthly one on one, podcast access and networking events. Gold is $49.95 a month and adds a weekly one on one, twice weekly Zoom coaching, webinars, marketing assistance and entry to the quarterly pitch competition at $50,000 / $25,000 / $10,000. Platinum is $99.95 a month and adds The Tech Move (AI, search and the systems behind your business), marketing assistance, book publishing assistance and the pitch competition at $100,000 / $50,000 / $25,000.
Dues are not tax-deductible contributions to the extent members receive benefits in return.
Some of what you need is already free somewhere in the metroplex, and our job is getting you to it instead of paying for it.
The line items an award gets spent on, and what each costs in Dallas Fort Worth. You pick, we agree, it gets bought. Every amount depends on your business: these are indicative ranges to help you build a plan, not quotes. Your approved plan sets the actual split.
Who does the work. We line up the web build and the photo shoot and sit in on the first ad review. You approve every dollar and you own everything at the end.
Who does the work. We write the job description with you, place it, and screen the first round. You do the hiring.
Who does the work. We tell you which filings you actually need, introduce the attorney and the insurance broker, and check the paperwork came back right.
Who does the work. This is the area we push hardest, because it is the one that changes a bank's answer. We do the cleanup with you, not for you, so you can read your own numbers afterwards.
Who does the work. We pick the tools with you based on your trade, get them set up, and train whoever has to use them.
Every line above, across all five moves, comes to $29,950 to $69,650. A first place in Growth covers most of it. A first place in Scale covers all of it, with room left for payroll.