BizSpark - is it worthwhile to persevere with your application?

I'm a bit tired and frustrated with my BizSpark application. I've been rejected twice. The first time, I didn't have a company E-Mail and URL. The second time, I provided a proper company E-Mail and URL, but have been rejected again.

The reasons given in the automatically generated email from BizSpark were not valid: My application fits all given requirements. Of course I've written a comprehensive email to BizSpark explaining why I don't understand which requirement I don't meet. Unfortunately I haven't received any response.

Thanks to this site I've found information about the "non-official" reasons for rejection, e.g. the company website doesn't contain enough official information about the product.

Is it possible to get into BizSpark when I create the website and inform MS? Or is it just a waste of time? Has anyone recently succeeded in getting onto BizSpark in Germany?

I am the community manager for BizSpark.

Decisions on local acceptance into BizSpark will be determined by the local offices at Microsoft who make those determinations. At least, this is the case in Germany. While there are official reasons (and rumors about unofficial reasons), usually it comes down to the very same reasons stated in the emails given to people who are not accepted. We are always open to reviewing and re-reviewing applications. And you have sent your email to the right one.

If you need further assistance, tweet @bzsupport or email dcrets at microsoft and I can help you some more. I am the community manager for BizSpark, globally, but I am not the sole determiner of what applications are accepted or not accepted in any region. Just trying to help.

I have applied and been approved for BizSpark for my current startup, and was also able to help a friend get accepted to this program. As far as I know, if you have a sponsor (Microsoft employee) refer you to the program you are almost guaranteed to be accepted. I recommend you get in contact with a Microsoft evangelist, preferible one working with startups so he/she can help you get approved.

Good luck.

They do give you a lot in exchange for very little, so it makes sense that they are strict about their entry criteria.

I joined when BizSpark first launched and it was easy to join as they wanted to get lots of people to sign up. Maybe it is more strict now.

At the time, they had a lot of agents (hosting companies, well-known people in tech, etc) who could sign you up and bypass the application process. If that is still happening, maybe find a local agent (i.e. in Germany).