It is nine at night, the shop closed hours ago, and a founder opens a laptop for one last task. The entry form has four fields and three short questions, and the program behind it estimates the whole thing at about five minutes. What follows is the wait, which anyone who has waited for a callback will recognize.
Entrepreneur Awards, which describes itself as an independent award for founders, puts a number on that wait. According to the program, every complete entry receives a decision within five business days, assessed against three criteria: originality, traction, and a standout achievement. Entries for 2026 are open.
Founders who enter the Entrepreneur Awards can expect a decision within five business days, with the reason behind it, according to the program, after a panel of founders and operators scores each entry independently and then discusses it. The program says it has presented 389+ awards, a company-provided figure that has not been independently verified.
Small firms already weigh speed against cost
Time is a currency small businesses spend carefully. In the Federal Reserve Banks’ 2026 Report on Employer Firms, based on 6,525 responses collected from September to November 2025, 60 percent of small employer firms said they had applied for financing in the previous 12 months.
Among applicants for loans, lines of credit, or cash advances, 44 percent of those who went to online lenders said speed or the decision to fund influenced where they applied, against 28 percent of those who went to large banks. The survey is a convenience sample, which the Fed notes should be analyzed with awareness of potential biases.
Speed came at a price. Sixty percent of firms that borrowed from online lenders said the cost of the financing was higher than they expected, compared with 32 percent of borrowers at large banks. A fast answer and a cheap answer are different things, which is why any promise of speed deserves a closer look.
How the panel uses its five business days
The program’s version of speed is narrower. According to the program, incomplete entries are set aside at screening, a panel of founders and operators scores each entry independently, and the panel discusses it before a decision is returned within five business days. The program says it replies to every entry either way, with the reason for the decision, and answers emails within one business day. Its website says the panel assesses what the founder has built.
Originality asks what was built and what makes the approach the founder’s own. Traction asks for meaningful progress against the founder’s own objectives, and each criterion is read in the context of the founder’s stage and industry. The standout achievement asks for one thing a reasonable person would call hard.
“Founders enter while they are running a business, so we owe them a clear answer on a clear date. Five business days gives the panel time to read an entry properly, and nobody is left waiting,” said Harry Neto, Head of Awards Management at Entrepreneur Awards.
A fixed date also removes one source of uncertainty. Job seekers know the alternative well. In Greenhouse’s 2025 Workforce & Hiring Report, published in July 2025, 63 percent of U.S. candidates said they had been left in the dark after interviews. Five business days usually works out at about a calendar week, and it gives a founder an end date to plan around.
Reasons matter most to those who are turned down. In Greenhouse’s 2024 State of Job Hunting report, published in December 2024, 79 percent of job seekers said they were more likely to apply again to companies that take the time to provide interview feedback. In the Fed survey, 46 percent of applicants who were denied some or all of the financing they sought said lender requirements were too strict, a reason a borrower can act on.
A fast answer has to be worth having
The natural question is whether five business days is enough to read an entry carefully. The entry is short, and every entry is measured against the same three published criteria. Outsiders cannot see the scoring. They can see that the criteria are public and that, according to the program, most entries are not selected, which suggests a quick answer is still a demanding one. The program’s terms are also clear that an award guarantees no revenue, clients, ranking, or media coverage.
In lending, the risk with a fast answer is a hidden cost. In awards, the risk is a thin reason, quick to write and short on detail. Winners receive a written record of the assessment, according to the program. Selected founders also receive the winner seal, a badge, and graphics sized for LinkedIn, social media, and email signatures, all by email, according to the program. Whether those records stay specific as entry numbers grow is worth watching. Founders who are not selected may enter a later cycle.
Back at the laptop, the form is submitted and the calendar has an end date. Whether the answer arrives by day five is something every entrant can check.
