No Thanks

I had my last class for the term today it was New Products & Services Development (NPSD) under Prof. Jay Bernardo and we concluded the class with a very interesting activity: Elevator pitches to "potential venture capitalists." (Well, not really VC's but folks from the Philippine Business for Social Progress and a couple of entrepreneurs :P)

How things went was everyone in the class was given two minutes to pitch a new business idea and five judges will either say "Yes" or "No" to your business idea a la American Idol, i.e.the judges will be very upfront with you and tell you in your face why your idea will either succeed or suck. Judges will also ask questions and give their critiques in an objective, but frank manner. So you could imagine how I had to condition myself for the activity because for sure the judges will not mince words and will not pull their punches in giving their comments.

When my name was called, I stepped up to the plate and gave my business idea (a student center that generates revenue from advertising) and after my two minutes were up, the judges pounced on my idea like a jaguar on a hapless deer. In the end all the judges gave a resounding "No" to my idea.

I have to admit, it initially bruised my ego because I really think my idea is good, but it just needs some little tweaking. You really have to have a positive outlook about things in order to get past the stinging comments and see the wisdom in their feedback. With the knowledge of what's weak about my business idea, I now know what to do in order to come up with a better proposal when I craft my business plan.

Class ended with pizza treat from me because my mobile phone rang and it was not in silent mode. Tip: if you are taking Prof. Bernardo's class, that's one of his house rules-- if your phone makes a sound, you will have to treat the class. Prof. Bernardo also practices what he preaches because one time he treated the class to Starbucks because own phone rang.

So it was a good class to cap off my first elective term in the Asian Institute of Management. :)