3 Ways to Stand Out in a Competitive B-School Applicant Pool
Assessing the impact that these emerging technologies could have on everything from supply chain management to self-driving vehicles to preservation of natural habitats.
Technologies from the likes of Facebook, Google and Microsoft could change our world view for the good of the planet.
How well can you read a room? Take this test and find out:http://www.texasenterprise.utexas.edu/2016/04/27/workplace/can-you-read-group-new-test-will-tell
Tuck Now: The Tuck Initiative for Women's 3rd annual Women's Symposium, "Charting Your Career Path." We began the morning with a great panel discussion with Deb Kemper T'95, managing director of Golden Seeds, Amy Houston T'97, managing director of the Robin Hood Foundation, and Mitra Morgan T'95, CMO of Outward, Inc. #WIBOn #ChartingYourCareer:
"It's important to be passionate and focused wherever you are in your career path. ... Think about where you are in your life journey and what you're going to want in the future."—Mitra Morgan T'95
"I wasn't where I thought I would be. ... But, you have to know what you like to do. You have to know what kind of person you are. And you have to know yourself and know that your path might be different from others around you."—Deb Kemper T'95
"I'm really big on developing a hypothesis and continually testing it. ... I really thought about my timeline and what I wanted. ... You have to think about your future self."—Amy Houston T'97
“Growth has been too slow for too long.” That was the chief economist of the International Monetary Fund, Maurice Obstfeld, writing last week about global economic conditions. #SlaughterRees
His sober take reflected the IMF’s new projection, in its biannual World Economic Outlook released Tuesday.
Tuck Quote of the Day: This week, investor, environmentalist, and philanthropist Julian Robertson visited Tuck for the annual Center for Business & Society's Halpern Lecture series. Robertson shared his big ideas for making a difference in the world, and his insights on a lifetime of philanthropy.
Jay Kumar of Astraeus Technologies delivers the final pitch for his team at the Harvard Business School New Venture Competition. Astraeus Technologies won the business track and $50,000
Music bumped and strobe lights were set to defcon-seizure in Harvard Business School’s Burden Hall on a miserably wet and cold Tuesday evening. In case anyone forgot about the myriad ventures cooked up by Harvard MBAs, the massive screen at the front of the auditorium served as a reminder. As some atrocious Pitbull-sounding song blared out, those names began to fly onto the screen and into the galaxy—Star Wars credits style. Baublebar … Birchbox … Coffee Meets Bagel. U2’s “Beautiful Day” begins and serves as a polarization to the previous song. Earnest … Grabtaxi … and so it went until a voice analogous to the Golden State Warriors announcer politely asks everyone to take their seats.
Indeed, hype was brimming as MBAs, faculty and guests trickled into the 775-seat auditorium for the 19th edition of the HBS New Venture Competition. And rightfully so. At stake was a potential total of $52,000 in seed funding and the street cred that comes with winning one of the most prestigious B-school startup competitions, to boot. After Jodi Gernon, director of the Rock Center for Entrepreneurship, made introductions, HBS Professor and–based on the theme music when he approached the stage–the Darth Vader of Entrepreneurship, William (Bill) Sahlman, took the stage to reassure any fearful entrepreneurial minds.
“Many of you have gone through your careers and have not really suffered significant setbacks,” Sahlman said. “You think that if you get involved with a venture and the venture fails then somehow that will be a life threatening or career threatening outcome. I’m here to tell you that can’t possibly be the case.”
GAME-CHANGING LUNG CANCER INDICATOR TAKES GRAND PRIZE
If the 12 ventures competing were an indicator, Sahlman is absolutely correct. Outside of rent-a-tiny-home-in-the-woods-of-Massachusetts venture called Getaway, the bulk of these ventures are out to solve some of society’s greatest problems: Lung cancer. Brain tumors. Women’s health. Sexual abuse. Aids. And so, one-by-one, the final four teams in each category—alumni, business and social enterprise tracks—took the stage to test their mettle in 90-second final pitches to the audience and judges.
When all settled, health care-related ventures dominated. Taking the $50,000 grand prize in the student business track was a team of medical students and PhDs. “We are Astraeus Technologies and we are going after lung cancer,” were the first words spoken by dual MD-MBA, Jay Kumar. Astraeus Technologies is a game-changing cancer detector. The team, made up of dual MD-MBAs from Harvard and a PhD from MIT, has created a card—called the “L-CARD”—that’s a little bigger than a postage stamp and can diagnose lung cancer from a person’s breath. “You breathe on this and it tells a smart phone whether you have lung cancer,” Kumar announced, holding up the card, which was hardly visible from the fourth row of the auditorium.
The team has already won the grand prize and audience award at MIT $100K startup competition in February–netting $13,000 along the way. And if there was any doubt to it’s legitimacy, Kumar put those to rest in the final moments of his 90 seconds. “It’s cheaper than CT scans,” Kumar said. “It’s easier to use. And it’s more accurate. All told, this is a market opportunity north of eight to nine billion dollars. Annually.”
Hesitant to reveal much detail during the presentation and a follow-up conversation, Kumar explained the idea came after multiple years of brainstorming hundreds of potential ideas. The revolutionary idea stemmed from the 2014 research of team member and MIT PhD student, Joseph Azzarelli, and Timothy Swager, an MIT chemistry professor. The research led to the development of a one-time wireless chemical sensor, able to identify unique gasses found in the breath of an individual with lung cancer. Ideally, the product will identify lung cancer at a far earlier stage, lowering the fatality rate. The team is waiting FDA approval to move into clinical trials.
Getaway took second in the student business track
TINY HOME RENTAL VENTURE FINISHES SECOND
In the ultimate industry span, second-place went to the stressed out and overworked yuppie-focused, Getaway. The four-member team, led by second year MBA, Jon Staff places tiny houses in rural land around Boston and rents them out to city slickers for $99 a night.
“In this connected age of phones buzzing off the hook, and bosses emailing you at 10 p.m., it is absolutely necessary to find ways to disconnect and recharge,” Staff said during his 90-second pitch. “The way we’ve been doing this forever is called the vacation. But the vacation is broken. It takes too much time to get there. It takes too much energy to do these shitty tourist activities you have to do on vacation.”
Garnering many laughs during the 90 seconds, Staff and team might be getting the last laugh. Since launching in July, Staff says Getaway has seen more than 13,000 renters and upwards of $140,000 in revenue. They now also have an $25,000 in the back pocket.
HEALTH CARE-FOCUSED VENTURES RULE CROWD FAVORITES AND SOCIAL ENTERPRISE TRACK
Gaining the most crowd votes and earning $2,000 was health care-focused BrainSpec. “We’re Brainspec and our goal is to make the virtual biopsy a reality,” second year MBA, Alexandra Zimmerman said during her final pitch. “It’s safer, it’s more effective and you get the results in 30 seconds instead of three days.”
Zimmerman put together a crack team including a PhD in quantum physics and professor of radiology at Harvard Medical School and has a non-invasive alternative to the traditional biopsy. Dubbed the MR Spectroscopy, the team claims it has “applications in brain tumors, Alzheimer’s disease, Multiple Sclerosis and many other conditions.”
In the student social enterprise track, UrSure, Inc. took home the $50,000 grand prize. Founded by Helen Koenig, a practicing physician in Philadelphia and Giffin Daughtridge, a dual MD-public policy student at the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard’s Kennedy School, UrSure is a non-invasive way of encouraging adherence to the HIV preventive drug, PrEP. Instead of shots in the arm, Koenig and Daughtridge have created a way to measure usage through a urine test. “It’s as easy as one, two, pee,” Daughtridge closed his pitch to laughs.
Winning the runner-up cash pot of $25,000 was crowd favorite, Confi. The platform, focused on “crowdsourcing big sister advice” around women’s and sexual health was founded by second year MBAs, Tess Brooks and Polina Dekhtyar and Harvard undergrads, Montita Sowapark and Nyla Fuller.
MOVING KEY-NOTE ADDRESS FROM HBS ALUM
Such important and life-altering solutions were right on par to an incredibly inspirational keynote address from Jeff Sandefer. The serial entrepreneur earned his MBA from HBS in 1986 and is regarded as one of the best professors in entrepreneurship in the United States. Sandefer started his first company as a high school student and is currently teaching entrepreneurship at the alternative B-school he founded, Action School of Business and it’s K-12 spinoff, Action Academy.
“This morning I missed teaching my MBA class for the second time in 26 years,” Sandefer began. “And I left my middle and high school schools with no adults in the classroom. All so I could come to Boston and deliver the following message: Simple ideas alone do not change the future.
“But if you’re willing to commit to a hero’s journey in entrepreneurship, you can change the world. I’m here today because I believe a few of you are going to do exactly that.”
‘WHO YOU LOVE AND WHO LOVES YOU TRUMPS EVERYTHING’
And then Sandefer proceeded to outline what it means to live a hero’s journey in entrepreneurship. “When your time on earth reaches its natural end, I predict you won’t be concerned about money or power or fame,” Sandefer said. “But simply, have I contributed something meaningful? Was I a good person? And who did I love and who loved me?”
In a speech closely resembling a religious sermon, Sandefer stuck with a love conquers all theme.
“Yes, winning the New Venture Challenge matters and it should be celebrated,” said Sandefer. “And so does earning a Harvard degree and launching an IPO. But in the long run, who you love and who loves you trumps everything.
“I promised at the start to answer the question, do you have what it takes. You will be successful. You’ll make more money than you need. And you’ll soon learn that being rich is not about what you have, but spending less than you make so that your free time belongs to you. You’ll find—as Bill (Sahlman) said—that failure isn’t about setbacks or making mistakes, because those are going to make you strong. And increasingly—and especially—if you ignore the hero’s call, you will learn not to fear failure, but the horror of waking up at age 55 or 60 and realize you wasted your life.”
DON’T MISS: HARVARD B-SCHOOL AWARDS TOP STARTUPS
The post Health Care Dominates HBS Startup Comp appeared first on Poets and Quants.
Are mornings better with your schedule? If so, then, meet us for breakfast to get an overview of the Fully Employed, Executive MBA and Health Care Executive MBA programs. Join us next Tuesday on April 26. Register to attend. #MBA #UCIMerage #UCIrvine
We will answer your specific questions about the application process, about the program and help guide you to the best program with your specific goals in mind. Breakfast is complimentary.
Fantastic to have Pete Sayburn, co-founder and CEO of Market Gravity, on campus to talk to our MSc Management & Entrepreneurship students yesterday...
#YaleEMBA teamwork extends beyond the classroom! Proud of our Class of 2017 students who participated in the Brooklyn 15k in Prospect Park, Sunday, April 17th. And congrats to Katherine Nichols '17 who won it!
Happy Earth Day! Did you know that the new Tepper Quad will comply with LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold Certification standards? Learn more: http://bit.ly/1MGrwOR
The new building will comply with LEED Gold Certification standards, which is based off of five building performance standards, including sustainable site developments, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.
Steerage or first class? How companies are creating a wealth-based caste system. Prof. Steve Tadelis says getting it right "is very, very hard.”
Companies are becoming adept at identifying wealthy customers and marketing to them, creating a money-based caste system.
Congratulations to Darden's Morela Hernandez, recognized by Poets and Quants as a "Best 40 Under 40" b-school prof!
http://bit.ly/1SOgcfX
Jack-of-all-trades excels in teaching and research …
As you walk down the streets of London, you can hear conversations being held in numerous languages at each corner café or Camden pub. Although I am thousands of miles away from Philadelphia, somehow this still feels like home. The global nature of London reminds me of the times I…Read More
The post Wharton Team Based Discussions – London appeared first on MBA Program.
Those who lead change need a different set of skills than your average 'good leader'. LBS's Richard Jolly boiled his years of experience down to ten key skills: http://bit.ly/1qGjuet
Want to be the kind of leader who can lead change? Richard Jolly breaks down the skills you need.
I took four full-length mock tests before the actual GMAT and thoroughly analysed each result
Read more
In an age when there was no emphasis on providing women with an advanced education, Chenery attended Columbia Business School. That gave her the background she needed as she turned around faltering Meadow Stable. http://bit.ly/1SPstH9
Her insistence to run the farm while her father's health failed instead of sell gave Meadow Stable the ride of a lifetime with Riva Ridge and his...
It will take more than 100 years to reach gender equality in the workplace, according to results from the first year of Women in the Workplace 2015.
Marie-Claude Nadeau, a Partner with McKinsey & Company in San Francisco, discusses five challenges to gender equality in the workplace.
Current Oxford MBA Stephen Robert Morse blogs for the FT about his ex-military classmates, who have begun a series of talks entitled “Lessons from the Military: Leadership and Execution” in order to share military knowledge that can be applied to business strategy.
"I am fascinated by the complex situations that the armed forces must deal with".
Read Prof. Carlos Cordon's latest article on City A.M.: http://www.cityam.com/238806/the-three-leadership-skills-to-take-your-business-digital
It would often seem that, to succeed in the digital world, you need to be a young manager in a startup born with digital DNA, like Alibaba, Uber or Google.
What business lessons can be learned from Star Wars? Professor José Ignacio Gafo introduces the first episode of our new “Business Cool” video series:
Comments
Post a Comment