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Sharon Lee returns from Babson College
Sharon Lee discusses the New Entrepreneur Transatlantic Scholarship at Babson College.
November 2006
On arriving at Babson, we were given time to acclimatise and familiarise ourselves with the new surroundings of the Babson Executive Centre. The Babson grounds are a delightful mixture of leafy woods, tranquil ponds with a variety of native wildlife. It was a sunny St Columbus day, and the Babson grounds posed a beautiful contrast of falling autumn leaves and dazzling sunshine. There was a definitive aura of business excellence and high achievement within the centre, with evidence in the form of mounted portraits that told a thousand stories. 5 am at the gym was a picture of executives using exercise equipment powering up for the day and reading reports.
"Fasten your seatbelts its going to be a bumpy ride" were the exact words of the head of the European institute of Babson College on induction day. Our mentor Mike Gordon, a serial Entrepreneur himself explained that we were about to embark on a two week MBA style programme that usually spans over two semesters!
Although we scholars were acquainted with each other due to the selection and preparation weekends, introductions of ourselves and businesses proved to be unusually difficult in our new environment. Our business sectors ranged from high tech Internet and Design, to Day Care infant/elderly services. In preparation for this once in a lifetime opportunity, we were given 10 case studies to read and analyse together with a plethora of additional reading business material. We were told to familiarise ourselves with all material prior to arriving, as there would be no time during the programme; and they were not wrong! Sessions began at 8.30am and ended at 5.30pm , giving us the rest of the evening to work on the all important executive summaries.
The executive summary briefing with world renowned experts in business, Professors Les Charm and Mike Gordon covered aspects of how to condense and sell your business in a 3-5 minute pitch to a panel of investors. "I get it" was the desired outcome for the two mentors. Fundamental attributes of the executive summary were discussed in the shape of contextual formats to help us project the market need, added value and scope for growth.
We worked on the executive summaries in our own time, using power point to illustrate products/services, financials aspects and to plot the potential growth of our businesses. The first presentations were to be held on the first Thursday as a practice run for the selection finale on week 2.
The case studies provided real life business cases of multi million dollar companies for class discussion and debate. We often had visits from CEO's and senior personnel from companies such as Timberland, DiGrigoli Salons, Jiffy Lube and American Oil. The speakers shared similar entrepreneur style qualities that were profoundly inspirational, and motivated the group to the point that we were often close to tears! Experts gave up their free time and own expenses to share their wisdom and passion with the group, which was truly humbling and gratefully accepted. After two or 3 case studies, we really got into the swing of things and frequently broke out into groups of 4 or 5 to solve problems in a board style manner. We then returned to class to present our solutions to the professors and other groups or hypothetical companies as we were known.
We were encouraged to implement the power of 0 to our financial forecast for our businesses and/or future ideas, adding a 0 to the end figure of our 5 year financial projections, which proved to be an immensely empowering and positive technique of visualising future growth.
topWorld renowned experts shared their knowledge and expertise on some of the different areas of entrepreneurship, such as Intrepreneurship; a method adopted by innovators within a company who create opportunity and new ventures for a company or organisation and Social entrepreneurship, which looks at the ethos of a business and how it can contribute to society by best practice.
The day of the first presentations dawned, we all prepared to sell our business ideas to the professors and the rest of the group. Some of us were awake until 2-3am perfecting our pitches, while others survived on one hours sleep! We were divided into two groups that provided a safe environment for critique and feedback. My own presentation proved to be too technical, and I gained valuable feedback which gave me the insight to adapt the content to appeal to a non technical investor. The next pitch would be the following week, and this time to the whole group and two professors. The group would then select and vote for a business they thought deserved to go through to the dragons den style pitch.
We then went for lunch and straight back into class for another case study, no rest for the wicked! At the end of this exhausting day, we were taken on the infamous Boston duck tours! We got to see Boston by land and by sea in a World War II amphibious landing vehicle, but this was not just for pleasure, oh no, as there was a case study the following week on the very company.
For the selection pitch- everybody seemed much more prepared. Presentations were tighter and sleeker, people were clearer and focused on objectives, and much more sleep was had all round! This time, my pitch was much more geared towards investors and Professor Mike Gordon bellowed "I get it", which was music to my ears! It was amazing to find out that Natasha Bryan of Tick Tock crèche got through to the final, flying the flag for all six of us Nottingham Entrepreneurs! I was very proud of her.
That evening, we were all presented with a certificate to say we had completed the prestigious programme at a formal drinks evening in the lounge. The atmosphere was filled with a great sense of achievement, high morale and solidarity-which I found very emotional and rewarding. We were then treated to a lovely meal in Boston , and treated to the best rib eye beef I've ever tasted!
The following day, the whole group watched Natasha Bryan and the other thee finalists face the panel of investors for a nerve racking 10 minute pitch and 10 minute question slot. Everybody held their own and did extremely well; in my opinion Natasha outshone everyone with her warmth and charisma... not that I'm at all biased. After each finalist presented and was questioned, the panel conversed as they would in a real life situation to decide whether or not to invite individuals back on the basis of their pitch and idea.
To sum it up, the Babson experience was intensely amazing! It's made me look at new opportunities that not only reside in the Web/Internet market. It's also embedded the power of 0 theory into my financial way of thinking. I can't thank NBV enough for presenting me with this opportunity, and empowering me with the knowledge, confidence and prosperity to help me conquer my entrepreneurial aspirations!
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