Final Project - Due December 4
The class project will be an 8-page (single or doubled spaced ok) study of a business or industry that you believe is ripe for digitization. Your deliverable will be to create a new concept or business that you believe will disrupt the business or industry that you have chosen.
You are encouraged to do this project in small groups of two or three. We suggest you create a visual(s) to help tell your story. This may be a video, app, website, PowerPoint, or other to help illustrate your concept, and may be used during your final presentation.
You will be expected to contact at least 2 industry executives and interview them. Explain that you are an MBA student at CU Denver and you need their help. Connect via telephone, email, linked in, WhatsApp, WeChat, or any other means you chose. You will need to tell us in your final project what you learned from these two contacts.
Critical thinking and insightful work will be rewarded, so think deeply and present your ideas clearly. The ideas that you will be expected to consider include:
- Problem Identification: What is the problem that you have identified? How is it being solved today, and how well or poor are the current options?
- What is Your Solution? How do you propose solving this problem? Give us a really clear picture of your solution from the customer’s perspective. How will you use digital technology to solve the problem and create a competitive advantage?
- Competition. Are there specific companies or individuals trying to solve this problem? What if any innovation has there been recently in this space?
- Financial Opportunity. Tell us how you will make money. Will you charge each customer? How much? What is the size of potential business? What is the TAM(Total Addressable Market)? Discuss unit economics. If a company or business successfully solved the problem you identified, how large would the company be?
- Marketing: How will you attract customers? What marketing and promotional strategies and tactics will you employ? Is there an opportunity to create a new ‘platform?’ How important is a network effect, and will this affect your marketing?
- Risks: What risks and dangers can you see in your plan? How can you manage and govern these risks in creating your new business?
- Execution Plan: Provide a narrative, about 1 page, about how you would go about creating this business. Tell us how you would develop the technology, (PLEASE INCLUDE A CUSTOMER AND USER PERSONA, A LEAN CANVAS, AND AN MVP) secure funding, and recruit talent.
- Financials: Provide a simple P/L with a forecast of revenue, costs, and market share for the first 3 years.
- Executive Summary: Provide a one-paragraph summary of your idea and why it is awesome. This will be your cover page.
You also need to Include a Persona, MVP (and feature Set Rankings,) and a Lean canvas. See below.
Be aware that everything you state needs to be supported. Use appropriate citations where needed. This is not an exercise in creative writing, but rather a well-researched and supported paper. Remember, this course is about disruption and you are allowed and encouraged to be a (digitally) disruptive student. You are therefore encouraged, but not required, to create a website, app, video, or any other digital exhibits to support your work, which may also be used during your final presentations.
Final Presentation and Competition: At the end of the term, you are required to make a professional 5-minute (time limit strictly enforced) presentation of your project, particularly emphasizing the salient points and takeaways. If you develop any digital tools or exhibits, you may use them during the presentation as long as the total time doesn’t exceed 5 minutes. Presentations will be followed by 5 minutes Q&A. The best presentation (as voted by your classmates) will receive a special prize.
Peer evaluations: 25 percent of your project grade will be devoted to peer evaluation scores. A peer evaluation request will be sent out prior to your final presentations and will be due on the final class date.(INCLUDE A CUSTOMER AND USER PERSONA, A LEAN CANVAS, AND AN MVP)