Final Four

SpE was a timer in one of the rooms awaiting the judges final decision after the first round of presentations. The judges deliberated for almost a half hour - all the teams had strong presentations and they were struggling to select a winner. Dean Chalykoff was called in for clarification at one point and they were told to "show us the money!" Dean C. advised them to use the given criteria but that they should also go with their gut instinct - in other words, make a decision based on the presentation who really delivered the goods.

Forty minutes later, the judges were close to making a decision. Dean Chalykoff ran back into the room to spur them on with another "show me the money!" The decision was finally made.

If this is the deliberation that went on in one room, I'm sure the other judges in the other rooms had a tough time deciding on the best.

The teams that will be proceeding to the final round are - CANOPY, PEBL, SURFBoard and ROKR.

Team SURFBoard in high spirits

Team SURFBoard left here at about 3 am this morning. They said they worked well together and given that the team members are so different, they challenged each other a lot. They had already done most of their research on the company and the industry prior to the competition and it didn't take them long to sort out their plan. They wanted to get everyone on the same page, qualify their assumptions and really hash out their plan. Their methodology for working was basically to paper most available spaces with charts and brainstorm ideas, iterate, rehash, discuss, rinse and repeat. They did discuss their core idea about 10 times to get it clear in everybody's head and all on the same page. Staying late for them was not a problem because they knew they were driving towards a solution.

They did one dry run this morning to make sure it goes smoothly. Teresa Lee said that she liked the experience of thinking through the solution and brainstorming with her team. Considering that most b-schoolers don't get to advise on and receive executive validation and feedback on corporate strategy, she feels good about being here for the experience. Ryan Sandoval won the team bet on what the topic of the case would be but unfortunately he wasn't far-sighted enough to negotiate a prize for his bet. There is one veteran on the team - Jeff Piper participated in the presentations in the prior year (ok, so alliteration is not my strong suite, but I do a mean NPV) and they seem confident of the outcome. He did say that while the topic of seamless mobility and the commercialization thereof was an exciting topic, the challenges associated with with trying to make it happen are very real. This would be a great value proposition for the company and it is well-positioned and ready to capitalize on it.

The team is in their last week of Spring Break so they're very well refreshed and relaxed which would attribute to the high energy levels (they're remarkably peppy) and some did confess to being naturally hyper-active. Whatever the reason, it's good to see energetic and bubbly participants this morning.

Good luck, Team SURFBoard. Keep the spirits high!

The late shift

Things went rather well last night I hear. I'm not as motivated as the excellent committee so I skipped home at 1:30 am but with Jim, Natasha, Divya and Dean Chalykoff holding down the fort, I knew the lounge was in capable hands. A lot of the visiting students made it a point to mention how professional the BU organizing committee seems and were very appreciative of the fact that someone was here all night in case they needed anything. One team remarked that it was pretty amazing to see Dean Chalykoff here in the middle of the night and they really liked that things were running so smoothly. Dean Chalykoff and the committee only got about 3 minutes of sleep collectively last night so if you see them, be sure to shake their hand.

Team V3BLUE works better at night

Team V3Blue has formulated their plan and is working on how to present it. They've nailed down the broader structure and are thinking about the types of questions they may be asked tomorrow. They've pretty much stayed with their original hypothesis and are coming up the facts and figures around it.

The team is good at working together. They are starting to droop a little and need to recharge but they do work better at night. They're not rushed at all, taking their time to think things through. They don't want to be exposed tomorrow so they're being as comprehensive as possible. The team seems pretty resilient.

They did admit that they though the problem wasn't glaringly obvious. They are of the opinion that something revolutionary is required to answer this question. They are surprised the case is specifically about media and entertainment - they were expecting something less industry-specific.

Good luck, V3BLUE. Remember to get some sleep tonight.

Team KRZR is almost ready!

Well that's what they said when I walked in! They've had lots of ideas and they're working well together. The high point of the event for them was when they realized that the approach they had formulated had already been implemented and so they felt like CEOs because CEOs think like they do. The low point of the event for them was when they realized that the approach they had formulated had already been implemented and so they couldn't use it for the competition.

Good luck, KRZR. Don't worry, you'll think of something.

Team RAZR thinks divide and conquer

Team RAZR had an interesting vibe. They found the challenge tougher than they had expected and they also seem to be working slower than they had expected. Their initial deadline to leave was 8 pm which was pushed to midnight and is now currently looking at around 3 pm. When asked about their strategy for working on this competition, the reply was "do we need one?" Now that is either too much confidence or too little sleep talking.

They laid out their strategy rather late and they acknowledge that they should have done that earlier but they haven't shifted paths since. Their hypothesis was formulated early but since the case is so open-ended, they were hesitant to pin down a strategy early on.

The team did profess to be leaning a little towards craziness at this point although the experience working with each other has been good so far. Energy levels have been steady till now but are starting to ramp up. This game is much like a Test match one said. Their plan is forming up nicely and they are geared for the last leg. They did like BU's Starbucks/BreadWinners cafeteria - said it seemed like a nice cosy place to congregate.

Good luck, RAZR. Don't kill each other. Remember, you need 4 to present tomorrow.

Team PEBL needs a caffeine kick

Team PEBL seems to be working well within the group. They had had decided when they received the case that they would put their computers away and just talk it out for a while to be more productive. They did find lots of surprises however. They had a brainstorming session before they did the research and naturally after they got googling found that many of their ideas had already been adopted. They were having a little trouble with the fact that Motorola wants immediate changes but for a long-term strategy. They expect to keep working all night as expected.

The team seemed rather fed up with Motorola products at this point (to be fair, they have been staring at the website for over 10 hours now). They did uncover one interesting fact about the PEBL - the product was initially designed for a female demographic but appeals more to men. One team member mentioned that he thought Motorola would be a very exciting place for him to work because of their short product life-cycles in a challenging and innovative environment but between you and me, I think he just wants to attend lots of new product release parties.


Good luck PEBL. There's plenty of coffee in the lounge.