hcwebdev – Page 22 – Ciocca Center for Business, Ethics, and Society Blog

April 8, 2013

First Annual HCEG Shark Tank a Success: Great ideas & How to make $1 million…

Last evening’s First Annual Shark Tank competition, sponsored by the Holy Cross Entrepreneurs Group and Ciocca Office of Entrepreneurial Studies, was a resounding success. With registration somewhat uncertain right up until the event started, no one in the room was totally sure what to expect, but by the end of the night the feeling was unanimous – these Holy Cross students had some really great ideas!

The night kicked off with pizza and soda and the room was filled not just with competitors but spectators who showed up to see what their classmates had managed to come up with for ideas. Seniors Andrew Coury and Ed Pesce, co-chairs of the HC Entrepreneurs Group on campus, were in charge of planning this event and they recruited quite an esteemed panel of alumni judges to give feedback – both positive and negative – to the student teams participating. These judges included: Mary Moran ’77, Patrick Sansonetti ’93, John Schiffmann ’82, Chris Stephenson ’97 and Bryan Sparkes ’04.

Unlike the television version of Shark Tank, the HC competition didn’t involve a lot of yelling but that didn’t stop the judges from asking critical questions and really challenging the students to think about how, exactly, their business would work.

In all, there were 5 pitches – two teams and three individuals – and the ideas included a dorm delivery service where students could order necessities and have them delivered in under an hour, a service to help people more successfully embrace the tailgating experience, an autodetailing company that would come to your home or work to clean your car, and a video game where the player assumed the character of a dog and faced “dog-like” challenges.

However, at the end of the night, it was freshman Ben Kaplan who walked away with the $100 prize for the top idea. Not only had Kaplan clearly spent a great deal of time thinking about how, exactly, his idea for a new social media platform would work but he had already come up with a clever acronym for the name of the product and had a logo. (Specifics are being omitted because Kaplan is in the process of working to actually get this idea off the ground and this blogger doesn’t want to be accused of “over sharing”!) To give you an idea of how impressed the judges were with Kaplan’s presentation, let’s just say that when he was awarded top prize one of the alumni judges offered him the chance to get in a room with real investors and do a formal pitch.

The other great thing about this event was not only did the students give impressive presentations, but the alumni all took the opportunity to use their professional experiences to give the students in the ro0m insight and advice on how to go about launching a successful idea. One of the favorite take aways from the night was Chris Stephenson’s advice on how to make $1 million: “Figure out how to make $1. Then do it one million times.” Sounds pretty simple, right?

Overall, a great night. The level of excitement was definitely high as people left the competition and lots of people indicated that they are looking forward to seeing this grow into an annual event at Holy Cross. If the ideas that keep coming in the future are as strong as last night’s, there’s no doubt that Shark Tank will become even more competitive and, hopefully, attract a growing number of students to take the risk, come up with an idea and participate.

Thank you to all the judges, student participants and spectators for taking the time to come out and we’ll see you again next year for Shark Tank Round #2.

As always, don’t forget to “Like” us on FACEBOOK, follow us on Twitter and look for our WIB, SBP and ELW groups on LinkedIN.

Helene

Helene Horan
Associate Director, Entrepreneurial Studies

March 7, 2013

Exploring Global Business and Corporate Social Responsibility with Green Mountain Coffee-Keurig on Day 4

Karen Gallagher, Senior Marketing Director at Green Mountain Coffee – Keurig and mother of a current Holy Cross junior, braved the snow on the fourth day of ELW 2013 to make sure the students could learn about global business and corporate social responsibility (or, CSR). As was a theme of the week, the day was focused on group work. Karen kicked off the session giving an overview of GMCR/Keurig, highlighting the company’s mission and values, the way they communicate (or, don’t communicate) these values to all invested constituencies – employees, customers, farmers, etc – and the challenges that GMCR/Keurig is facing. She talked about a couple of particularly interesting initiatives that really showcased how, as an employer, GMCR/Keurig differentiates itself, including the fact that all employees are allotted 52 hours per year to do service work at the location of their choice. As students at Holy Cross, where the idea of being “men and women for others” is important, you could see a lot of the students intrigued that a company would do something like that. Then, Karen also talked a lot about the importance of marketing, using examples of particularly effective television ads, to show how good marketing can clearly communicate who a company is and what they stand for and, as a result, build brand recognition and loyalty.

With the overview complete, Karen sent the students off to work in their teams to put together a presentation on how GMCR/Keurig could to a better job communicating its initiatives internally and externally as well as how the company could create a sustainable competitive advantage. The students were charged with creating a presentation highlighting where the current strengths were and then suggesting tangible action items that could enhance GMCR/Keurig’s communications.

With just two hours to work on this presentation, the results were impressive. The students suggested things like revamping the K-cup box to really highlight what the company is doing, creating an “Employee of the Year” award highlighting someone who really embodies GMCR/Keurig’s commitment to CSR and coming up with ways to better facilitate everyone participating in service opportunities and marketing those experiences so customers are aware they are happening. All of the teams agreed that the “stuff” GMCR/Keurig is doing is positive – they are committed and really incorporate their corporate values into the business, but they need to figure out a way to make the initiatives clearer and broadcast them to a wider audience.

The day wrapped up with an exciting surprise – the two teams of students that Karen deemed the winners of the presentations were awarded their own Vue single cup brewers, the latest product by Keurig! Some of the students asked to have them shipped to Holy Cross – so they’ll be ready to help them cram through the end of the semester – and a couple of the students asked them to be sent home as a nice surprise for their lucky parents!

The snow is going to roll in tomorrow so we’ll see what that means for Day 5 of ELW but, regardless, we’ve had 4 jam packed days of learning and teamwork and I think all of the students have already learned quite a bit about both careers in business and leadership skills.

As always, don’t forget to “Like” us on FACEBOOK and look for our WIB, SBP and ELW groups on LinkedIN!

Helene

Helene Horan
Associate Director, Entrepreneurial Studies

March 6, 2013

Day 3 of ELW: How to be ethical and why you shouldn’t buy a BMW.

Day 3 of ELW 2013 focused on leading a company and handling “ethical pitfalls”. Led by Tom Patton ’86, President and CEO of CASMED, and Carolyn Risoli ’86, former president of Marc by Marc Jacobs and current principal at CRisoli Consulting, the student teams spent the day reading real case studies that the executives had written and debating among themselves what the ethical questions were and how they should be decided.

The afternoon was particularly interesting as the students had to read a number of brief scenarios and then respond with how they would have acted. Tom and Carolyn started by posing the question of: If you take a company pen home from work, is that stealing? What about 5 pens? 10? A box? Your desk chair? The students quickly realized how tricky business ethics can become as most of them thought that taking a pen wasn’t necessarily stealing but saw their logic unravel as Tom challenged them to thinking about larger items. Another similar scenario dealt with the question of business reimbursements: If your company gives you a $7 cab ride home if you work until after 7 o’clock, is it ok to take that cab ride to a restaurant rather than home? What about going out with your friends and then getting the cab? The debate was lively, with lots of different points of view expressed, and Tom and Carolyn were able to weigh in with how they’ve actually navigated these situations in their roles as executives.

In addition to addressing business ethics, Tom and Carolyn talked to the students about the importance of being careful in business and how quickly things can change. Tom offered the advice that you need to be sure to live within your means, and be financially careful, because as quickly as things can get good, they can take a turn for the worse. Citing examples of young business people he knew, he cautioned the students against falling into the trap of wanting the biggest house and the flashiest car. “The BMW can wait until later,” he said.

The other big message of the day? Tom and Carolyn talked about how it’s easy to be ethical when things are good. What’s important is making sure to remain ethical even when it’s challenging to do so. They encouraged the students to think about two things: first, would you want to see your actions reported in the New York Times? And, second, would you be proud to tell the person you most admire – spouse, child, parent, friend, etc – about what you did? If you’re not comfortable with both, they said, you need to re-think what you’re doing.

Overall, another really interesting day and one that got the students thinking more about what to do when things aren’t going well and how important it is for a leader to be steadfast in what he or she believes is right!

Tonight the students are off to Boston for the HC Alumni Entrepreneur Group’s Networking Session. All of the students in ELW have been challenged to meet at least two new people tonight, so we’ll see how they do…

As always, don’t forget to “Like” us on FACEBOOK and look for our WIB, SBP and ELW groups on LinkedIN!

Helene

Helene Horan
Associate Director, Entrepreneurial Studies

March 6, 2013

Should company culture be a primary or secondary concern in the business world?

Day 2 of the 2013 Executive Leadership Workshop focused on the importance of business culture in creating a sustainable business. Tom Brennan ’86, CEO of Goshido, ran the students through a series of group exercises to get them thinking about whether or not a company’s leadership team should make company culture a primary or secondary priority.

The students engaged in two debates: the first debate was focused on the question of whether company culture should be primary or secondary. However, it was the secondary debate that really got the students going! This debate was based on a Harvard Business School case study about a crisis on Northwest Airlines where customers were stranded on a grounded plane for 8+ hours due to inclimate weather. There were three teams: the customers, the CEOs and the Board of Directors.

Their challenge? The three groups had to try to appease one another – the customers wanted a settlement, the CEOs wanted to keep their jobs and the Board was worried about publicity.

Tom Brennan’s goal was to get the students thinking about the challenges that emerge in companies, particularly between different groups of constituencies, and to understand how communications need to go in order for a company to be sustainable. Tom was pretty clear that in his opinion company culture had to be a primary focus. However, after getting all riled up in the debate, I’m not sure all of the students were complete sure that they agreed.

Today’s topic: Business Ethics. The students are currently mid-discussion of whether or not it’s ok to take a pen home from work. Is that stealing? Or, is it ok…after all, it’s just a pen? Check back tomorrow to see how ethical this group really is!

March 5, 2013

Ideas for new apps created on Day 1 of the 2013 Executive Leadership Workshop!

Yesterday kicked off the 2013 Executive Leadership Workshop and one of the things the students definitely learned was that working a full day (they started at 8:30 am and were busy until 7 pm) is challenging!

Peter George ’81 started off the week talking about how to start and build a business. He was accompanied by Geoff Oblak and Gary Kramer. The students’ challenge for the day: work with their teams to come up with an educational app and then pitch it to the day’s three executive teachers who were acting as Venture Capitalists.

While all the teams came up with interesting ideas, two teams were ultimately rewarded funding: Michael Biggins ’16, Claudia Bechtold ’15, Maggie MacMullin ’16 and Michael Tucker ’14 came up with the idea for BookChat, an online database for professors to post excerpts of readings and where students can engage in online discussions. Nolan Kiernan ’15, Matt Devine ’15, Brendan McGill ’14 and Sophie Haggerty ’16 came up with the idea for SyncroNote, an online note taking software with an audio recording technology. I’m not going to include too many details, in case any of these teams decide to really run with the idea, but the judges were all impressed.

Stay posted for updates on the rest of this week’s workshop. Today’s topic is “Using Culture and Values to Build a Sustainable Business”. Currently the students are split up in groups prepping for a debate on whether culture should be a primary or secondary concern in companies. We’ll see who comes up with the most persuasive argument…

February 19, 2013

Alumni in the Real Estate Industry Discuss Market Statistics and the Importance of Thank You Notes

Last night a group of 10 Holy Cross alumni joined a group of students in Hogan to discuss what real estate really is, the various career paths available within the industry and how students interested in real estate can get a foot in the door. The alumni present were: Colin Blair ’00 of Cushman & Wakefield, Justin Blair ’03 of The Monomoy Group, Brendan Cohn ’03 of Jones Lang LaSalle, Paul Formichelli ’96 of Jones Lang LaSalle, Jim Grady ’91 of Synergy Investments, Matt Harvey ’02 of Cresa Partners, Chuck O’Connor ’78 of Cassidy Turley, Bryan Sparkes ’03 of Jones Lang LaSalle and Kyle Trodden ’05 of Hudson Advisors. They hold a variety of roles within the industry including commercial broker, residential broker, corporate services, construction management but during the conversation it was clear that all of the jobs had some key similarities like how no two days are ever the same and the importance of being able to effectively manage relationships.

Not surprisingly a big topic of conversation at this panel was the value of a Holy Cross education and the Holy Cross alumni network. The panelists talked about how competitive the business and how they are constantly fielding phone calls from young professionals who are looking for a job. Several of them said that, for a Holy Cross student, they can always make time but otherwise, there aren’t enough hours in the day to meet with all the interested candidates.

There was also quite a bit of discussion about professional degree programs – where the best ones were, what different programs entailed and whether they are worth it. While there were varied opinions on these programs the general consensus was that, in the real estate industry, you should graduate college and work first, then think about a graduate degree later. The alumni all seemed to agree that much of the training that takes place in real estate is really learned as you go by watching folks who’ve been in the job longer than you have.

What were some key takeaways?

1. If you want to be in real estate, especially brokerage, you have to be willing to work hard. You are constantly selling – you start with selling yourself to try to get a job and, from there, you are constantly selling as you try to generate business.

2. Show up to interviews prepared. It’s not enough to say, “I will work hard and am a good kid.” If you’re going to a real estate interview – even if it’s an “informational interview” – know something about real estate.

3. Proofread your emails. Keep the exclamation points minimal. No smiley faces.

4. Write thank you notes. There was some debate about email thank yous versus handwritten thank yous. As some who is partial to handwritten thank you notes, I’ll say that the alum advocating for them noted that he gets hundreds of emails daily. Thank you emails get deleted. Handwritten notes stay on your desk for weeks. Could come in handy if a few weeks after you meet a position unexpectedly opens up….

Thanks to the alumni for taking the time to come talk to us and we look forward to having them come back to campus again soon.

As always, don’t forget to “Like” us on FACEBOOK and look for our WIB, SBP and ELW groups on LinkedIN!

January 31, 2013

“The Ethics Guy” Welcomes Students Back to Campus!

Just two days in to the Spring 2013 semester, Bruce Weinstein, “The Ethics Guy”, joined Holy Cross students here on campus to run a workshop focused on ethical intelligence. Dr. Weinstein’s visit was co-sponsored by the COES Entrepreneurial Studies Program, the Economics department and the McFarland Center & Barrett Programming.

The workshop focused on an “Ethics Quiz” that he has created to help people gauge their ethical intelligence. Dr. Weinstein really got the room going as he asked questions out loud like, “If you saw someone cheating on an exam, and no one else did, what would you do?” or “If you’re riding in a car and the driver starts texting, do you tell them to stop? Say nothing? Or demand to get out of the vehicle?” Students were talking at their tables and then vocalizing a range of opinions on all the different questions, which created a lively conversation.

However, my favorite part was when Dr. Weinstein asked if anyone in the room feels under-appreciated. He said part of being ethically intelligent means thinking about our actions and “if they are caring”. Three students in the room admitted to feeling under-appreciated so Dr. Weinstein called them to the front of the room and had all the attendees give them a 1-minute standing ovation for being awesome!

Overall, it was a great workshop – lots of discussion and lots of active engagement. Hopefully a lot of what we talked about will come in to play later this winter when the Business Ethics Symposium gets underway here on campus.

As always, don’t forget to “Like” us on FACEBOOK and look for our WIB, SBP and ELW groups on LinkedIN!

September 25, 2012

The Atlantic on the Importance of Liberal Arts Colleges

In case you weren’t convinced, here’s a link to the Atlantic story that talks about the importance of colleges having an entrepreneur program:

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/09/how-liberal-arts-colleges-are-failing-america/262711/

Thank you for supporting the Entrepreneurial Studies program here at Holy Cross!
Not involved yet? REGISTER TODAY!

Cassie Gevry
Program Coordinator of Entrepreneurial Studies

July 10, 2012

This is Summer Business Program: Grand Finale

Sorry for the delay! Here is the final installment of Frank DeLeo’s ’14 guest blogger series. We are so excited to here how it all ended!

–

Game day: Friday, June 22. The big day had finally arrived. Four weeks of preparation and hard work has lead up to a mere 30 minute presentation. We practiced for hours upon hours. Execution was the final step, and my team was determined to knock ‘em dead.

That morning I woke up at 6:30 to meet Mr. Corria and the team at 7 before the first presentation started. Although our presentation wasn’t until 10, Mr. Correia couldn’t speak with us once the competition began at 8. We ran through our presentation once more, and Mr. Correia gave us a pregame speech that calmed our nerves (for the time being). He told us that we knew the information, and how he was more than confident in our ability.

The team decided to take an hour to go back to Carlin, get dressed, and get in the zone. We met up at 9:15 outside the Science Library. Dressed to impress, the team decided to run through the presentation one final time. As 10 a.m. kept getting closer and closer, nerves surfaced. At any moment we would be called in…

Personally, I believe that our presentation went off without a major hitch. We all remembered our transitions; however, each of us fumbled over a couple lines, but recovered nicely. We were all nervous, but then again who wasn’t? I think we got our point across and articulated ourselves clearly. The professionalism that a corporate presentation should have was unmatched by any team. Business cards, transitions, dress, and mannerisms were all perfectly executed. I couldn’t have been happier with our performance.

After the presentations, it felt as if a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. Walking back to Carlin, I couldn’t believe four weeks flew by that quickly. I got changed into casual clothes for lunch and sat in the AC of the science building until it was time to hear the results.

Unfortunately, my team didn’t come away with a win in either the elevator pitch or the Home Depot presentation. Despite this fact, Mr. Correia told us how proud he was of us during his reflection on working with us as a team. Hearing him talk so highly of us was uplifting and motivating. Although we all wanted the win, the SBP was about the experience.

The Summer Business Program was a phenomenal opportunity that taught me so much about the world of business. After participating in the ELW, the in depth business exposure I was looking for was fulfilled, especially in marketing and advertising. There were so many aspects of business I had no clue about. From finance to global expansion and everything in-between, I have pages of notes on every subject.

One of the greatest aspects of the program, in my opinion, was meeting distinguished Holy Cross alumni. Every person that spoke volunteered to educate the next generation of crusaders. Through numerous conversations, the business world isn’t as mysterious as I once thought. I am optimistic about becoming successful in the business world despite being a psychology major. Through my time in the program, I have gained a newfound interest in pursuing a career in business (if law doesn’t work out). Interning is definitely my next step.

Aside from the speakers, the mentors deserve a special thanks and separate category as a reason someone should do the SBP. The six mentors took 4 or 5 individuals under their wing to guide them through the project and teach them everything they could about business.

For my team, Mr. Correia was always excited about working and educating us with his expertise. He was constantly there for help and to ask questions because of the immense amount of information we needed to absorb. In addition, my team learned about professionalism and presentation skills, not only business. One quote that will never leave me is, “Tell ‘em what you’re gonna tell ‘em, tell ‘em, tell ‘em what you told ‘em.”

Overall, the SBP yielded valuable information and honed my presentation and leadership skills. Much of what I learned is applicable now and in the future: making ethical decisions, public speaking, organizing a presentation, and networking just to name a few.

When I signed up for the SBP I thought I’d never like business because it was only about numbers. Through the program, I came to the realization that the business field is so much more than finance. I now have an open-mind to a potential career in business down the road.

After graduating from the Summer Business Program, I’m ready. Are you?

–

Thanks, Frank!

Teams 3 & 4 took home the prizes, but all of our students deserve a huge congratulations for their hard work and dedication. SBP was a huge success and COES can’t wait until next year! Check our our facebook page for pictures and updates on SBP!

As always, don’t forget to “Like” us on FACEBOOK and look for our WIB, SBP and ELW groups on LinkedIN!

Kaithlyn

Kaithlyn Kayer
Associate Director, Entrepreneurial Studies

David Chu
Director, Entrepreneurial Studies & Pre-business Advisor

June 25, 2012

This is Summer Business Program: Part 4

Here’s another one from Frank DeLeo ’14!

Week four began our quest to obtain a victory on Friday after all the trials and tribulations of the Summer Business Program. The stress and anxiety set in early when trying to perfect our presentation. Every bullet, every sentence, and every movement had to be rehearsed and scripted. The PowerPoint needed to be clear and concise to get our ideas across. Most importantly we needed to look and sound our best in order to be the epitome of a real business presentation: professional.

The week began with a session on career planning. Taught by Pam Ahearn and Amy Murphy, we learned the nuisances of navigating the Holy Cross website and LinkedIn to find alumni not only for internships and jobs, but also for informational interviews.

The Holy Cross network is a phenomenal resource that I will continue to tap into during my last two years at HC, and even after graduation. I still don’t know what I want to do with my life after college, but I have a strategy to piece together my varying interests. By taking advantage of everything Holy Cross has to offer: the academic internship program, study abroad, ELW, SBP, etc, I can gain a better understanding of my likes and dislikes.

During my journey, I know that the network is always there for me to ask questions. The most important take away from the session was that alumni want to help, so I should never hesitate to contact them. After Monday, my two primary summer priorities became networking and setting up my LinkedIn profile.

As the week went on we were taught how to use Microsoft Office tools such as PowerPoint and Excel. Wednesday’s session on PowerPoint and presentation skills with Jessica Blau’08 and Roger Lobo ‘04 provided pertinent information to incorporate into the pitch.

During the session, we learned about tips and tricks for PowerPoint, verbal delivery, and slide content. My team took this new knowledge and touched up our presentation before we asked Ms. Blau to film our first dry run. I always hate watching myself on film, but the team and I discovered a lot from watching ourselves. We were able to see areas in which we could improve and mistakes that needed to be corrected by Friday. Thursday was the day to make those corrections.

When Mr. Correia told us that Thursday meant perfection, he wasn’t kidding. The team had no idea what to expect at 10 a.m. for the start of our meeting in Smith 155. We began with sharing all of the new information we had learned in our sessions, in addition to our perfected PowerPoint. From there, we jumped right into the dry runs. Every movement and sentence was scrutinized. People forgot lines, swayed in place, stepped forward wrong etc. Each time we made a mistake Mr. Correia would say, “Do it again.”

After a few tries, we got the hang of it. All that remained was being able to control our nerves the next morning and remember the transitions. We were confident in the content of our presentation and our ability to pitch the information. We simply needed to execute.

At 2 p.m., Mr. Correia had to go talk to the parents at Gateways. His wife couldn’t make it, so he needed someone from the team to go with him. I volunteered to talk to the parents with the mentality that I’d be sitting on a panel answering questions. Oh how wrong I was. It turned out that I had to speak in front of an almost full ballroom of parents with no preparation. I was terrified, but it was a great public speaking experience. I told my story and explained how the parents should let their children grow up, but still be involved in their lives for support and advice.

After my near heart attack, the team reconvened and decided to go practice separately for tomorrow. We had rehearsed so much that we needed a break to get our heads on straight. Mr. Correia left us to work by our own accord, and trusted us to be ready for game time, 10 a.m. Friday morning.

We were as ready as we’d ever be.

I can’t wait to find out how they did! Thanks again, Frank!

As always, don’t forget to “Like” us on FACEBOOK and look for our WIB, SBP and ELW groups on LinkedIN!

Kaithlyn

Kaithlyn Kayer
Associate Director, Entrepreneurial Studies

David Chu
Director, Entrepreneurial Studies & Pre-business Advisor