MBA Students Learn from Grubstake Process
While the five entrepreneurial companies chosen to present their investment opportunity at the most recent learned a lot about investment strategy, others behind the scenes also were getting an education. Four students in the MBA Program in George Mason University's School of Management had a unique behind-the-curtain look at the Business Alliance Grubstake Breakfast program process and earned course credit for their curiosity.
The students--Brian Butler, Patrick Williams, Steve Burden and Amy Knobl-- participated in the Entrepreneur Honors Lab, a course that shadows the Grubstake Breakfast from the beginning of the application process to the actual event.
The breakfast, the longest running networking and investors' forum of its kind in the region, features presentations from five companies seeking $250,000 to $2 million in investment capital; and a panel of investment experts who provide an update to attendees on their fund and the market and then offer specific feedback to the presenting companies.
The Honors Lab runs for three semesters and is led by Jim Wolfe, professor of entrepreneurship in the School of Management. As students move through their course work and grow in their understanding of the process, they begin to participate more in actual work and decision making. The first semester is observing and shadowing the process. Students attended conference calls and reviewed applications, ranking each one along with the committee members, who are Business Alliance members and university partners. Though the students’ rankings were not counted in the actual tally, they were able to sit in on all the deliberations and compare their personal scores to the ones the committee chose. During the second semester, returning students shadow coaching and have an opportunity to sit in on due-diligence meetings/calls and to view the final five selection process.
“The Honors Lab is a classic ‘laboratory’ -- a mix of theory applied to practice, with a chance for students to observe the results and figure out what works and what doesn't,” says Jim Wolfe, professor of entrepreneurship. “We can also ‘test’ our hypotheses about what types of early stage companies will fare better in the ‘real world’ in a (relatively) controlled environment.”
Once the five presenters were chosen, the MBA students observed coaching sessions in which committee members helped the presenting companies optimize their presentation skills.
“It was really interesting to watch and listen to the presentations. It’s a lot of pressure. I learned that the people who were more convincing were the ones who really showed their passion in their product and company,” says Butler.
“One of the main pieces of advice was for the presenters not to ‘sell’ their product in the presentation, but to sell the investment opportunity,” said Burden. “This, and other advice, was important to the companies -- their presentations clearly improved in the week before the breakfast event.”
According to Judy Costello, executive director of the Business Alliance, the Honors Lab is viewed positively by Business Alliance volunteers and Grubstake applicants/presenters. .“I’ve received nothing but positive comments from our members regarding their interactions with this talented group of students,” she says. "This type of “live-lab” learning opportunity is a great example of the type of mutually beneficial business-education partnership that is core to the Business Alliance’s mission."
The final step of the Lab each semester is attending the actual breakfast program at the McLean Hilton in Tyson’s Corner, Va., where one of the students has the privilege of introducing one of the five companies and all of the students are able to see the progress the companies had made throughout the process.
“The students get a rare experience. Not just with start-up entrepreneurs, but with accountants, lawyers, and executives in very large firms interested in innovation and new developments. They also see new technologies struggling to emerge and be accepted in the marketplace. And with all that, we throw in a good breakfast,” says Wolfe.
--excerpts taken from an article was written by Tara Laskowski, Copy Editor, Mason Gazette
Next Grubstake Breakfast: 6/12/08 (Application Deadline: 5/9/08
If you'd like to develop your own Alliance connecting Business Alliance members with Mason students, contact the Business Alliance office.
