WRITING IN THE SHARK TANK

Source: Tina Lawson,
https://www.flickr.com/photos/ddfic/1030695200/

On Monday night this past week, my team and I finally passed what's been rumored to be the biggest hurdle in our University of Iowa MBA program: The Venture Capital Fair in the "Capstone" class, Strategic Management and Policy. Over the previous three weeks, my team had worked the hours equivalent to a full time job creating a business plan, complete with a tactical plan and pro forma financial statements. The numbers did not go well and we ended up having to get $750,000 from VC Fast Eddy, but in my world - the Word World - it was a resounding success.

The Friday night before, I watched the TV show Shark Tank for the very first time. I'd been told it was similar to how the VC Fair goes. That's right - I had nightmares. So I turned to what I know to work out the details: Words. Our entire team made sure the written part of the Business Plan flowed smoothly and seemed to be authored by one person rather than four chunks thrown together, which it was in reality. We did the same thing with the slides to go with our presentation.

Since I'm the only one with the flexibility thanks to my work-at-home schedule, I worked on some details the day of the fair. I printed a sign with our logo for the door, reworked a handout that tied directly to key phrases in our presentation (Goal: BE XXX), and created name tags.

My goal with all this was so that at least with the weaknesses in our plan, we would be memorable and give the impression that we tried hard and knew how to handle the "business." And it worked. Though we ended up having to invite Fast Eddy to our investment team, everyone we talked to gave us great reviews on our presentation.

The lesson? When presenting something to potential buyers or investors, don't forget the details that will help you standout. Sure, it would be best to have a stellar plan and a stellar presentation, but when you know you are weak in one area (those numbers killed us from the beginning), at least make sure you don't end up with both a weak plan and a weak presentation.

May the sharks in your tank always be friendly,
-The Wordsy Woman

ORGANIZATION - CAN IT REALLY BE A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE?

I think it is really sad, but I believe one of my competitive advantages is being organized. It seems like organization is out-of-style. People are on their cell phones, texting, tweeting, and multitasking with no real purpose, they are distracted and unorganized.

Teaching, at whatever level, is a profession which requires a high level of organization, in my opinion. The best classes I've taken -- and I've taken my fair share -- have been those where the class has been well-organized. The topic of the class hasn't even mattered that much. One of my best classes was Business Analytics (i.e. Statistics) because the instructor was organized. He laid out everything at the beginning and I knew what to expect. This allowed me to organize my school work to complete everything well and timely.

The worst classes I've taken in my current MBA program were those in which the instructors were unorganized. I'm finishing up one right now and it is driving me absolutely insane. These instructors changed the syllabus several times and didn't do what they said they were going to do. I've even had high hopes because the class topic was very interesting to me - but it was ruined by a poorly organized instructor.

Deadlines and appointment times seem like merely suggestions to a lot of people. To me, a deadline is a deadline; I either meet or exceed it. People complain about being soooo busy -- almost like that is their excuse for being unorganized -- but I'm busy, too. Just because I make better choices about how I spend my time and organize my time better doesn't mean I'm not busy. In my business, I take jobs I can complete and I don't over-extend myself. I organize my time so I can complete projects to the best of my ability, on time, and on budget. In my view, these should be givens, but with what I witness, they are sadly becoming things I offer that many others don't.

Happy Holidays! And here's to an organized 2014!
-The Wordsy Woman