First of all let me wish everyone A Happy Chinese New Year!!
Its been a extremely busy week for me over the weekend helping out with the festive work to be done at home on last Friday and Saturday before the Chinese New Year arrive on Sunday. The week have been great visiting and catching up with my relatives and friends, and of course not forgetting to collect my Red packets and eating all the nice cookies.. Haha...
So actually I did not really have the time for the week to update my fair share of the seminar discussion we had last Thursday. However, I did received an email on last Friday from Xinjie of my seminar class to invite me to join their team in the Citibank Business Case Study competiton which Prof Gilbert have encourage us to join.
I guess its a honor to be invited to join the group in the competition which I did have an intention to join initially when I took up this course. However, because of my present workload and FYP, I have decided to give it a miss till Xinjie invitation came. She convinced me to join the team in the competition which I could not reject her as she is really determined to give this competition a GO.
However, when I read up the details of the competition and realise that the deadline for first submission for the Case Study is this coming Friday, I thought I may have to disappoint Xinjie with the minimum effort I could offer to help the team as this is really a busy week with the Chinese New Year over the weekend.
Here I am trying to contribute my part in the Case Study while I take a short break to update this blog as I have yet to do so for the week before I head back to the Case Study and round up my part so that I can send over to Xinjie later.....
okay... So much for this week as I apologize for the lack of content... but I promise I will be back next week...
Cheers!!
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Thursday, February 8, 2007
Lesson 5: Governing the Freedom Economy
An interesting kick off for this week seminar, my team was the first to be called upon for the presentation of our team's Elevator Pitch. Yes, all groups presented their Elevator Pitch for the day's opening.
I guess we were all quite excited to see what have our friends each had came out with their Elevator Pitch. Not suprisingly, many of us came out with really different version of our own Elevator Pitch. And some were really interesting and caught my attention during the seminar. I would have to say, A+ team's Elevator pitch was rather interactive with the help of some flash animations and description. But the last Team Visionaries's Elevator Pitch, I thought was really creative and entertaining to watch. As I felt is really more attention drawing to have it captured live with actors acting it out like a short movie clip.
Seriously speaking, I really felt the rest of the teams did much better than what my team have done in terms of creativity and ability to caption audiences attention. However, with the discussion after every team had presented for the class, no one method is the best but a combination of some together will bring out the best. Hence, all of us have to go back and improve on our Elevator Pitch before we submit again into YouTude for our little competition Prof Gilbert have suggested.
Okay back to the lesson proper for this week. The disccussion topic for the week was Governing the Freedom Economy: do we need new rules? It actually means how our daily norms, rules, laws, technology and everything else interacts over time and changes.
How have the norms become rules with the changes in technologies, or rather how have the technologies changes our daily norms into rules and laws. And as I was browsing the internet for my daily updates in the telecomunication news in Telecoms.com . This article chain my thoughts of what we had discussed yestheday in class.
Here is the News: Cellphone Fines for Pedestrians
New York State Senator Carl Kruger has proposed controversial legislation which could see mobile phone users slapped with a $100 fine for crossing a street whilst using their device.
Kruger's bill would also apply to any other kind of personal electronic device that the user could find themselves immersed in using such as portable gaming systems and iPods.
Cellphone users would have to take a break for a few seconds whilst they cross the street to avoid a fine.
Some have called the proposal excessive. A number of US states have already introduced bans on using cellphones whilst driving but not all.
From the end of this month, UK drivers caught chatting on their mobile phone will face bigger fines as tougher fixed penalties come into play.
Culprits found guilty could receive three points on their licence as well as a £60 fine.
I guess we were all quite excited to see what have our friends each had came out with their Elevator Pitch. Not suprisingly, many of us came out with really different version of our own Elevator Pitch. And some were really interesting and caught my attention during the seminar. I would have to say, A+ team's Elevator pitch was rather interactive with the help of some flash animations and description. But the last Team Visionaries's Elevator Pitch, I thought was really creative and entertaining to watch. As I felt is really more attention drawing to have it captured live with actors acting it out like a short movie clip.
Seriously speaking, I really felt the rest of the teams did much better than what my team have done in terms of creativity and ability to caption audiences attention. However, with the discussion after every team had presented for the class, no one method is the best but a combination of some together will bring out the best. Hence, all of us have to go back and improve on our Elevator Pitch before we submit again into YouTude for our little competition Prof Gilbert have suggested.
Okay back to the lesson proper for this week. The disccussion topic for the week was Governing the Freedom Economy: do we need new rules? It actually means how our daily norms, rules, laws, technology and everything else interacts over time and changes.
How have the norms become rules with the changes in technologies, or rather how have the technologies changes our daily norms into rules and laws. And as I was browsing the internet for my daily updates in the telecomunication news in Telecoms.com . This article chain my thoughts of what we had discussed yestheday in class.
Here is the News: Cellphone Fines for Pedestrians
New York State Senator Carl Kruger has proposed controversial legislation which could see mobile phone users slapped with a $100 fine for crossing a street whilst using their device.
Kruger's bill would also apply to any other kind of personal electronic device that the user could find themselves immersed in using such as portable gaming systems and iPods.
Cellphone users would have to take a break for a few seconds whilst they cross the street to avoid a fine.
Some have called the proposal excessive. A number of US states have already introduced bans on using cellphones whilst driving but not all.
From the end of this month, UK drivers caught chatting on their mobile phone will face bigger fines as tougher fixed penalties come into play.
Culprits found guilty could receive three points on their licence as well as a £60 fine.
Truly reflects the discussion we had, the change in technology, the advance in technology changes our daily norms. Where once these behaviour was thought as norms was now pass down with Rules and Laws to governise our freedom in technologies usage.
We gained something but yet have to lose something in the end... That's so Sad to say... I hope this "Fine" city i am living in will not have to go to this extend in the above mention "News" one day in the near future.
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
Lesson 4: Business Models
I am just back from school done with our group Elevator pitch video for Thursday presentation again. Arghhhh..... We really had a hard time from last week till today trying to get the Elevator moving.
We spend some time on last friday trying to figure out how to go about designing it and getting it done. We search on the internet for examples and view a few before trying to brainstorm our very own Elevator pitch. Today we spend like another 3 hours plus to integrate all our materials we have done before hand into our very first Elevator pitch. But to our horror in the very last minute when we tried to convert the Powerpoint file we have came out with into a video file, an error occurs in the converted file format.
Okay.. Okay... we will think of a way to solve this problem before Thursday presentation, anyone with any solution do drop me a comment. Thanks.
Last Thursday, our session kick off with a series of presentations from different groups on the JBP language system problem. I was rather suprise by the solution post by the team offering the bar code system which have never come across my mind for this project on my part. I thought that was rather interesting and fresh idea as compare to the rest of our ideas which very much evolve around the mobile handsets and operator technology.
I think the ideas of getting all the teams to present their different ideas and summerising them up for discussion was very meaningful and actually demostrate the idea of "Wisdom of Crowds" we had learnt in the earlier seminar. As we try to learn from each other of our very own ideas and try to integrate them together into our system to form a better and more impressive system for the JBP problem.
However, the actually topic for this seminar of the day was 'Business Models'. We discussed the Commerce Spaces between the Comsumers and the Businesses with the role of the Government. We also touch on the essentials of Business Model Elements. The first and most interesting value of all 8 mention was the 'Customer Value'.
I guess from day one of this module started in week 1, all the topics that we have covered and discussed could not escape the issue around 'Customer Value'. From the day one Disruptive Technologies we have been talking about how these emerging technologies could help the service providers to increase the customer's valua. To the Starhub case study also evolved around bundling services from Starhub as a new entrance to capture market share with incresing customer's valua from their services. And today in the JBP systems presented are also about how our new systems are all going to increase customer's valua. Therefore, to really create a good business model that would help generate profit for the organisation, the element on 'Customer Valua' should be carefully look into.
However, the highlight of the day that wake everybody up from the longest seminar we had so far was really our project explaination from Prof. Gilbert. The "Elevator Pitch"........ What is that??? Question marks form within most of our minds in the room. This was the first time I heard of this new term as Prof. Gilbert went on to explain to all of us how this term came about from the...... Sillicon Valley... Haha... That is interesting.
For these who are not sure about what is an 'Elevator Pitch"? Worry not, here is the help:
What is an "Elevator Pitch"?
An "Elevator Pitch" is a concise, carefully planned, and well-practiced description about your company that your mother should be able to understand in the time it would take to ride up an elevator.
What an "Elevator Pitch" is not:
It is not a "sales pitch." Don't get caught up in using the entire pitch to tell the Investor how great your product or service is. The Investor is "buying" the business, not the product. Tell him/her how you will run the business.
Creating the "Elevator Pitch"
Six questions your "Elevator Pitch" must answer:
1. What is your product or service?Briefly describe what it is you sell. Do not go into excruciating detail.
2. Who is your market?Briefly discuss who you are selling the product or service to. What industry is it? How large of a market do they represent?
3. What is your revenue model?More simply, how do you expect to make money?
4. Who is behind the company?"Bet on the jockey, not the horse" is a familiar saying among Investors. Tell them a little about you and your team's background and achievements. If you have a strong advisory board, tell them who they are and what they have accomplished.
5. Who is your competition?Don't have any? Think again. Briefly discuss who they are and what they have accomplished. Successful competition is an advantage-they are proof your business model and/or concept work.
6. What is your competitive advantage? Simply being in an industry with successful competitors is not enough. You need to effectively communicate how your company is different and why you have an advantage over the competition. A better distribution channel? Key partners? Proprietary technology?
What your "Elevator Pitch" must contain:
1. A "hook" Open your pitch by getting the Investor's attention with a "hook." A statement or question that piques their interest to want to hear more.
2. About 150-225 words Your pitch should go no longer than 60 seconds.
3. Passion Investors expect energy and dedication from entrepreneurs.
4. A request At the end of your pitch, you must ask for something. Do you want their business card, to schedule a full presentation, to ask for a referral?
Want to learn more and read up more information? Here is the link:
http://www.businessknowhow.com/money/elevator.htm
Business Know How website is an very informative website to learn some business basic if you are some newbies like me learning more about the business matters.
After the short discussion on our project with Prof Gilbert as time is running out. Everybody left the room pondering what is going to come up next in our next seminar... including me... I am waiting...............
We spend some time on last friday trying to figure out how to go about designing it and getting it done. We search on the internet for examples and view a few before trying to brainstorm our very own Elevator pitch. Today we spend like another 3 hours plus to integrate all our materials we have done before hand into our very first Elevator pitch. But to our horror in the very last minute when we tried to convert the Powerpoint file we have came out with into a video file, an error occurs in the converted file format.
Okay.. Okay... we will think of a way to solve this problem before Thursday presentation, anyone with any solution do drop me a comment. Thanks.
Last Thursday, our session kick off with a series of presentations from different groups on the JBP language system problem. I was rather suprise by the solution post by the team offering the bar code system which have never come across my mind for this project on my part. I thought that was rather interesting and fresh idea as compare to the rest of our ideas which very much evolve around the mobile handsets and operator technology.
I think the ideas of getting all the teams to present their different ideas and summerising them up for discussion was very meaningful and actually demostrate the idea of "Wisdom of Crowds" we had learnt in the earlier seminar. As we try to learn from each other of our very own ideas and try to integrate them together into our system to form a better and more impressive system for the JBP problem.
However, the actually topic for this seminar of the day was 'Business Models'. We discussed the Commerce Spaces between the Comsumers and the Businesses with the role of the Government. We also touch on the essentials of Business Model Elements. The first and most interesting value of all 8 mention was the 'Customer Value'.
I guess from day one of this module started in week 1, all the topics that we have covered and discussed could not escape the issue around 'Customer Value'. From the day one Disruptive Technologies we have been talking about how these emerging technologies could help the service providers to increase the customer's valua. To the Starhub case study also evolved around bundling services from Starhub as a new entrance to capture market share with incresing customer's valua from their services. And today in the JBP systems presented are also about how our new systems are all going to increase customer's valua. Therefore, to really create a good business model that would help generate profit for the organisation, the element on 'Customer Valua' should be carefully look into.
However, the highlight of the day that wake everybody up from the longest seminar we had so far was really our project explaination from Prof. Gilbert. The "Elevator Pitch"........ What is that??? Question marks form within most of our minds in the room. This was the first time I heard of this new term as Prof. Gilbert went on to explain to all of us how this term came about from the...... Sillicon Valley... Haha... That is interesting.
For these who are not sure about what is an 'Elevator Pitch"? Worry not, here is the help:
What is an "Elevator Pitch"?
An "Elevator Pitch" is a concise, carefully planned, and well-practiced description about your company that your mother should be able to understand in the time it would take to ride up an elevator.
What an "Elevator Pitch" is not:
It is not a "sales pitch." Don't get caught up in using the entire pitch to tell the Investor how great your product or service is. The Investor is "buying" the business, not the product. Tell him/her how you will run the business.
Creating the "Elevator Pitch"
Six questions your "Elevator Pitch" must answer:
1. What is your product or service?Briefly describe what it is you sell. Do not go into excruciating detail.
2. Who is your market?Briefly discuss who you are selling the product or service to. What industry is it? How large of a market do they represent?
3. What is your revenue model?More simply, how do you expect to make money?
4. Who is behind the company?"Bet on the jockey, not the horse" is a familiar saying among Investors. Tell them a little about you and your team's background and achievements. If you have a strong advisory board, tell them who they are and what they have accomplished.
5. Who is your competition?Don't have any? Think again. Briefly discuss who they are and what they have accomplished. Successful competition is an advantage-they are proof your business model and/or concept work.
6. What is your competitive advantage? Simply being in an industry with successful competitors is not enough. You need to effectively communicate how your company is different and why you have an advantage over the competition. A better distribution channel? Key partners? Proprietary technology?
What your "Elevator Pitch" must contain:
1. A "hook" Open your pitch by getting the Investor's attention with a "hook." A statement or question that piques their interest to want to hear more.
2. About 150-225 words Your pitch should go no longer than 60 seconds.
3. Passion Investors expect energy and dedication from entrepreneurs.
4. A request At the end of your pitch, you must ask for something. Do you want their business card, to schedule a full presentation, to ask for a referral?
Want to learn more and read up more information? Here is the link:
http://www.businessknowhow.com/money/elevator.htm
Business Know How website is an very informative website to learn some business basic if you are some newbies like me learning more about the business matters.
After the short discussion on our project with Prof Gilbert as time is running out. Everybody left the room pondering what is going to come up next in our next seminar... including me... I am waiting...............
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