Thoughts from Global Moot Corp Finals
May 7th, 2007
This past Saturday I took to attending the finals for the Global Moot Corp competition, a contest which I am strongly considering entering next year. Figured now would be a good opportunity to see just how good the competition is at this level. And you know what? They’re not bad.
The official site has the recap, but I wanted to add my thoughts to the participants.
The first finalist was Mullis Enterprises, straight out of University of Georgia. Very Southern accents all around. They featured a “green” solution to pest control (non-toxic chemicals for the environmentally conscious). They actually drove home the green theme by wearing matching lime green button-up shirts, which made me wonder if they brought enough shirts for all 3 rounds that weekend. These guys looked like they belonged in an infomercial…it was tough to take them seriously.
Another issue that came up was the decision to market and sell to pest control professionals. That brings up some interesting challenges on educating the target end customer about their product…you really end up relying on the channel to push your product. And who knows how they plan on doing that. I would think brand equity would be important for people willing to pay more for the added value, but you don’t necessarily get that when someone else is driving the bus.
Also interesting was a judge’s question about the stockholders. Turns out one guy owns most of the shares, and the other guys are probably out the door after graduation. The founder seems willing to let them depart with a small equity stake, even if they are basically piggybacking on the success of others down the road. That is a tough one…they got you to the finals after all, which gave you the marketability to shop your business around. Easy to say yes now, but how will you feel in 5 years?
Next up were Power Prawns, a Thai group selling surgically modified prawns to breed larger prawn crops. Really interesting model…they have a tricky process which essentially becomes the bottleneck. So, scalability is the immediate concern.
Another gimmick…the team actually brought 2 live prawns on stage, which, after a brief introduction, were promptly ignored. The word is that they stunk up the place in more than one round. All in all, schlepping around these critters was probably not worth the trouble.
I thought the judges had some concerns on viability, but the team proved to be evasive on every question. In fact, the entire presentation came off as extremely optimistic. One judge asked them outright, “So do you see any challenges?” That’s probably a good sign that you forgot to mention there’s “risk” involved. Other than that the team was energetic and knowledgeable, a few attributes that probably helped their runner-up placement.
After the Prawns came Omega, the eventual winners. These guys seem to have a combination of good science, legal protection, and signed customer commitments. At least, these guys thought the pieces were solid. They certainly projected their confidence in the material, which I thought dramatically improved their presentation.
Did I mention the technology was impressive? One judge — I forget who — went so far as to exclaim “THIS IS COOL” a few times. That’s got to be good to hear if you’re presenting.
Finally came Endoways. These guys were an Executive MBA team, and boy did they ever show it. The average age I think was about 40. One guy was balding and looked like my uncle. Apparently they had gotten plenty of buzz during the weekend — probably because they knocked out MacuCLEAR, one of UT-Austin’s formidable teams. They were offering a new machine to diagnose abdominal pain. The idea is that it’s a cheaper and would be a more available alternative than a CT machine. They marketed it as a new product in Central and South America, which apparently helps their plan since CT machines are tough to find down there. I wondered if they were just trying to avoid going head-to-head in a primary market. You probably don’t want to stare down J&J and GE, so it’s probably a smart idea, but I still wonder if they were ducking a fight.
Two other things about this presentation that proved memorable:
1. During the presentation, they showed what was probably a stock photo of an ER hallway, replete with patients needing treatment. What was funny was that one of the patients had a head wound. That got us thinking — with the right patients, you could schedule unnecessary surgery with this beauty! I came in with a head wound, and came out with an appendectomy.
2. The discount rate they used. They were selling a product that didn’t exist yet, to be sold in a range of countries with dubious fiscal and monetary policies. So what type of discount did they apply for investor risk? How about 18%. And they said that was conservative! For some perspective, consider that it’s not uncommon for VC’s to discount technology plays as much as 70%. It was pretty amazing to hear that.
Other than that, these guys were solid. Low cost was key, which has lots of potential in the markets they are targeting.
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