November 25, 2008 at 17:22What kind of online startup can students come up with in one hour?
Last Saturday, November 22, the
next inter-university business game from the Flipchat series was held at Moscow State University, which is held by the HSE Business Incubator . The Egenius.ru project could not help but take part in such an interesting event, and we were very lucky, because the organizers not only kindly invited us to the jury, but also made it possible to propose a theme for the game. Which we did with great pleasure.
The following are a description of the conditions of the game, a task, and 13 options for solving it, including projects on zoo networks, remote desktops and fitness trainers online.
In the beginning, I will talk about what the event was like.
By the appointed hour, namely, at 17.30, 13 student teams had gathered in one of the auditoriums of the 2nd Humanitarian Corps, who needed to solve a given problem without using laptops and the Internet. The results of the brainstorming session had to be reflected on the A1 Whatman paper as a visual plan, diagram, or image of the solution. And on page A4, make a brief summary of the project, including its name, competitive advantages, financial calculations and everything that can be done in the time left from thinking about the idea and its graphic presentation on the paper.
Actually, the task was as follows:
Come up with a new Internet project (service, portal, social network, etc.) that would be either completely innovative, or greatly improved
version of an existing resource. The project must be real, viable and financially attractive.
Further, the teams, in the order determined by the drawing of lots, were asked to present the jury's idea in 3 minutes (which included not only representatives of AVK Media, but also teachers of the Department of Economic Theory and Financial Management of the FSI Moscow State University.
After 3 minutes, the speaker (or speakers) decisively interrupted and there came a turn of questions from the jury (in unlimited quantities) and
questions from the audience (in a limited amount - strictly 3 pieces).
So, in fact, the teams suggested:
From comments to all participants - FINANCE! MONETIZATION! You can’t spend 600 K bucks a year on advertising a local resource. It is impossible to think that banners on significant amounts will be placed on a highly specialized resource. You can’t think that banners are the only
means of advertising on the Internet.
And the rest, a huge respect for young people who are ready to devote 5 hours to solving business problems and debriefing colleagues on Saturday night. And capable of at least an hour to draw out, perhaps, ideas that have long been spinning in my head. Not to mention the ability to generate something in such a short time.
next inter-university business game from the Flipchat series was held at Moscow State University, which is held by the HSE Business Incubator . The Egenius.ru project could not help but take part in such an interesting event, and we were very lucky, because the organizers not only kindly invited us to the jury, but also made it possible to propose a theme for the game. Which we did with great pleasure.
The following are a description of the conditions of the game, a task, and 13 options for solving it, including projects on zoo networks, remote desktops and fitness trainers online.
In the beginning, I will talk about what the event was like.
By the appointed hour, namely, at 17.30, 13 student teams had gathered in one of the auditoriums of the 2nd Humanitarian Corps, who needed to solve a given problem without using laptops and the Internet. The results of the brainstorming session had to be reflected on the A1 Whatman paper as a visual plan, diagram, or image of the solution. And on page A4, make a brief summary of the project, including its name, competitive advantages, financial calculations and everything that can be done in the time left from thinking about the idea and its graphic presentation on the paper.
Actually, the task was as follows:
Come up with a new Internet project (service, portal, social network, etc.) that would be either completely innovative, or greatly improved
version of an existing resource. The project must be real, viable and financially attractive.
Further, the teams, in the order determined by the drawing of lots, were asked to present the jury's idea in 3 minutes (which included not only representatives of AVK Media, but also teachers of the Department of Economic Theory and Financial Management of the FSI Moscow State University.
After 3 minutes, the speaker (or speakers) decisively interrupted and there came a turn of questions from the jury (in unlimited quantities) and
questions from the audience (in a limited amount - strictly 3 pieces).
So, in fact, the teams suggested:
- PTZ offered an “Insurance Risk Auction” auction for
insurers and car owners. Owners who are eager to insure a vehicle
choose only a set of desired options and cost, and insurers offer who what and who at what price can. - MSU_CMC proposed the Children in the Frame project. Total tracking of children in schools with the help of video cameras, the image from which is transmitted to the portal, where parents who have paid for the service have access. There were many comments that this would not be allowed to be done in public schools, about the safety of children (what if terrorists hack the site or maniacs will watch them), that children have the right to the notorious privacy.
But today, when discussing this idea with colleagues, it turned out that something similar already exists and is being introduced in schools. So that. - Glamor37 proposed the Smart Surf project. It implies an analysis of your preferences on the Internet and, based on the content of the sites you visit, make recommendations on new resources. Perhaps the guys meant a new word in search engines, but it seemed to us that it
looks more like Imhonet.ru (which, in addition to books and films, also began
to give recommendations on sites) - SPCS, Jazz Team and Peon (I list all in one paragraph, because the
idea is essentially the same) proposed a remote desktop project (“Remote Opportunities”, “vDesk” and “For me, respectively).
The former focused on increasing the computing capabilities of low-power laptops, the latter on storing music and video files, while the others depicted all this very beautifully on a paper. But the trouble is, none of them proposed a solution to the problem over which large corporations are fighting.
However, this is not a drawback. Only a sign that the idea is "in the air", and the guys know and understand the trends in Internet technology. - New Strategists proposed the Rare Things project. An online store that sells primarily unusual souvenirs from distant countries.
It is planned to deliver souvenirs with the help of travel agencies. The project itself is interesting, but logistics is already very cumbersome, besides, how it all differs from eBay is not very clear. - E8 proposed the project "Personal Fitness Trainer." Online consultations of trainers, the opportunity to demonstrate to them the records of their
workouts, get advice from nutritionists and other necessary
specialists. The general opinion of the audience was that it was dangerous to
conduct training under unsteady Internet surveillance, but somehow no one thought about the possibility of video chat. - The Business Team proposed the Patid.ru project, where ingenious ideas find their investorsJ Moreover, the website is not only a platform for finding money and ideas, but also has the capabilities of a patent office. It is a pity that there are a lot of such sites, patent offices and other collections of ideas on the Internet.
- IO&CO and Android have proposed variations on the topic of social networks for pets ("Zoosearch.ru" and "Beast.ru", respectively). For the former, the social network scheme was similar in functionality to Vkontakte, and for the latter - like My Circle. First won
- Kavamaris proposed the project “Weak?”. The intersection of youtube and the well-known competition in the framework of the program "Director himself." I posted a video of my skill and wait, if someone repeats it in a week and puts the results on the video, you lost. If not, I won. The guys hope that they will be able to attract large manufacturers to their project, who will initiate paying for competitions with their products. Hmm ... will they?
- Alpha Consulting proposed the Fundays project, where a traveler
selects a place on a virtual globe,
forms a tour from the many opportunities that have opened , pays for it in advance and receives a card with which he travels comfortably along the chosen route.
But ... iGlobe and a large base of tours - does it have the right to life?
From comments to all participants - FINANCE! MONETIZATION! You can’t spend 600 K bucks a year on advertising a local resource. It is impossible to think that banners on significant amounts will be placed on a highly specialized resource. You can’t think that banners are the only
means of advertising on the Internet.
And the rest, a huge respect for young people who are ready to devote 5 hours to solving business problems and debriefing colleagues on Saturday night. And capable of at least an hour to draw out, perhaps, ideas that have long been spinning in my head. Not to mention the ability to generate something in such a short time.