Category Archives: SCSU

Associate Professor – Southern CT State University

Technology that stands the test of time

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Over the past 30 years I have consulted to over 350 companies in helping them to  leverage technology to improve their business processes and up until 2000 (Y2K) I did a considerable amount ‘hands on’  software development for many of those clients.

I am always pleasantly surprised when I run into a former client who tells me that they are still using the system on a daily basis which I put in place for them years ago. For me it is interesting that many of my systems have ‘stood the test of time’; for my former clients it is the gift that keeps on giving (without the bill).

I ran into one such high profile former client today who told me that the custom system that I developed for them in 1995 is still a critical part of their daily infrastructure and that they couldn’t run their business without it.

 

 

 

 

AACSB Strategy Meeting 11/28/2011

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Dr. Pam Hopkins discusses various assessment options available

Dr. Pam Hopkins led a combined AACSB accreditation planning meeting for the SCSU School of Business which covered our revised mission, assessment tools, learning goals, curriculum revision and course mapping.

Presentations were also given by Robert Forbus, Paul Stepanovich, Janet Phillips, Rick Bassett and Michael Ben-Avie.

Startup Weekend New Haven

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– Diabetes Data
– eVentures
– Kindly
– LudaPro
– Medical Luxury
– MeritBooster
– Non-Profit Makeover
– QuStir
– RecordRemedy
– SimpleLMS.org
– Sociabo
– SocialPlan.it
– TownSquares
– Worldview

The presentations were interesting and I learned some nuggets of information that I know before so it was worth the time even though there weren’t any teams that I would have invested in.

Teams are judged according to the following 3 criteria:

1. Business Model
a. Who is your customer?
b. What is your core value proposition?
c. What are your key activities?
d. What are your revenue streams?
e. What is your cost structure?
f. Who/what are your key partners/resources?
g. What are your distribution channels?
h. What is your roll-out strategy?

2. Customer Validation
Have you taken the proper steps to ensure that the people who matter (your future customers) support and reinforce your assumptions? Think of Customer Validation as ‘evidence’ to back up the core structure of your ‘theory’ (your Business Model). The more feedback you gather (quantity), the more this feedback comes from your specific target market (quality), and the more you’re able to actually integrate this feedback into the Business Model and product development (execution), the better.

3. Execution
The nitty gritty: what has your team been able to actually build over the weekend? Even the strongest of Business Plans are useless in the hands of those who can’t properly execute on them. Getting as far as possible in the development of your product/prototype not only helps give Judges a tangible vision of what the final product could be, but proves your strength and skills as a team. This is what truly matters: investors don’t invest as in ideas so much as teams.