You asked me, "What Should We Present?"

The simple answer from the other night: 3 slides/3 minutes per idea, for a maximum of 3 ideas.

I also said, "It depends," which is also always THE challenge in a business presentation.  Too much detail misses the big picture, but even people who like the "big picture" want enough detail to believe something is possible.

One skill you should develop as quickly as possible, which will help you in this project, and in many other projects in IMBA, and in business life in general: 

Look on the Internet for ideas.

For example, you can see how the Gates Foundation is presenting its ideas at: http://www.grandchallenges.org/about/Pages/Overview.aspx

Or, you can see how somebody at GE is promoting their Ecomagination Challenge at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McGUBLPVEAA&feature=related

And you can find many other examples, too.

MOST IMPORTANT: Don't assume these examples are "right."  

But, use them as guides to help you.  Look at them critically:

• What part of their message motivates you?  
• Where are numbers and data important? 
• Where is an emotional appeal working? 
• (To ask your question the other night) how much detail is the right amount of detail?

In short, when you watch, listen, or read somebody else's challenge...what works and what doesn't?

Finally...review the slides that we used to launch this project at Orientation.  There are many questions in those slides that will help guide your thinking.  You will not have complete answers for all of these questions by July 3rd, but you certainly will need to have good answers by the end of the project in August, so start trying to think forward to what those answers might be.

Here's a quick summary of the questions, if you don't have the slides handy:

Characteristics of a Good Innovation Challenge

• Impossible…almost. 
• We want to stretch the bounds of what is possible. 
• Focused. 
• Poverty. World Peace. Corruption. All valid goals, but too broad to align people to the cause. 
• Long-term (10 years+). 
• Simply stated. Clear. 
• Should require no additional explanation. 
• Emotionally charged. 
• Likely to encourage action. 
• When achieved, will create substantial positive human impact. 

Your Precourse Project: Urban Farming Innovation Challenge

To motivate a clearly defined group of people, 

…to take up a particularly innovative aspect of urban farming, 

…in order to bring about a substantial positive change of some sort. 

You are not doing the Challenge.
You are setting the Challenge.

Decide what action that you want to encourage:

• Why should this activity be encouraged? 
• Is it big enough to be interesting and worth the effort? 
• Is it focused enough to be a success? 
• How will you measure progress or success (or winners of the Challenge)? 

Environmental factors—focus on people!

• Define a challenge that is primarily limited today because people are unwilling, unaware, or uncertain about how to change their action into something new and better. 
• Avoid challenges which do not have to do with people, but which have some other primary constraint (legal prohibition, for example). 
• The Urban Farming Innovation Challenge 

Decide who you want to encourage to do it? (Target group)

• What will motivate them to take part in the challenge? 
• What does the target group require to be successful? 
• Will you provide it? 
• Will somebody else provide it? 
• Do you expect them to find a way to provide it on their own? 
• How will you communicate with them? 
• What are the right sources of information that the target group will use to hear about your Challenge? 
• The Urban Farming Innovation Challenge 

What other partners or stakeholders need to be involved?

• How will you motivate their involvement? 
• You must demonstrate at least some initial interest from them. 
• One clear, necessary partner: if you are promising a Baht 1 million first prize, you'd better have somebody willing to give that money.

Defending Your Challenge: “Ok, I’m an entrepreneurial person, looking to do something valuable and rewarding…”

• Why should I do your challenge? 
• Why is it worth my time? (Personal reward) 
• How will it make things better? (Big benefit) 
• Why do I think it has at least some chance of succeeding (even if it seems very difficult)? 

Learning Objectives

• Customers, stakeholders, target markets. 
• Marketing communication. 
• Project planning. 
• Understanding the entrepreneurial mindset. 
• Business/marketing research. 
• …all while stretching you to Think Bigger!