Waverly Deutsch

You have to see the potential for the future, but also be able to figure out the tiny step-by-step that's going to allow you to build the foundation of a company that can reach that vision. It is different across different cohorts, different people, whether they're in school or they're entrepreneurs in the world, but certainly at Booth,

You have to see the potential for the future, but also be able to figure out the tiny step-by-step that's going to allow you to build the foundation of a company that can reach that vision. It is different across different cohorts, different people, whether they're in school or they're entrepreneurs in the world, but certainly at Booth,

dealing with a range of students from, I taught high school students through boots for a while, all the way to very senior, seasoned executives, it is your job as a teacher, as a coach, as a mentor, to figure out where the strengths and weaknesses are and bring techniques, tools, and advice that balances the strengths and weaknesses for that particular individual.

dealing with a range of students from, I taught high school students through boots for a while, all the way to very senior, seasoned executives, it is your job as a teacher, as a coach, as a mentor, to figure out where the strengths and weaknesses are and bring techniques, tools, and advice that balances the strengths and weaknesses for that particular individual.

Let me start with some examples from the executive level MBA program. Very often, because they've been in the corporate world, they don't want to present anything that isn't absolutely doable, low risk. And so they say, if you give us $5 million to build out this software, we can generate $7 million in five years.

Let me start with some examples from the executive level MBA program. Very often, because they've been in the corporate world, they don't want to present anything that isn't absolutely doable, low risk. And so they say, if you give us $5 million to build out this software, we can generate $7 million in five years.

I feel pretty comfortable that if you built out this software, you could get to $7 million in five years. By the way, most companies never get to a million dollars in revenues. That's a pretty interesting company. But it doesn't create a return on investment for a $5 million investment.

I feel pretty comfortable that if you built out this software, you could get to $7 million in five years. By the way, most companies never get to a million dollars in revenues. That's a pretty interesting company. But it doesn't create a return on investment for a $5 million investment.

So it's a mismatch of the resources you'll need to get there and the outcome that you're telling the investors you're going to be able to create for them. So that's a very common story with the executive MPAs. We don't want to say that we can be a $50 million company because we don't know if we can be a $50 million company.

So it's a mismatch of the resources you'll need to get there and the outcome that you're telling the investors you're going to be able to create for them. So that's a very common story with the executive MPAs. We don't want to say that we can be a $50 million company because we don't know if we can be a $50 million company.

If you, the entrepreneur, don't believe that you can be a $50 million company, if you, the entrepreneur, don't believe that this is a powerful, disruptive, high-value add to your customers in such a way that if you're given this kind of capital, $5 million plus, that you can't bring it to market in a way that in five years gets you to $50 million, what's the investor going to think about the business?

If you, the entrepreneur, don't believe that you can be a $50 million company, if you, the entrepreneur, don't believe that this is a powerful, disruptive, high-value add to your customers in such a way that if you're given this kind of capital, $5 million plus, that you can't bring it to market in a way that in five years gets you to $50 million, what's the investor going to think about the business?

Yep. Right? Yep. Then you have at the other end of the spectrum... The young entrepreneurs who are so excited about their product and they've showed it to their friends and their friends are so excited about their product. And they're like, if you give me $200,000 to put this product into the market, I will be a billion dollar company in five years. This is going to go viral.

Yep. Right? Yep. Then you have at the other end of the spectrum... The young entrepreneurs who are so excited about their product and they've showed it to their friends and their friends are so excited about their product. And they're like, if you give me $200,000 to put this product into the market, I will be a billion dollar company in five years. This is going to go viral.

Everybody's going to want it. It's going to just catch fire. And you say, okay, how does that happen? Can you show me an example where for so little money, somebody has been able to get so big, so fast because the product was so exciting and they'll say Groupon got to a billion dollars in a year. And I said, yeah, Groupon had tens of millions of dollars of venture backing.

Everybody's going to want it. It's going to just catch fire. And you say, okay, how does that happen? Can you show me an example where for so little money, somebody has been able to get so big, so fast because the product was so exciting and they'll say Groupon got to a billion dollars in a year. And I said, yeah, Groupon had tens of millions of dollars of venture backing.

They got there that fast by acquiring a lot of companies that took a lot of money. So what makes you think for a very small amount of money, you're going to be able to do it? That's a case where you're bringing the logic into it. In the case of, we are only going to get to $7 million, you've got to bring the emotion into it, the excitement, the thrill, the FOMO, as it's called in Silicon Valley.

They got there that fast by acquiring a lot of companies that took a lot of money. So what makes you think for a very small amount of money, you're going to be able to do it? That's a case where you're bringing the logic into it. In the case of, we are only going to get to $7 million, you've got to bring the emotion into it, the excitement, the thrill, the FOMO, as it's called in Silicon Valley.

Fear of missing out. With the... A younger entrepreneur, you've got to bring the logic back into it. What's the step-by-step? Has anybody else done it? Is there a path that you can follow, a playbook you can follow? You're definitely bringing different things in. With the full-time and part-time MBAs, it can be a little bit of both.

Fear of missing out. With the... A younger entrepreneur, you've got to bring the logic back into it. What's the step-by-step? Has anybody else done it? Is there a path that you can follow, a playbook you can follow? You're definitely bringing different things in. With the full-time and part-time MBAs, it can be a little bit of both.