Waverly Deutsch

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 MBAs. 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 MBAs. 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 gonna 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 gonna go viral.

Everybody's gonna want it. It's gonna 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 gonna want it. It's gonna 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.

I'll give you an example that I've used many times, and Caitlin, forgive me if I'm getting this wrong, but I'm going to talk to you about a conversation that I had with the founder of Simple Mills, Caitlin Smith. Caitlin came to Booth because she was working on a startup. She was working on making gluten-free baking mixes for people who suffer with celiac and gluten issues. And she had created

I'll give you an example that I've used many times, and Caitlin, forgive me if I'm getting this wrong, but I'm going to talk to you about a conversation that I had with the founder of Simple Mills, Caitlin Smith. Caitlin came to Booth because she was working on a startup. She was working on making gluten-free baking mixes for people who suffer with celiac and gluten issues. And she had created

using nut flour instead of many of the other gluten substitutes. A really fabulous muffin mix. I mean, it was delicious, and I hate gluten-free baked goods, but I really liked her for muffins. She came and pitched in the New Venture Challenge class, and she said, here's what I've done. Here's how I did it. I'm in about... 13 health food stores in North Carolina. I've got another 14 signed up.

using nut flour instead of many of the other gluten substitutes. A really fabulous muffin mix. I mean, it was delicious, and I hate gluten-free baked goods, but I really liked her for muffins. She came and pitched in the New Venture Challenge class, and she said, here's what I've done. Here's how I did it. I'm in about... 13 health food stores in North Carolina. I've got another 14 signed up.

So we'll be in 27 healthcare stores and healthy stores in North Carolina area. Thank you very much. And everybody paused and said, What do you want from us? I'm not sure I want anything from you. I'm not sure I want to raise money for this. I'm not sure that I need anything from you. So the judges for the New Venture Challenge are angel investors, venture investors.

So we'll be in 27 healthcare stores and healthy stores in North Carolina area. Thank you very much. And everybody paused and said, What do you want from us? I'm not sure I want anything from you. I'm not sure I want to raise money for this. I'm not sure that I need anything from you. So the judges for the New Venture Challenge are angel investors, venture investors.

They're thinking, okay, good luck to you with your nice little lifestyle business, but there's not much we can help you with. So Caitlin and her New Venture Challenge team and I were sitting in a conference room and I was saying to her, Caitlin, I understand that you haven't thought about taking on money and scaling this business and that you're not even sure that's what you would want to do.

They're thinking, okay, good luck to you with your nice little lifestyle business, but there's not much we can help you with. So Caitlin and her New Venture Challenge team and I were sitting in a conference room and I was saying to her, Caitlin, I understand that you haven't thought about taking on money and scaling this business and that you're not even sure that's what you would want to do.