Backstage @ the MIT 100K Entreprenuership Competition Finals: Tina and I felt kind of like the Hickory High School team in the locker room. Remember? From the movie Hoosiers? (check out the clip for goosebumps) We won the Products & Services Track. We were honored and humbled to be Finalists:
So what made us successful?
1. Round Peg in Round Hole: We weren’t faking it. Our team clearly believed in YouTea! and were the right team to execute the plan. Judges noted our authentic passion for our product, women’s health and entrepreneurship. We certainly noticed that about all of the finalists: K Splice, MeterLive, Global Cycle Solutions etc.
2. We Feel Your Pain . . . And Might Be Able To Help You: We identified a problem (urinary tract infections). Women were not satisfied with current solutions (lots of calories, lots of sugar, lots of acidity, not optimized for women’s health). We developed a solution (YouTea!). The problem came first, we listened to the customer, and developed the solution. Not the other way around.
3. We Listened To Our Mentors . . . But Never Lost Our Soul: We were lucky to have fantastic mentors in nutritional medicine, venture capital, marketing, and food and beverage industry who taught us a ton about how to develop a successful business plan. Still, we were committed to reinventing the rules of urinary health and women’s health. That means that not every YouTea! strategy is “business as usual.” For instance, some suggested that we use artificial sweetener. But we are dedicated to making YouTea! all natural. It may take a little longer, and cost a little more, but we are committed to delivering an all-natural product.
4. We Had A Real Product: The majority of business plan entrants have great concepts, great powerpoints, great resumes, great financial projections . . . but nothing that you can hold. We used our $1000 budget to develop a prototype. Nothing special, but a working sample of what YouTea! will be like on the shelves.
So what could we have done better?
1. Product Or A Business? YouTea! will develop a women’s health functional beverage product line for many indications. In the future. For now, we are focused on urinary health. Some judges felt we were too focused, noting that it is difficult for a 1 product company to survive in a retail environment. I’ll take the hit for that decision. I’ve always believed in focus. Call it my Army experience. I have that poster on my wall (not really).
2. Wow Factor We weren’t building a rocketship. Just a functional beverage. This is an MIT competition after all, and super cool technology gets people excited. Then again, if Tina and I tried to build a rocketship, it would probably look like this.
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