Lessons from an MBA: Failure is a very viable option

Have you had a great idea, wanted to start a business but stopped because of the possibility of failure? I think we all have. My newest lesson in MBA for you is to embrace failure.

We met with Michael Cloran of DeveloperTown in Broad Ripple who shared his remarkable story of the several businesses that he started, several of which failed and one or two struck gold.

The more you get comfortable with failing and making mistakes, the more emboldened you are to learn from your mistakes and go out there and try again. the key here is learn from your mistakes and keep repeating the same mistakes. I like the motto " Let us make better mistakes tomorrow."

If you quit walking the first day you stumbled, you never would have learned how to walk. Let us not dampen or lose the curiosity, courage and learning of a child.

If you want to learn more about Mike's lessons on failure, check out Lessons from an MBA: Mike Cloran on failure.

Share your lessons and experiences on failure, picking yourself up and trying again.

Lessons from an MBA: Venture Club October

This meeting had spotlight presenters giving pitches for their new ideas and also had a guest appearance from Michael Huber, Chamber of Commerce.

The first presenter was Mark Repko from MedDiary who is trying to target the chronic illness management market of which 45% of the US population has and accounts for 75% of the healthcare cost. Healthcare treatment is beginning to focus on patient engagement and remote management outside of a medical facility. MedDiary is focused on a chronic condition management app that links with several physicians so that the patents’ diet, medication, treatment and general well-being is monitored and tracked using a single app that combines several other treatment apps into one. MedDiary is currently seeking series AA capital and has completes its web phase I and customer engagement.

Personally I’m a bit wary of app developments as a business project because I rarely seen something that distinguishes one app from another. As one of my classmates said, there are over 16,000 healthcare related apps, this is just another one. We voiced several concerns mostly based on product uniqueness, the difficulty in getting physician buy-in and the reluctance of the boomer age group (majority of the chronic illness patients) to use mobile devices and apps to manage their health.

The second presenter was TowYard Breweries. Everyone was excited about this pitch because they brought tons of beer for tasting afterwards! They plan to capitalize on the recent boom in craft beer and make a new recipe for sale in the Midwest. They seemed very connected in the beer industry and a member of their team already successfully launched a craft beer Triton that is well received in Indianapolis. They have raised $311,000 out of their projected $550,000 budget. They have a 20 barrel system and right from day one of production, they project to be the 4^th largest beer producer in Indiana with 12,000 barrels production per year. They have a brew master with 10 years of experience and they have secured distribution through Anhauser Busch /Zink. They also plan to can their beer to make them distinguishable and to make it easier to distribute. 

Venture Club Indy: Lessons from an MBA

I'm in this entrepreneurship class called venture club, part of which involves attending the Venture Club of Indianapolis. We were advised by our professor to wear formal attire. I thought he was trying to be safe as I have found that such “formal” meetings end up being very casual. Well, he was right… ties and jackets galore! In my experience of business casual, I haven’t seen this amount of formal wear since my career fair in undergrad.

We stood outside for 20 minutes, talking to anyone who happened to stare at us. We were advised us to try to mention our companies not that we were students, probably so we can work on getting professional contacts. We are to do the one thing my introverted self hates… network. Really?? I hate networking. I usually just stare at my thumbs, talk to someone I already know (which we were asked NOT to do) or painfully pull out my teeth.

I get fortunate, I spot a Kelly student who I’ve never seen before (and I belong to 2 cohorts at the same time…long story). We talk a bit about the Indiana University Technology Transfer which I have never heard of (that’s for yet another article). I was excited to hear of something that mixes academic biological research with business.

So after a surprisingly sumptuous lunch (I will definitely come back to these meetings, if just for the lunches…oh wait… I have to come. This is a class), we sit for a few spotlight presenters who give pitches that are like a tame version of Shark tank. And that’s what my other articles are about.

Come Learn With Me: Lessons from an MBA

      Just finished the first year of my MBA. Hoorah! So come learn with me! Why? I attend a top 10 university (Kelley school of business in Indiana University). Its free. And unlike my 3 hour classes, I give you the short and best bits.

      Why am I sharing my education? Because I believe the pursuit of knowledge is an honorable thing. I believe in giving freely, especially knowledge. And finally, I actually learn better when I teach.

So come learn with me. You will be glad you did