Story By: Holland Grant, MBA Candidate, 2006

Thursday, 04/08/05

I am first offered the opportunity for Rotman’s New Ventures Group (NVG) to host the Venture Capital Investment Competition (VCIC). Before we even have an opportunity to get to planning, we face a challenge. Crystal Wong (NVG’s V.P. Communications) and I are both out of town for the entire summer and planning needs to begin immediately to lay down a good foundation. I make what will turn out to be perhaps the most pivotal decision when I ask Chris Potter (NVG’s V.P. Speakers) to be the point man for the project. Over the coming months he becomes the one indispensable member of the team.

Monday 23/01/06

Today is the deadline for internal Rotman teams to submit entries to represent Rotman in the VCIC. The date was in hindsight not the best date, coinciding with recruiting season. The time crunch for students was so bad that we had to personally solicit qualified students to run. At the end, the choice of teams was left in the hands of 3 faculty members with research experience in the venture capital field. In the end, I don’t think I could have asked for a better team than the one selected. They brought technical, financial knowledge and plain talent to the table.

Friday 10/2/06

We have a meeting with our corporate partners at McCarthy Tetrault to choose the presenting entrepreneurs, I had spent the whole previous day reading business plans and designing criteria for what made a good presenting company. Our meeting was productive, and after 2 hours of discussing businesses, we left the meeting thinking that we had found the ideal 2 businesses. We also secured commitments from the companies for their participation. Chris Potter and I walked away on a high note convinced that we had provided superior service to NVG, Rotman and even to Canada! Our elation proved short-lived, when one of the companies cancelled that evening, just 7 days before the event and without us having a reasonable alternative.

Tuesday 14/2/06

We have a teleconference with a potential entrepreneur who might be able to present for the competition. We’re feeling a bit of stress now, if this person doesn’t work out, we have no viable second option. I only have about 30 minutes to read over his business plan before I talk to him, so I spend that time just reading the executive summary, which turns out to be quite well written. Chris and I talk to him for about 20 minutes, and we find his answers to our questions to be not only concise, but comprehensive. He agrees to present on short notice. This is one of the most fortuitous events to happen to us while running the competition.

Friday 17/2/06

The day of the event we get to school at 6 a.m. to ensure that everything is prepared. We had developed a detailed minute by minute plan for the day and had enlisted the help of NVG club members to be volunteers. However, the tight timelines made us nervous. What surprised us was how easily the event flowed once it started. The entrepreneurs and Venture Capitalists who served as judges combined to provide students with a superior learning experience. NVG would like to once again thank Ian Palm and David Ma at McCarthy Tetrault for their invaluable assistance.