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 (...read more...)