Product Design and Development done

We had our final presentations demonstrating our product today in my Product Design and Development class at Brown University. Unlike Yoav, I wasn't impressed with the majority of the presentations. I guess I had higher expectations. Especially the first half of the day, most of the presenters hid behind high-school quality videos. Professor Roemer warned me about doing this beforehand and said it happens every year. I thought the 007 and Hammer videos were the worst. They added absolutely nothing and detracted significantly. Sure the entertainment value was higher (which is debatable), but that wasn't the point of the presentation. I had several ideas for funny videos, but Roemer and the other professors ripped my team a new one during the semester when we presented our concept in a funny way and made people laugh. He said it wasn't professional and was very negative. Perhaps that's why I'm sensitive on this issue.

For yesterday's presentation, we were suppose to pretend like we were presenting to Sr Mgmt or VCs and ask for funding to continue with our product (although I think Roemer could have stated this a little more firmly). There is no way most of these presentations would have cut it. VCs don't want you to make them laugh. They want you to convince them you have a market and a valid product concept. Fortunately, the second half of the day went much better.

My favorite presentations were done by Kevin's team and Yoav's team. Yoav's team not only had high entertainment value, but also had a great concept. Their idea was fun to begin with so they could get away with some humor. It was well done and was received enthusiastically by the crowd. It really shows when you have an idea that your team buys in to and you enjoy working with everyone in the team. It was apparent that Yoav's team had fun. I can't say as much about my team.

And speaking of my team, our presentation went much better and was received significantly better than expected. But then again, after seeing 12 or so presentations, I wasn't as concerned when it came time for my team. I was the lone presenter with Ben doing the demo. Instead of taking a light tone, I turned serious. And no video :-) It was nice to have a different approach than most of the other teams. After I was done, the majority of the questions we received were in regard to suggestions for expanding our market further and discussions on how our product is applicable to even more people than we were initially targeting. Afterward, several of the panelists (we were being judged) and two of the professors approached us and gave very favorable feedback.

And if I seem less than forthcoming about discussing the content of the presentations, it is because they are confidential due to potential patent submissions in the works. My team is still figuring out if we want to pursue our product further. You may be seeing another website from me soon :-)