Case studies have been an integral part of business school for decades. At Harvard, students dissect 800 cases during the two-year program. “The magic in this school is when I take a case into the classroom and 90 really smart people spend two hours debating what to do,” says Harvard Dean Kim Clark. Increasingly, they’re debating Internet strategy: up to half of the 750 new cases created annually are focused on e-business issues. At the University of Virginia’s business school, professors now favor “live” cases, in which visiting executives from such companies as Travelocity and Walmart.com brief students and listen to their recommendations. At Babson College in Wellesley, Mass., case studies are supplemented by student-led consulting projects; last fall 18 of the 20 firms selected were Internet companies. Like ValueFind, many of the dot-coms going under B-school microscopes can use all the help they can get.
ValueFind is a shopping search engine. It helps online buyers compare prices across a broad range of Web sites. The company’s founders spent roughly $20,000 to launch the site and, with no cash to market it, hoped shoppers would discover it on their own (few have). Meanwhile, competitors like MySimon and BottomDollar spent millions in marketing. So early this year, ValueFind CFO Jim Finseth approached Auburn for help. He gave the school 17.5 percent of ValueFind’s equity to become the students’ guinea pig. On May 22, after two weeks of doing research and debating strategies, 18 teams presented their findings to ValueFind executives and faculty.
Ladies and gentlemen, start your spreadsheets. Several teams suggested converting ValueFind to a business-to-business play, this season’s hot e-commerce strategy–an idea management was already considering. Most groups spent hours testing the speed of the Web site; team No. 1 gathered psychological research into which colors would encourage shoppers to linger (blue trumps yellow). Leone’s group went further, suggesting ValueFind target Hispanic Americans to set the stage for expansion into Latin America. The team even e-mailed the CEO of Latino.com, a portal site. As a result, by last week ValueFind had entered informal talks about linking up with Latino.com, and Leone’s team tied for second place.
Other groups didn’t do so well. Some used buzzwords–like “first mover advantage”–without really understanding what they meant. Some suggested lavish plans for hiring, which left ValueFind’s cash-strapped managers shaking their heads. And then there was team No. 6, whose presentation was penetrating and insightful (did we mention this was NEWSWEEK’s team?). Like others, it focused on ValueFind’s lack of a target market, and suggested going after college students, using banners in football stadiums. It also decided that Value- Find needs a better brand name, like MyMonkey.com, accompanied by a cartoon mascot and edgy ad slogans (“Have you seen MyMonkey?”). That was a bad bet; after the hubbub over Atlanta Braves pitcher John Rocker’s calling a black teammate a “fat monkey,” judges thought MyMonkey.com was racially insensitive. Oops.
Wacky names aside, other teams agreed that a niche strategy made sense. Consider team No. 12’s efforts. After analyzing 453 student surveys, the group also targeted college students–and analyzed advertising costs on 25 campuses. Its plan also emphasized low cost, since ValueFind has virtually no cash. The five-member team–engineers at Bridgestone and Compaq, a fast-food-company executive, a former Turkish pharmaceutical sales rep and a former collegiate swimmer–took first place. “I would definitely put this on my resume,” says Oliver Gumbrill, who starts as a consultant at Sapient this summer.
What did ValueFind get in exchange for its currently worthless stock? Auburn M.B.A. director Daniel Gropper estimates consultants could have charged at least $250,000 for similar work. “Every presentation had at least one nugget,” says CFO Finseth. Already ValueFind is beginning to overhaul its Web site to increase speed and appeal. But most of the students’ bold marketing notions are on hold for lack of funding. Whatever those ideas are worth to ValueFind, they won’t mean much until a venture capitalist returns the company’s calls.
