The

Professor Prudence’s class required students to form working groups, come up with original business ideas, and submit business plans by the end of the term. As class finished for the day, students gathered their belongings, while looking around the room for familiar faces. Unfortunately, Johnny only saw one person he knew.

Mark Maverock spoke to Johnny about how he wanted to get an “A+” in the class, so he refused to work with slackers. Ironically, Maverock couldn’t have cared less about his grades. In fact, he was a poor student. Only recently he considered he might have to get a job, so he resolved to salvage his GPA. It’s not that Maverock was dumb, only he expected to become self-employed, so grades didn’t matter to him as much as networking did. Both of Maverock’s parents were entrepreneurs, so he felt he needed to follow in their footsteps, but on a more grandiose scale. His ambitions were a little aimless, but he was determined to make it big on his own terms.

Wearing a T-shirt, shorts, and a baseball cap, Abe Horowitz looked like he hadn’t shaved in a week, had been drinking heavily the night before, and woke up five minutes before class. Abe talked with a hint of a Pennsylvanian accent, and usually seemed grumpy. He walked over and asked if there was room for another person on the team, and Johnny and Maverock instinctively said “yeah,” as a statement of fact. So, Abe took their response as his acceptance to the group. Finally, a forth student, who no one knew particularly well, Joe Schmoue, joined the team. Everyone accepted Joe because they figured it was better to have four people doing the work than just three.

It took weeks for some groups to come up with their ideas, but this group stumbled on theirs within the first five minutes. Joe muttered something about a concept one of his friends came up with during the prior semester, but had decided not to use. The idea was to create an off-campus meal plan for students that used local restaurants.

As the group continued to discuss the “restaurant meal plan,” they reasoned students could have an account similar to a debit card, which could only be used at local restaurants for food. It would work the same as the cafeteria meal plan, except your parents could put money on the card so students could eat at the restaurants. The school’s mascot was the "Bullfrog," so Joe dubbed the idea the “Bullfrog Card” as a placeholder name, so they wouldn’t forget the idea.

Even though Maverock liked the concept, he wasn’t completely sold on it. Ultimately, no one came up with a better idea. The runner up was some financing company that leased “change counting” machines to supermarkets. The Bullfrog Card became their new business idea, largely by default.

Copyright  2005 by Chris Cononico
All rights reserved. No part of this manuscript may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.

The Entrepreneurial Code Lessons from an Ivy League Entrepreneur

	Chapter Three

	Professor Prudence’s class required students to form working groups, come up with original business ideas, and submit business plans by the end of the term. As class finished for the day, students gathered their belongings, while looking around the room for familiar faces. Unfortunately, Johnny only saw one person he knew. Mark Maverock spoke to Johnny about how he wanted to get an “A+” in the class, so he refused to work with slackers. Ironically, Maverock couldn’t have cared less about his grades. In fact, he was a poor student. Only recently he considered he might have to get a job, so he resolved to salvage his GPA. It’s not that Maverock was dumb, only he expected to become self-employed, so grades didn’t matter to him as much as networking did. Both of Maverock’s parents were entrepreneurs, so he felt he needed to follow in their footsteps, but on a more grandiose scale. His ambitions were a little aimless, but he was determined to make it big on his own terms. Wearing a T-shirt, shorts, and a baseball cap, Abe Horowitz looked like he hadn’t shaved in a week, had been drinking heavily the night before, and woke up five minutes before class. Abe talked with a hint of a Pennsylvanian accent, and usually seemed grumpy. He walked over and asked if there was room for another person on the team, and Johnny and Maverock instinctively said “yeah,” as a statement of fact. So, Abe took their response as his acceptance to the group. Finally, a forth student, who no one knew particularly well, Joe Schmoue, joined the team. Everyone accepted Joe because they figured it was better to have four people doing the work than just three. It took weeks for some groups to come up with their ideas, but this group stumbled on theirs within the first five minutes. Joe muttered something about a concept one of his friends came up with during the prior semester, but had decided not to use. The idea was to create an off-campus meal plan for students that used local restaurants. As the group continued to discuss the “restaurant meal plan,” they reasoned students could have an account similar to a debit card, which could only be used at local restaurants for food. It would work the same as the cafeteria meal plan, except your parents could put money on the card so students could eat at the restaurants. The school’s mascot was the "Bullfrog," so Joe dubbed the idea the “Bullfrog Card” as a placeholder name, so they wouldn’t forget the idea. Even though Maverock liked the concept, he wasn’t completely sold on it. Ultimately, no one came up with a better idea. The runner up was some financing company that leased “change counting” machines to supermarkets. The Bullfrog Card became their new business idea, largely by default. Copyright  2005 by Chris Cononico All rights reserved. No part of this manuscript may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.