The

Entrepreneurial

Code

Lessons from an

Ivy League Entrepreneur

Chapter Twenty-One

“We all have the ability.  The difference is how we use it.“ – German Proverb

 

With a mix of excitement and apprehension, Johnny, Maverock, and Abe rejected their job offers in corporate America.  They were officially full-time "entrepreneurs."  They also hired another employee to manage the Bullfrog Card office.  They felt it was important to remove themselves from the daily operations, so they could focus on expansion.  After all, if they were going to run campus programs at multiple universities, they couldn’t personally manage every one.

It had officially been a full year since they started the Bullfrog Card and it was time for another mailing campaign.  They continued to market the Bullfrog Card aggressively.  In their second mailing campaign, excerpts from the cover letter follow:

“Dear Student and Parents,

We’ve been working hard to make the Bullfrog Card an even better service for you this year! The Bullfrog Card is a meal plan and necessity account created specifically for students at the University … In its most basic form, the program offers a better quality and more flexible dining plan for students, so they can eat their meals at local restaurants near campus.

In an attempt to provide for the safety of our students, the Bullfrog Card can also be used to pay for Yellow Cab taxis, so that students never have to worry about walking home alone, late at night.”

On the back of the letter, they had a map of the campus, showing where each merchant was located.  They labeled the map, “Home of the Bullfrog Card.” Beneath it was a list of each restaurant, its description, and any discounts that it offered on the card.

Since a significant portion of the student body carried a Bullfrog Card, the partners started referring to cardholders as “their students.”  The only distinction they made between Bullfrog Card and the school was a disclaimer on the bottom that read “Affiliated with students, not the University.”  To them, the Business Services people had become the enemy.

In their new marketing campaign, they touted the card’s new features. The Bullfrog Card had also become a discount card, offering up to 20% savings at restaurants and other places around campus. The partners even came up with automated deposit authorization, where funds could be deposited from a parent’s credit card or checking account periodically into the student’s Bullfrog Card account.

In their second year of operations, Bullfrog Card had higher deposits than the prior year and they successfully captured over 70% of the freshmen class as card-carrying members. Despite their aggressive marketing stance, they received no further push back from the school. 

Copyright  2005 by Chris Cononico
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