Group Size
?
1.) Small group (teams of 4-6)
2.) Individual Task
3.) Large Group
4.) Any
Large Group
Learning Environment
?
1.) Lecture Theatre
2.) Presentation Space
3.) Carousel Tables (small working group)
4.) Any
5.) Outside
6.) Special
Any
QAA Enterprise Theme(s)
?
1.) Creativity and Innovation
2.) Opportunity recognition, creation and evaluation
3.) Decision making supported by critical analysis and judgement
4.) Implementation of ideas through leadership and management
5.) Reflection and Action
6.) Interpersonal Skills
7.) Communication and Strategy
2Opportunity recognition‚ creation and evaluation
7Communication and Strategy
Ned Snogard (Dragon’s Den in reverse) tasks business experts to pitch fictitious business ideas to students. The session aims to help students to understand the art of pitching and securing funding for new business ideas. This has been delivered with HND Business and Enterprise Year 2 but would work with any group working on entrepreneurship and could use themed (subject-related examples).
Time required 1:30 – 2 hours.
Pre-session: Entrepreneurs are invited to take part in the event and are given the chance to pick from a list of fictitious business scenarios or come up with one of their own. Their task is to prepare a 5 minute funding pitch to an audience of students and then be questioned by the students for an additional 5 minutes.
In this case study the ideas included iBooze, an iPhone app which turns a phone into a breathalyser, To Dye For, a clothes up-cycling business, and Silky Road Tyres, a new composite tyre formula using traditional rubber combined with recycled materials to produce a tyre which reduces road noise and fuel consumption.
The winning pitch can be decided through a show of hands, cheering the loudest for the preferred pitch or if time/space permits allowing the students to decide as a group and a nominated student feeding back the pros and cons of each pitch and why the winning pitch was chosen as the one they would be most likely to invest in.
The entrepreneurs are given time to confer which they felt was the most relevant and insightful question of the session. The winning student is presented with a gift voucher or other small prize.
Finally it is revealed to the students during the round up session that the business ideas are fictitious – which so far has been a complete surprise to the students, further embedding the importance of confidence.
Paul Peachey: “We initially trialled Ned Snogard as an extra-curricular activity, it will now run annually as part of the undergraduate degree programme. The students were stunned at the event when it was revealed that none of the ideas were real – demonstrating the polished pitching skills of the entrepreneurs.
Emma Forouzan, Enterprise Start-up manager at the University, said: “This is the second Ned Snogard event we have run at USW and it provides a fantastic learning opportunity for our students to take the seats of the Dragons and learn from the pitches of real entrepreneurs. We were all impressed by the quality and range of the questions from the students – they didn’t hold back in asking tough questions.”
http://www.southwales.ac.uk/news/2015/ned-snogard-turns-tables-dragons/
Key authors: Idea originated by Stuart Miller of Bybox
