Working Session 4: Your Ten Minute Presentations

We are into the thick of business plan writing... congratulations to all teams on their progress thus far! Today, all of you will present your businesses to the TYE Executive Team. We will focus on your progress against our four major milestones. We may ask you some tough questions, but don't worry, we are here to help. This is NOT American Idol... we've saved that opportunity for the mock presentation and the final pitch... more details to come soon. As always, any questions, just ask!

Welcoming the Newest Additions to the TYE Team

It is with great pleasure that we welcome the newest addition to the TYE Executive Committee, Roma Mayur and Shantanu Dhaka. They will be focused on the area of student recruitment, community outreach, and sponsorship. If you have any ideas, feel free to reach out.

• Roma Mayur, Vice President, Cambridge Trust Company

Roma is Vice President at Cambridge Trust Company, a Community Bank that provides retail, commercial and wealth management services. She has been with Cambridge Trust Company for over 20 years. Roma works as a commercial lender and relationship manager at the Bank. She works with a multitude of clients ranging from small businesses , corporations to not for profits in assisting them to meet their financial needs. For the past several years Roma has been actively involved in community service in Cambridge and Sommerville. She currently serves on the Board of Sommerville Cambridge Elder Services Inc. which has over 30 programs to meet all types of needs of the elderly. She is also active on the Board of Collaborative for Development Action Inc. (CDA) which is committed to improving and providing humanitarian assistance and engaging in peace initiatives internationally. Roma is a member of the Women In Business Committee of the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce and an active supporter of Project Bread / walk for hunger which is dedicated to preventing and ending hunger in Massachusetts.

MSW , Tata Institute of Social Sciences India
BA , Psychology, University of Bombay, India

• Shantanu Dhaka, Associate, Staley Capital

Shantanu Dhaka is an Associate at Staley Capital, where he evaluates investments in technology-enables business services companies focusing on digital media and advertising, clean technology, and education. Prior to joining Staley Capital, he worked as an Analyst on the investment banking team at Jefferies Broadview, where he focused on mergers and acquisition of small to mid-sized companies in the technology industry. While at Jefferies Broadview, Shantanu advised companies and private equity firms on strategic acquisitions, sales, recapitalizations and buyouts in the digital media and application software industries.

Shantanu received an A.B. in Applied Mathematics and Economics from Harvard University. He is also a former professionally world-ranked tennis player and a member of the Harvard Varsity tennis team.

Working Session 4 is Almost Here...

Students, Working Session 4 is just around the corner... please be prepared to update us with your latest status this Saturday!

For some inspiration, we've posted a story on the famous "flying car" called the Terrafugia... "... the company is spinning the vehicle as a convenient option for pilots who want to be able to fly to any airport—say, Martha’s Vineyard—and then be able to drive to their final destination without having to rent a car separately." What do you think?


And here are some lessons from the "king of customer development," courtesy of VentureHacks.

Customer Development 1: Introduction

View more presentations from Venture hacks .

Introducing the 2009 TYE Mentors... Welcome!

Students, please join the TYE co-chairs in welcoming the 2009 TYE Mentors. We have been overwhelmed by the amount of support in the local community, and we would like to thank everyone who has been involved. Of course, every team is allowed to seek advice and mentorship from any and all sources; however, we would like to remind you that your mentor should be able to help with any burning questions you may have. Please be respectful of their time and their advice. We have hyperlinked each name to a professional summary.

Take note of the mentors' use of LinkedIn, the online professional social network. During Marketing I, Brad Coffey helped all of us to understand the importance of "managing your brand." Each and every one of you should be signed up on LinkedIn (and other social networking and microblogging sites such as Facebook and Twitter) so that you can promote your products and services through word of mouth for free! If you need any help or advice, don't hesitate to ask.

• Rajesh Nair, Degree Control Inc.
• Raj Melville, Ambient Engines
• Shobhit Chugh, Manhattan Associates
• Ken Baughman, RBM Technologies
• Angela Chen, Harvard Medical School / Dana Farber
• Balakrishna Venkatrao, CA
• Vivek Sharma, Thomas Lee Partners
• Praveen Sahay, Wave Capital Partners
• Stanley Curtis, Kronos
• Ajay Bam, Nokia
• Ravi Sharma, Ember
• Shantanu Dhaka, Staley Capital
• Devesh Senapati, Bain Capital

Please note that we may experience some changes on this list as teams and ideas are being finalized.  If you have a mentor you would like to suggest, please let Hooman know ASAP.

Live from TYE Working Session 2

Students, by now you are well underway to developing your companies... congratulations on your progress thus far. We will post some information about all of your mentors and about your soon-to-be competition judges... Stay tuned!