We suggest that in identifying potential E-Lab projects companies start with the following criteria:
1. The topic must be extremely important to the CEO. In particular, it must be important enough that the CEO and top managers will be happy to provide substantial time and access to the E-Lab students who are working on the project *.
2. The project should have an appropriate time frame - short enough to meet the importance/access criterion above, but long enough that it makes sense to wait for the students results at the end of the semester. (The students will keep you informed of their progress during the term, but you will receive the main results in a presentation at the end of the semester.)
3. The topic should be one on which the students can make a substantial contribution. In almost all cases, good topics involve bringing your product to market rather than dealing with primarily technical problems. Examples:
- We have a great technology. We want the E-Lab team to identify and evaluate possible initial markets in which our technology can provide value to customers and to quantify the value proposition.
- We have a great technology and an initial target market. We want the E-Lab team to develop a go-to-market strategy for our product in that market and to quantify the value proposition.
4. The project must involve research and direct contact with customers and prospects. E-Lab has a very strong customer orientation. We believe that a foundation of customer understanding is required to choose markets, make specific decisions (such as pricing or sales approaches), and evaluate competitors. If for some reason you do not want students to have access to your customers/prospects at this time, we suggest that you wait for a future semester to participate in E-Lab.
5. In particular, the project should involve an explicit, quantified statement of the value you will provide to your customers. In some cases, the team does the initial development of a value proposition. In other cases, they use and build on a value proposition that the host company developed previously.
* Students need substantial in-person contact with senior managers of the companies.
Either:
1. The company can be close enough to Cambridge for students to visit without missing their other classes.
2. Or, senior company executives from more distant companies can be in Cambridge enough for the meetings to be held here
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