INSEAD Crack-the-Crisis Challenge

Date and time: Thursday, July 2, 2020, 6 pm to July 4, 2020, 7 pm Gulf Standard Time (UTC+4) | July 2, 2020, 3 pm to July 4, 2020, 4 pm British Summer Time (UTC+1)

Tickets (€138-€226) here.

A fast-paced two-day, remote workshop that takes you on a real-life entrepreneurial journey spanning ideation, business plans, and pitching!

Finding the pandemic positives; creating opportunity from an economic meltdown…

2020 is a challenging year for businesses around the globe. The pandemic is causing uncertainty, hardship and widespread job losses. For those that dare take the plunge, history tells us that opportunity always accompanies adverse business climates. The post-2008 financial crisis era saw a host of successful businesses emerge such as Groupon (2008), WhatsApp (2009), Uber (2009), Slack (2009), Pinterest (2010) and Instagram (2010). This will happen again post-pandemic. We are offering INSEAD alumni and its ecosystem of friends the opportunity to equip themselves with lifelong tools and knowledge, giving them the best chance of success in creating a pandemic proof business by joining the “Crack-The-Crisis Challenge”; delivered by INSEAD National Alumni Association United Arab Emirates and their Knowledge Partner, Strategy & Winning team(s) will be invited to pitch to local angel investors during the summer of 2020.

The INSEAD National Alumni Association UAE, in collaboration with other Middle East NAAs and Knowledge Partner Strategy&, is delighted to launch the Crack-The-Crisis Challenge for alumni and alumni friends running from Thursday, July 2, 2020 at 6 pm till Saturday, July 4, 2020 at 7 pm (UAE Standard Time).

This will be a transformational experience giving value beyond the pandemic; participants will take learnings into other parts of their life.

Have you ever wondered how to start a new venture that will also help crack the crisis? How far would you need to go to make it happen? Get ready for a fast-paced two-day, remote, workshop that takes you on a real-life entrepreneurial journey spanning ideation, business plan considerations and pitching.

Attendees will benefit from learning and applying an entrepreneurial approach to their current and future business challenges. Whether your goal is to start a business, overcome hurdles or innovate at your corporate, applying the agile, smart thinking and questioning that is engrained in a creative entrepreneur is invaluable. Learn the tools and “start-up thinking” to equip you to innovate faster; creating sustainable value for yourself and your business.

Entrepreneurship is not just about a good idea; it is about flawless execution. This workshop will furnish you with the insight and frameworks to make the right decisions at the right time to maximize your potential.

Book your tickets now for the UAE NAA INSEAD Alumni Crack-the-Crisis Challenge and be prepared to:

• Sanity check ideas
• Build teams that deal with uncertainty
• Practice managing internal conflicts
• Validate risk appetite
• Practice idea generation to pitch
• Take-away frameworks
• Test entrepreneurial acumen
• Pitch to angel investors

All teams will pitch to local angel investors and judges who will select up to three winners. Winning teams will then be invited to pitch their updated business ideas to angel investors and VCs within the Middle East region during summer 2020, once their crack-the-crisis business proposition has been further refined.

Get to grips with the world of entrepreneurship at a fun-packed interactive workshop – whether launching a new post-pandemic business, or “just” innovating at your corporate to crack the current crisis. No idea or team beforehand is necessary. Book your tickets now; spaces are limited.

MEET YOUR FACILITATOR: Charlotte Mason (GEMBA07)

Charlotte is a venture partner at Antler London and an entrepreneur-in-residence at INSEAD Fontainebleau. She has helped 1000s of companies raise seed capital from angels and has a personal angel investment portfolio of 23 companies. She has vast start-up experience; from the director of angel investment networks supporting >£10m of seed capital for >50 businesses to INSEAD’s Startup Bootcamp director, delivering >30 world-leading startup programs in Fontainebleau and Abu Dhabi, with personal effectiveness ratings averagely falling between 4.4 and 5.0. Charlotte also supports and leads Corporate Innovation Programs for clients such as Fortune 500 Avery Dennison and FTSE 350 Diageo.

THE SCHEDULE:

The schedule is “make no other plans as this is all-consuming!” The Crack-The-Crisis Challenge will run from Thursday, 6 pm to Saturday, 7 pm.

IMPORTANT NOTE 1:

You do not need to have a team organized or an idea predetermined before starting the Crack-The-Crisis Challenge. Thursday evening you will hear people talk and think out loud about ideas. There is a chance that if you organize a team in advance you might hear someone’s idea and want to build a team with them. But organizing into teams is purely up to you – the participants; we will not assign teams or ideas. Further information and details will be sent to you in advance.

IMPORTANT NOTE 2:

To ensure the quality of the program, we require eight participants in order for the Crack-The-Crisis Challenge to take place.

FAQs

What is the refund policy?

If we have less than eight registered participants by June 25, 2020, we will postpone the event and issue a full refund to all paid participants if the new dates are unsuitable.

If the Crack-The-Crisis Challenge is confirmed by June 25, 2020, please note that no refund will be given for registrations canceled on or after June 25, 2020.

What is included in the registration fee?

Instruction and pedagogical materials are included in the fees.

How do I connect?

You will need a laptop and/or iPad together with some paper and pens. Connection details will be sent in advance.