SCIS students create business ideas at the first Dragon's Den
On June 5, the 10th graders of the Shanghai Community International School presented their entrepreneurial pitch to a panel of judges in our first-ever Dragon’s Den.
The Dragon’s Den experience is formatted to simulate the types of investment pitches that entrepreneurs need to make to investors — and it follows the model of the TV show “Shark Tank.”
Under the leadership of Lawrence, our 10th grade students worked in groups of two or three to create an eco-friendly business.
Student teams put together business plans and each of those plans were entered into an online classroom stock market simulation called “simCEO.” The stock market lasted for approximately three weeks.
Each of the business ideas had to align with B-Corp standards, making it a sustainable business model serving the greater good.
SCIS students present their investment pitches at the first Dragon’s Den.
SCIS students present their investment pitches at the first Dragon’s Den.
Each business idea had a prototype created and ready to share with the judges, along with their 10-minute investment pitch, detailing the problem/solution and financial rationale to persuade us to invest.
It was a fantastic piece of real-world learning. The students shared ideas and actual prototypes for:
• Sustainable bar soap;
• Computer cases and bags made from recycled materials;
• Eco-friendly, scented lip balm;
• Sustainable, scented candles;
• Credit card/transportation card holder that attach to your phone made from recycled materials.
Each presentation allowed students the chance to showcase their designs and detail the market need it met.
Following each presentation, the panel of judges was allotted time to ask probing questions to the aspiring CEOs.
A special thanks to the judges who joined me on the day — Willaugher, Dr Volpe and Carel Van Apeldoorn.
(The article is contributed by Derek Luebbe, head of school of SCIS Pudong campus.)
