Commentary

• What's in a Name?

  • Each team's real first challenge was to come up with a winning name.  The women won Trump's nod of approval when they cleverly dubbed themselves "Protege".  Before the first task had even begun, they'd clarified their purpose:  to emulate and excel.  That the name flattered their prospective boss probably didn't hurt either. A name is the first thing others learn about your new business--make sure it sends the right message.

• Location, Location, Location. 

  • At first, Versacorp under Troy seemed unstoppable.  Although the teams had been told to make a profit on the streets of New York with just $250 in seed money, the men made it look easy.  While their female counterparts at Protege struggled to organize, team Versacorp scouted locations and gathered supplies.  Kwame even negotiated free materials from a local merchant.  But none of it mattered when the men chose to peddle their wares in sparsely populated Seaport, while the women found a busy street full of leering suits.  Though Versacorp began the day like a well-oiled machine, their failure to find a solid location cost them the victory.

Lessons Learned

Look for the Profit

"Adventure upon tickets in a lottery, and you lose for certain; and the greater the number of your tickets the closer your approach is to this certainty." - Adam Smith

• Remember that the clock is always running.
• Don't spend large amounts of time and energy on low- margin deals.
• Only promote transactions likely to perform well.
• Identify business propositions that can't realistically be expected to deliver a certain minimum level of performance.
• Make intelligent choices about which deals and offerings are worthwhile in the first place.
• Endorse carefully considered value propositions that make sense to a certain predetermined segment of your market.
• Make agreements that promote both your interests and those of your customer or client.
• Learn to identify profitable deals.

Gold Stars:

Gold stars for this week's episode: