Where the devil is

Last week I had a conversation with a colleague who’d submitted an idea for possible implementation as a new product. The guy has an MBA (albeit in marketing) from Drexel University, but apparently things like revenue potential and feasibility aren’t part of the curriculum. Not even actual market need, it seems, because none of these concepts were in evidence.

It was a careful conversation, because he was genuinely confused that this idea wouldn’t be snapped up for immediate development. And he’d come up with it during our first run of the new business ideas course. So…why wouldn’t we jump at the chance?

Money, dude. It’s always money. This idea wouldn’t drive enough revenue to pay for the requirements document, much less build out, market and maintain the system. So, no.

Further, do MBA courses not require that students cough up some kind of detail to back their claims? Even in marketing? Because my intern had to extrapolate all over the place to try to research similar products already on the market (which are definitely not monetized); there was no there there.

So this is why this cartoon resonates with me.