Months of hard work recently paid off for two Tulane MBAs as they took first and second place at the IdeaVillage-504ward Business Plan competition. The plan was sponsored by private donations from the city of New Orleans and received 146 submissions. Ishaneka Williams, a first-year MBA, and her business partner earned first place and the accompanying $200,000 prize to support their business called playNOLA. Williams’ concept for playNOLA is that of a company that will provide athletic and social opportunities for young professionals to interact with each other and build a closer connection to New Orleans. You can be assured I will be one of the first people in the city to sign up for this. Check out playNOLA’s video submission to see their great idea (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDOhhKLleQk) and their website (www.playnola.com).
Second-year MBA Will Donaldson took home second place and $25,000 worth of prize money for his venture Launch Pad. Will plans to provide a creative office space for local entrepreneurs to access so that they can work in a professional environment without having to sign long term leases for office space. I may be a bit biased but this is a really cool idea! Check out his video at (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_j-EnWVP26Q).
-Eric