Challenge 

 I work with a lot of young entrepreneurs in the start - up ecosystem , partnering them on their journey   from the Inception stage to the Growth stage . A lot of times , these extremely talented entrepreneurs   find it difficult to break out of the technological biases of their minds and connect with investors and   customers . This comes across as a major challenge and results , in a lot of cases , in disappointment and   untimely death of their ideas . 

 Solution   In my associations with these entrepreneurs , I help them understand the importance of Storytelling and   help them inculcate it in their culture to ensure that they are able to understand and appeal to the   human side of their investors and customers . 

 Application   In one my interventions , I came across an entrepreneurial duo who had come up with an idea that had   the potential to become a pathbreaking disruptor in the existing market . However , even with a brilliant   solution , riding on future - focused technology , they were not making any headway commercially as they   were repeatedly failing to garner investor confidence and wallet share . 

 As the first step to add value with my association , I studied their case and found the following : 

 •   They had a very strong domain expertise 

 •   They had future - focused technology as their platform 

 •   They had a meticulously defined Project Plan 

 Everything seemed watertight and impenetrable . 

 That made me thinking and I accompanied them o their meetings with investors . And , that ’s when I   understood their challenge : 

 •   They came across as too perfect – too good to be true 

 •   They talked too technical – focusing too much on their solution and the technology behind it 

 •   Their focus was on the brilliant technology they had come up with 

 All impressive but none convincing to a buyer to opt for that solution . And that was exactly how the   investors were looking at it . And that made them skeptical and apprehensive about the marketability ,   sale - ability and sustainability of the solution . 

 As a strategy , based on my observations , I advised the entrepreneurs concerned to “ stop talking about   the technology and the features of their solution ” . 

 I asked them to help me find the answers to the following questions : 

 •   What is that “ one thing ” that is currently available to me , as a customer , which this solution will   make redundant ? 

 •   Why do I need this “ one thing ” ? 

 •   Would I face any difficulties if I do n’t get this “ one thing ” ? 

 •   Can this solution compensate for my “ loss ” ? 

 •   Can this solution add any value to my lifestyle ? 

 Once they were able to give me satisfactory answers to these questions , I helped them prepare their   pitch afresh focusing on the human elements like needs , wants , desire , social acceptance , failure and   success . A story that people can relate to and visualize . 

 This new approach helped them connect better with the investors and make the investors believe in   their vision and provide the much needed funding to get them off the blocks . 

 Today , the startup is in its growth phase , having recently secured its 7th round of funding . 

 Insight   This taught me a valuable lesson that our approach to solving a business problem should not be   restricted to the numbers but should also encompass the finer elements of the human beings involved   in or associated with that problem / solution . 

 Approach   Although I got positive responses with my approach that was used to solve this problem , I believe that   with the insights I got from this course would help me create a more structured , efficient and scalable   model of my approach . 


EMAIL: 
ID_NUM: 
NAME_STUDENT: 
PHONE_NUM: 
STREET_ADDRESS: 
URL_PERSONAL: 
USERNAME: 

### Task: You are a PII (Personal Identity Information) Detection. Given a essays written by students, you have to identify ONLY the following:
NAME_STUDENT - The full or partial name of a student that is not necessarily the author of the essay. This excludes instructors, authors, and other person names.
EMAIL - A student’s email address.
USERNAME - A student's username on any platform.
ID_NUM - A number or sequence of characters that could be used to identify a student, such as a student ID or a social security number.
PHONE_NUM - A phone number associated with a student.
URL_PERSONAL - A URL that might be used to identify a student.
STREET_ADDRESS - A full or partial street address that is associated with the student, such as their home address.
### Input: Challenge 

 I work with a lot of young entrepreneurs in the start - up ecosystem , partnering them on their journey   from the Inception stage to the Growth stage . A lot of times , these extremely talented entrepreneurs   find it difficult to break out of the technological biases of their minds and connect with investors and   customers . This comes across as a major challenge and results , in a lot of cases , in disappointment and   untimely death of their ideas . 

 Solution   In my associations with these entrepreneurs , I help them understand the importance of Storytelling and   help them inculcate it in their culture to ensure that they are able to understand and appeal to the   human side of their investors and customers . 

 Application   In one my interventions , I came across an entrepreneurial duo who had come up with an idea that had   the potential to become a pathbreaking disruptor in the existing market . However , even with a brilliant   solution , riding on future - focused technology , they were not making any headway commercially as they   were repeatedly failing to garner investor confidence and wallet share . 

 As the first step to add value with my association , I studied their case and found the following : 

 •   They had a very strong domain expertise 

 •   They had future - focused technology as their platform 

 •   They had a meticulously defined Project Plan 

 Everything seemed watertight and impenetrable . 

 That made me thinking and I accompanied them o their meetings with investors . And , that ’s when I   understood their challenge : 

 •   They came across as too perfect – too good to be true 

 •   They talked too technical – focusing too much on their solution and the technology behind it 

 •   Their focus was on the brilliant technology they had come up with 

 All impressive but none convincing to a buyer to opt for that solution . And that was exactly how the   investors were looking at it . And that made them skeptical and apprehensive about the marketability ,   sale - ability and sustainability of the solution . 

 As a strategy , based on my observations , I advised the entrepreneurs concerned to “ stop talking about   the technology and the features of their solution ” . 

 I asked them to help me find the answers to the following questions : 

 •   What is that “ one thing ” that is currently available to me , as a customer , which this solution will   make redundant ? 

 •   Why do I need this “ one thing ” ? 

 •   Would I face any difficulties if I do n’t get this “ one thing ” ? 

 •   Can this solution compensate for my “ loss ” ? 

 •   Can this solution add any value to my lifestyle ? 

 Once they were able to give me satisfactory answers to these questions , I helped them prepare their   pitch afresh focusing on the human elements like needs , wants , desire , social acceptance , failure and   success . A story that people can relate to and visualize . 

 This new approach helped them connect better with the investors and make the investors believe in   their vision and provide the much needed funding to get them off the blocks . 

 Today , the startup is in its growth phase , having recently secured its 7th round of funding . 

 Insight   This taught me a valuable lesson that our approach to solving a business problem should not be   restricted to the numbers but should also encompass the finer elements of the human beings involved   in or associated with that problem / solution . 

 Approach   Although I got positive responses with my approach that was used to solve this problem , I believe that   with the insights I got from this course would help me create a more structured , efficient and scalable   model of my approach .
### Output: 