The Day

It was the day of the Judging Session and there we were, after days of minimal sleep juggling with our finals and progress on Crimson Concepts, our team for the Maybank Money Tree YES 2 Challenge.

We were the sixth team to present. One by one the each team presented; too bad we could only be in the hall to watch the other teams present after we presented. Then, the 5th team presented and were in the Q&A session, we were then allowed to go into the hall and take a seat while waiting for our turn. It was then that my heart started pounding; ready to fight or flee. We have already made it so far and I knew it was now or never; no turning back now.

We went on stage and I started; without me even knowing it, I was done and it was time for the Q&A session. I would have to say this was much better than the Breakthrough Session. During the Breakthrough Session I some how had a break down; I guess the more you do it, the better you get.

After all the groups had presented, the judges left the hall to tabulate and discuss on the marks. After some time, the judges came back in; the results had been tabulated and at this point the Top 6 teams would have been finalized. All the groups were called to the stage, and there I was praying and hoping that we made it through. Alas, the results were out, and we, Crimson Concepts are one of the Top 6 teams.

Congratz to my colleagues, all the sweat and blood (well, not literally) we put into it is worth it. Of course, this is not the end, this is merely another beginning for us. More work to be done and less sleep. But for now, we shall celebrate for 24 hours and then head back to our busy lives.

Stay tuned, pictures will be posted soon.

Details on the Judging Session

The Maybank Money Tree YES 2 Judging Session will be on the 27th of March. Details are as below

Time: 10am-2.45pm

Date: 27th March 2010

Venue: Taylor's University College Lakeside Campus

Come witness and support us as Crimson Concepts battle it out with the remaining Top 12 teams. It will be extremely competitive with all the teams hard at work after the Breakthrough Session.

To secure a place at the Judging Session, email Akmal Amran at akmal@moneytree.my with the following details.

Full Name

Contact No

Email Address

University/College

Judging Session

Next step on our Maybank Money Tree YES 2 Challenge is the Judging Session. The Judging Session will be held on the 27th of March 2010. Further details such as the venue and time are yet to be announced. During the Judging Session teams will battle it out again to be further shortlisted to six teams. All the 12 teams who were shortlisted from the Breakthrough Session have brilliant ideas and are even more motivated to continue on this journey making the Judging Session more intense, fierce and extremely competitive.

Teams will be given 8 minutes to present their business idea to the judges and a 5 minute Q&A session after that. Even with a 2 minute Q&A session during the Breakthrough Session, the judges were able to tear down a number of business ideas; what more with a 5 minute Q&A session? The teams will be judged based on the following criteria:

1. Products or Services
2. Market Need & Potential
3. Competitive Advantage (Differentiating Factors)
4. Scalability
5. Barriers to Entry
6. Revenue Model
7. Management (Team)
8. Financial

We, at Crimson Concepts have been hard at work fine tuning our business idea and preparing for the Judging Session. You will be surprised at what we have come up with. Come and support us during this event; bring along posters and pom poms.

Breaking Through

Crimson Concepts has officially made it through as one of the Top 12 teams in the Maybank Money Tree YES 2 Challenge. Initially, only the top 10 were suppose to make it through. However, we have been told that three teams tied at 10th place and the YES committee has decided  to let the three teams tied at 10th place to be shortlisted as well.

After all the hard work, we have made it through the Breakthrough Session. Nevertheless, this means more work to be done as it is not over. Another judging session is to be conducted on the 27th of March 2010 (tentatively). So it's back to the drawing board to further fine tune and solidify our business idea.

We will not back down, we will continue to put all our efforts in this no matter what comes in our way as we will never settle.

To the other teams who made it through as well, congratulations on a great job done.

To the other teams who did not make it through, congratulations as well, as you dared to be different from the other 6.5 billion people in the world. 

I leave you all with this quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson,

"Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail"

As we Approach the Breakthrough Session

The Breakthrough Session is tomorrow, with less than 24 hours more to go.

We at Crimson Concepts are hyped out about this and can't wait to meet other Maybank Money Tree YES 2 Challenge teams. Tomorrow will definitely be an intense day with all the 31 teams battling it out to be shortlisted to 10 teams.

All the best to the other teams.

Preparation for the Breakthrough Session

Here's a little update on our preparation for the Breakthrough Session.

Our Elevator Pitch has been fine tuned and sent to Mr. Wong Yu Vee to be scrutinized. As we await his reply, other things are being prepared as aids for our presentation.

Want to know more? Come witness us, Crimson Concepts sell our business idea to the panel of judges during the Breakthrough Session.

The Breakthrough Session

Initially, we were to be shortlisted based on our executive summary which we have handed in. However, to our surprise, Mr. Wong Yu Vee e-mailed us informing us that there will be an extra judging criteria, which will be done during the "Breakthrough Session".

In this Maybank Money Tree YES Challenge, there are a total of 31 teams from Peninsular Malaysia. These 31 teams will be required to present their elevator pitch to the panel of judges during the Breakthrough Session. Each team will have 120 seconds to present their elevator pitch and then the judges will open fire on them; well, not literally.

The details of the Breakthrough Session are as below:

Date: 13th March 2010 (Saturday)

Time: 10:00am - 4:30pm

Venue: The STAR Cybertorium, Level 2, Menara The Star, 15, Jalan 16/11, PJ

Attire: Business Wear

This will be a good experience not only for the teams participating but also for other students who are present on that day to witness the 31 teams sell their ideas to the judges. A maximum amount of 15 people from each university/college will be allowed to sit in and watch the 31 teams pitch their business idea. If you are interested to witness the teams battle it out against each other, write to Mr. Wong Yu Vee at uvwong@moneytree.my.

We are one of the teams who will be battling it out during the Breakthrough Session, so do come and support us, Crimson Concepts.

The Summary

Access to Clean Drinking Water is a Human Right!

In line with that, Crimson Concepts provides free drinking water to the public. The water that we provide will come in paper cups that are used by companies to advertise their products. These water dispensers will be placed at high traffic locations such as major retail stores and train stations.

Our revenue will be generated from advertising space on the cups. Prices will vary depending on the location and number of cups distributed. Our forecast shows that the return on investment (ROI) will be in a short amount of time.

Till today, no advertising company has adopted this approach; making us the pioneers in this approach.

Initially, we will be starting up in universities and colleges. This will be a way of attracting our clients as we will be offering them direct entry into the local student market. Other than that, we will be collaborating with Touch and Go to further strengthen our place in the market.

Our team consists of highly passionate individuals who stop at nothing to achieve our mission and seeing our vision fulfilled.