Presentation given by pledge4good co-founder Vikram Bellapravalu at Barcamp NYC 7 on 6/9/2012. Vikram, a 2012 graduate of the Wharton MBA program, talked about a sample of the MBA lessons from the classroom he has applied in recent weeks to pledge4good.

1. SAVE YOUR $100K: MBA
LESSONS FOR HACKERS
For more information, please contact Leonard Fishman at
lenny@pledge4good.com or Vikram Bellapravalu at vik@pledge4good.com.

2. WALL STREET TO VIA AN MBA
Tracer Capital
Management
1

3. THE REALITY: MBAS CAN CREATE GREAT
COMPANIES
2

4. #1: THE BEST WORKPLACES HAVE COMMON
TRAITS
Start-up / entrepreneurship implication: HR, culture
Skill variety
Meaningfulness
Task
significance
Motivated
Responsibility Autonomy Employees
Knowledge of Results Feedback
3

5. #2: VIRALITY DOESN’T JUST HAPPEN
Start-up / entrepreneurship implication: marketing
Advertises
Itself Social Practical
Currency Value Emotion
Common
Ground Story
Triggers
Source: Jonah Berger. Wharton School. 4

6. #3: CONSUMERS AREN’T STRICTLY RATIONAL
Start-up / entrepreneurship implication: pricing policy
Prospect Theory Hyperbolic Discounting
Mental Accounting Odd Number Pricing
>
AOV AOV
Source: Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prospect_theory; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
File:Hyperbolic_vs._exponential_discount_factors.svg 5

7. #4: FOCUS ON INDIVIDUAL DYNAMICS
Start-up / entrepreneurship implication: marketing
Aggregate retention rates typically …but generally see increasing
observed as stable over time… retention amongst cohorts…
…CLV calculation
using aggregate
measures
underestimates badly
Source: Peter Fader. Bruce Hardie. Available: http://www.brucehardie.com/talks/cba_workshop_paris_2007_handout.pdf 6

8. #5: THINK CRITICALLY ABOUT INVENTORY
Start-up / entrepreneurship implication: server
capacity, inventory management
• Under- or over-capacity is a
Cu
business model flaw F(Q) =
Cu + CO
• Buy inventory up to X* = µ + σ * Q
• Newsvendor Critical Ratio:
€
• CU – lost revenue from under-
€
ordering inventory
• CO – cost of over-ordering
inventory
Source: http://members.pioneer.net/~mchumor/business_inventory_toons.html 7

9. #6: CONTRACTS DON’T HAVE TO BE WRITTEN
Start-up / entrepreneurship implication: customer,
employee, supplier management
• Only require:
• Mutual ascent – offer,
acceptance
• Consideration
• Legality
• Capacity
Source: http://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/o/oral_contracts.asp 8

10. #7: LITIGATION IS A BUSINESS TACTIC AND A
PRICEABLE RISK
Start-up / entrepreneurship implication: legal
Source: Wharton School. LGST621. Winter 2011. 9

11. #8: FUNDING CONVERTS YOUR EQUITY INTO
A DEEPLY OUT OF THE MONEY OPTION
Start-up / entrepreneurship implication: ownership
Perceived - $100K Initial Capitalization
Equity Ownership Equity Ownership
$1MM “A” for
20%; 2x Pref. Invest
ors
20%
Found Found
er er 80%
100%
Actual - $100K Initial Capitalization
Equity Ownership Equity Ownership Founder
$1MM “A” for with
20%; 2x Pref. Invest
Call
ors
100% Option
with
Found
er $2.0MM
100% Strike 10

12. APPENDIX
For more information, please contact Leonard Fishman at
lenny@pledge4good.com or Vikram Bellapravalu at vik@pledge4good.com.

13. PERSUASION CAN BE LEARNED
Start-up / entrepreneurship implication: negotiations,
email marketing, cold calling
Persuasion Weapon Example
Liking “We’re developers like you”
Reciprocity “We’re offering a major discount, so prepay today”
Social proof “We have 75% of the Fortune 100”
Consistency “Commit to a monthly $10.00 donation today”
Authority “Our team consists of 10 PHDs”
Scarcity “Request a beta invite today”
Source: Cialdini. “Harnessing the Science of Persuasion.” 12

14. CONTACT DETAILS
www.pledge4good.com
www.facebook.com/pledge4good
@pledge4good
Vikram Bellapravalu
vik@pledge4good.com
646.238.5098
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