The fifth of May wasn’t like any normal day; we had to wake up at 4 am, of course having slept at 1:30 because of stress mixed with excitement.

As soon as the alarm rang, I got up with the feeling I only slept a minute, made sure the team is awake by calling them and we were off to the airport as soon as we were ready.

At 11:30; after 2 good hours of practicing with the team, it was time for our first presentation in front of the first jury.

The jury tested our stress by making us wait inside with the doors closed, we had no idea if we should let them know we’re ready or just wait or if it was a test and if they already started the 20 minutes timer or not.

So we launched the first presentation; I must say I think I was more stressed then the PitchYourApp contest (which was the contest with Steve Ballmer as a Jury). The only good explanation I have for being more stressed was the fact that it’s been 4 months we’ve been working on this project none stop and it all comes down to THESE 20 minutes!

We finished the presentation earlier then we should we were 2 minutes and a half behind (apparently it’s no big deal)- and then the questions started. These weren’t the same type of questions we had at the Bootcamp these were questions to make you uncomfortable,test you and see if you considered everything...

We basically got out of the first presentation feeling down, the questions made us realize our project had too much ambition and risks (we already knew it but we thought this was a point with relative importance because the competition is called “THE IMAGINE” cup.

A friend came by later on after lunch to support us, without knowing we started talking about things outside of the tournament which helped us not stress.

At 15:30, we went to the second presentation feeling confident and finished with an applaud from the jury! The questions of the second jury were okay, we had already prepared for these types of questions.

We got out feeling “okay” and very much relieved. It didn’t matter if we had won or lost, we were glad we had done our best.

Soon came the ceremony and the results, we won third place.

We weren’t sad in fact when we saw what the first place team did, they had worked on their project for a while now, had a special coach, came with guns loaded and a finished product; they deserved to win!

I was asked:

If had the chance to re-do it would I re-do it ?

Yes of course.

Would I participate next year?

If there’s an idea and a motivated team just like the one I was with this year, YES.

What have I learned from this year?

• Starting early with the project is important
• The presentation and pitch matters a lot more than you think!
• A good idea doesn’t make you win; an idea should be balanced between: CAN BE DONE NOW / CAN BE PUT INTO PRODUCTION NOW / INNOVATIVE IDEA.

Usually in an imagine cup final tournament, most ideas are INNOVATIVE, the KEY element that would differentiate you from the others are these 2 questions: Can it be done now ? Can it be put into production now?

So after analyzing what we learned this year and all the feedback from the jury at the party, what were our strong points and what were our weaknesses?

Strong points:

• Our presentation was good
• Our pitch was awesome
• The idea was good
• The demo was awesome
• Business model was coherent

Weaknesses:

• It wasn’t ready to be deployed now
• A lot of constraints depending on third party
• High risk involved

So having won third place doesn’t make us advance into the international finals in Software Design, though there’s still a small chance in the Windows Phone category as the “Deed day” project passed Round 1.

Congratulations for the winners and even all the French finalists in Software Design.

Big thanks to Vanessa Arnauld and her crew for having well organized and helped us all the way.

Thank you for the exceptional jury.

Couple of links about the event :

http://etudiants.frogz.fr/post/2011/05/06/IMAGINE-CUP-2011-Our-French-Champions.aspx

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mtoo/sets/72157626531617407/

http://www.pcinpact.com/dossiers/imagine-cup-resultats-concours-microsoft-finale-fr/190-1.htm