There is a fundamental strategy difference that lends itself as a huge difference maker in the bottom line when companies decide either to play to win or play not to lose. Nowhere is this pointed out more prevalently than Harvard Business School's own Anita Elberse's Blockbusters: Hit-making, Risk-taking, and the Big Business of Entertainment. However, taking center stage last night in Washington D.C. wouldn't be Professor Elberse or her casts of characters including Jay Z, Lady Gaga, the LeBron James of the world, etc but instead the varying classes of Harvard Business School's most elite graduates. We experienced the finest, freshest and "green"est ideas of the South East region. From Ajay Kori's UrbanStems to toddler fashion, thy name is Be Mini Couture via Heidi Lieske's star designer power, the audience's eyes and ears were filled with delight.   In short, The 2014 HBS New Venture Competition did not disappoint.

Fortunate enough to have a front row view not of the presenters, but of the audience, I could see their minds gleaming with aha moments. Surely, some must have been thinking, why didn't I think of that? while others must have been baffled by brilliance. It reminded me briefly of my journey to Beijing on 2009 to attend the HBS Tsinghua private equity program. The thoughts of looking for new ventures to invest in while polishing my deal making tool belt were paramount during the flight. Fortunately, I didn't need a twenty four hour commute this time around to keep my bottom line sanity. An all-star panel of judges including Bernstein Wealth Management's own David Green would force the presenters to dig deep into their finance caps and prove that they knew the ratios that investors would need in order to make the needy seed money investments. While David is not the woeful Mr. Wonderful of NBC's Shark Tank, we need not be fooled by the mild demeanor of Steve Meltzer. After all, he not only helped host the event from his prime real estate, mahogany wood law offices but he also illustrated his knowledge of the markets, the competition and of course the law.

I suppose I could go on rubbing in all the new insight I received from listening to the presentations, but this month's newsletter rendering is dedicated to the hard work that has been put in by the sharp minded, globetrotting, patent owning entrepreneurs. Below you will find their companies as well as a collage of videos making my best attempt to use at least some of the apps on my Smartphone.   Whether you take the safe S&P 500 index fund investing route or position yourselves to find the next target of billion dollar social media acquisitions, I wish you the best and may these fresh ideas add to your life's happiness.