個案資料

In the fall of 2010, the founders of Campus FundSource, an organization developed to help campus groups raise money for their respective causes, were asked to present to a potential investor. The three founders were struggling with how to scale their start-up that connected campus groups that needed funding (such as language groups, intramural sports teams, and singing groups) with major brands that were trying to reach a younger demographic with their marketing messages. The company was still at the start-up stage, and the founders had just graduated from a business accelerator program, where they finished developing their website and tested both the site and the business concept--connecting brands with students. In order to show potential investors that they were readily scalable, they needed to show that they could quickly attain a critical mass of both student groups and national brands. This presented a chicken-and-egg dilemma, as it was proving difficult to penetrate two markets at once. How could Campus FundSource attract both the student groups who needed funding and the national brands that wanted to attract and keep post-secondary students as their customers?

This case is appropriate for undergraduate introduction to entrepreneurship classes, as well as introduction to marketing, entrepreneurial marketing, and marketing management classes. It could also be utilized in a strategic management or business policy class for those who wish to cover both large and small business in what is typically a business capstone course. After completing the case, students will be able to do the following:<br><ul><li>Understand the complexities of business start-ups.</li><li>Confront the difficulties of bringing two markets together.</li><li>Appreciate the need to develop concise market messaging that will “hook” the customer.</li><li>Address the differing requirements of an investor presentation versus a customer presentation.</li></ul>

• Startup environments, multi-sided platform prob, market messaging