Live Case – Project
Develop Product Feature Recommendations Based on Competitive Analysis and Market Trends
A Collaboration Between
Next Gen HQ’s mission is to help the next generation succeed at business and life. We believe the key to success is leveraging the Entrepreneurial Mindset – the ability to Think Like An Entrepreneur – in all work and life tasks or challenges. Through our Momentum Membership’s new digital platform, we are providing informative, engaging, and expert- and mentor-driven content for self-serve learning or upskilling, and professional network expansion.
We have created hundreds of ad-hoc 1-4 minute video clips that feature our outstanding network of experienced mentors teaching about the Entrepreneurial Mindset, as well as publishing themed “Challenges,” ranging from 3 to 30 days, to accelerate members’ learning journies. We also provide other Resources including Opportunities, such as job postings, pitch competitions, and Perks (think discounts and freebies!), as well as access to a like-minded and diverse community to help this next generation thrive – all via the Momentum Membership!
Our Product Team is looking for help in determining the value proposition, market opportunity, and competitive advantage / differentiation of new features and offerings for our Momentum Membership. This will help us identify how the next generation wants to leverage the Momentum Membership, particularly our digital platform, so that we have insight into the types of Product features we can implement to help drive the user journey.
This project would be a success if we have specific features or recommended direction for the Next Gen HQ Product team to use to expand our community-based features, which are based on the competitive landscape, market trends, and user preferences.
Project Topics
Growth Strategy
Marketing
Company Information
| Company | Next Gen HQ |
| HQ | New York |
| Revenue | Unlisted |
| Employees | 25-50 |
| Stage | Established Startup |
| Hiring Potential | Follow-on Projects, Formal Internship, Entry Level Full-Time, Upper Level Full-Time |
| Website | https://www.nextgenhq.com/ |
Company Overview
Next Gen HQ is on a mission to help the Next Generation “win” at work and life. We have created a Leadership Development Platform called Momentum that includes the Community, Education, Resources, and Mentorship these young leaders need to achieve the success they desire. Membership is available to students and young professionals.
Growing up, Dylan and Justin, our CEOs, felt a desire to live life on their own terms. Looking for direction, they started asking questions and seeking out peers equally excited about chasing their dreams. In 2014, they started Next Gen HQ to help those just like you and us - young people looking to design the lives they want to live. Nearly a decade later, we serve a community of over 600K students, young professionals, and founders.
The journey wasn’t always pretty, but nothing worth doing comes easily. Pursuing your purpose is flat out hard. Though we - like you - believe the journey to be worth it.
Experiential Learning Program Details
| School | Florida Institute of Technology (Florida Tech) |
| Engagement Format | Live Case - Think "Hackathon" or Case Competition with a whole class of students! This learning format allows educators to deliver experiential learning to students at scale. Students are often split into groups to work on a live case (or a series of cases) from a real host company that directly relates to key learning objectives. |
| Course | Foundations in Creativity, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship II |
| Level | N/A |
| Students Enrolled | 25-30 |
| Meeting Day & Time | T - Th 11:00 - 12:15 (Face to Face - traditional class) |
| Student Time Commitment | 4-7 Hours Per Week |
| Company Time Commitment | 1 Hour |
| Duration | 4.43 Weeks |
Program Timeline
Key Project Milestones
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February 12, 2022 - Conduct a Competitive Analysis
Concepts to consider as part of your competitive analysis:
- Who are Next Gen’s key competitors? Why?
- What do Next Gen’s key competitors do well in terms of building/managing a community and how do those community concepts lead to product virality?
- In other words, how do Next Gen HQ’s competitors manage to have a viral product through member-generated referrals in their community features?
- What are some of the key characteristics of these technology products that made these communities easy to create, scale, and encourage member referrals?
- Referral systems can be very powerful for free tools, e.g. Morning Brew’s Email referral program, what other referral systems can you identify and analyze?
- How do competitors encourage member-to-member interaction?
- Are there active facilitators or account managers that get involved in the community experience? How does that help facilitate a member’s experience?
- How do community concepts foster member-to-member interactions and member referrals?
- To start you off, here are some examples of competitors:
- Education: Udemy, LinkedIn Learning, Coursera
- Networking & Community: Y Combinator Startup School, Tik Tok, Instagram
- Concept: Peloton, Headspace, Copilot, Future
- On-Boarding & Gamification: Duolingo
- Note: You’re highly encouraged to research and highlight others!
Suggested Deliverable:
Develop a 1-2 page overview of your Competitive Analysis including key characteristics that would be valuable for Next Gen to replicate within their product for their audience. Make sure to identify features and concepts that would not work for Next Gen’s product as well.
Specifically, compare/contrast the following features across competitors:
- Member-to-member interaction
- Facilitator involvement in community experience
- Product virality strategies
- Referral process within the application
- Gamification/Rewards
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February 24, 2022 - Develop a Comprehensive Product Strategy for Building Community and Creating Virality on Next Gen's Momentum Platform
Based on your competitive analysis completed as part of Milestone 1, what community and virality strategies do you recommend Next Gen begins implementing in the Product?
- How would you recommend members interact with each other on the platform?
- How might this be similar / different to other competitive platforms?
- Does the Momentum Platform need a concierge, guide, or coach to help users navigate and engage with the platform?
- How can Next Gen guide the members, if you deem necessary?
- How do you propose Next Gen should monetize the Momentum Membership?
- Do you think access to the Momentum Platform is something aspiring entrepreneurs and next gen professionals would pay for?
- Do you think access should be free and alternative methods to monetization should be pursued instead?
- How would you recommend building virality into the product?
- How would you encourage/reward member-generated referrals?
Suggested Deliverable:
Develop an Executive Memo and 3-Minute Video Pitch on how you would approach community building on the Momentum Platform. Be sure to highlight the value prop, target market, and competitive advantage/differentiation of Next Gen’s Momentum Platform.
- How would you recommend members interact with each other on the platform?
Project Resources
Industry Mentors
Academic Mentors
