We Move Closer To An Overall Winner!!

The results after year one of The MineThatData Academy Business Simulation!

And then we have year two.

Followed by year three.

Teams made adjustments ... CEOs communicated their strategies to me ...

 ... leading to the results for year four.

Year Four Leaders:

• Magnificent = $1.6 million.
• Beanies = $1.6 million.
• Name = $1.5 million.
• Idgets(2) = $1.4 million.
• Octagon = $1.4 million.

Just like that, we have two new entrants.

• Magnificent got here by cutting back on marketing spend, by aligning marketing spend (online) with staffing (online), and by switching from paid shipping to free shipping with a hurdle. They also increased prices over time while offering 10% off.
• Idgets(2) ... yes, there were two teams named Idgets ... got here by reducing ad spend while increasing prices and aligning staffing levels around online/mobile/social.

All twenty teams continued to make optimization improvements with marginal metrics at their disposal.

• Gross Margins increased again.
• Ad-To-Sales Ratios actually increased as teams searched for the right formula.
• Staffing levels shifted even more online.
• Prices increased significantly.
• % off Promotions increased again (sort of like in the real world).
• Free Shipping with a Hurdle.

Several teams were in the top five during the four year simulation run:

• Magnificent = 1.
• Pickaxe = 2.
• Idgets(2) = 1.
• Beanies = 3.
• Name = 3.
• Loopy = 2.
• Octagon = 2.
• WBT = 1.
• Widgwon = 3.
• Wiggies = 2.

So ten of the twenty teams managed to crack the top five at least once over four years. Don't be surprised if one of these teams wins the whole thing after year five!!

The teams sat down to determine final-round strategies.

Tomorrow, we reveal the winner!

Start thinking about how I might run a version of this simulation for your company, ok?