The $5 Challenge

[TKDTyler]

I read an interesting article from 2009 today on an assignment a professor gave at Stanford University in which each group was given $5. The goal was to gain the highest ROI on that $5 as possible; they could use as much time as they like to plan but once the envelope was opened, they only had 2 hours to make money. Once completed, they would present their method and ROI to the class.

It is an interesting article relating to not being limited by the constraints of money. Rather, thinking outside of the box and leveraging the non-monetary resources given to them.

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/creativityrulz/200908/the-5-challenge

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[parkerscott]

Lol at having a 5$ constraint, and then starting a "free" business. Last time I checked Tire pressure gauges are rarely less than 5$ same goes for restaraunt pagers. They didn't really stick to the assignment. It was creative, but if they literally were only limited to 5$ the project would be way different. Personally I would create a mutual fund for the classroom, and leverage all the 5$ bills. If that didnt work out I would just try something else.

 

[Charnell]

Saw this on Reddit earlier as well.

Not sure why it's on INSIDERS though...

 

[jon.a]

Saw this on Reddit earlier as well.

Not sure why it's on INSIDERS though...

It must be a secret

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[TKDTyler]

No secret. I had two tabs open and posted to the wrong one. Then someone posted before I realized. The excitement was just too much to handle!

Forgive me for I have sinned. Burn me at the stake

 

[Jakeeck]

Lol at having a 5$ constraint, and then starting a "free" business. Last time I checked Tire pressure gauges are rarely less than 5$ same goes for restaraunt pagers. They didn't really stick to the assignment. It was creative, but if they literally were only limited to 5$ the project would be way different. Personally I would create a mutual fund for the classroom, and leverage all the 5$ bills. If that didnt work out I would just try something else.

A mutual fund with 2 hours of time. Nice!

 

[parkerscott]

A mutual fund with 2 hours of time. Nice!

I dont think they got a tire pressure checking stand up in two hours, or a line service company either. Basically im saying that they should have leveraged everyone elses 5$ to have more working capital. Would take maybe 5 minutes to set up the mutual fund for the class, and then they could start a business that generated more cash? Bikini car wash anyone?

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Durete]

I think that you might be over skeptikal on this one.

If you read the post/review:
- They had infinite time to prepare
- They had 2 hours after the envelop was opened.

To set up a line business like that takes about 3-4 hours?
To prepare for a tire pressure stand, takes about 3-4 hours at most?
I think that these experiments are very possible.

=====================================================================================================

To give a different view: I used to work in the entertainment on holiday resorts.
One game we did every week was to give the kids something worth $1 and they had 3-4 hours to trade it to something bigger and bigger.

We often ended up with things worth $100-$15000 (The best thing I ever got was a motorcycle...no joke...we also had a 52 inch plasma television and more(Bicycles, mini motorbikes, karts, swimming pools just to name a few examples).... that made our lives working 120 hours a week at that holiday resort a lot better.)