Navigating the scope of a client project

When I first enrolled in the SIRI Practicum class and read through the project scopes, I was surprised to find myself most interested in a project for a startup. I had initially hoped to work for an impact investor to gain some hands-on experience through the lens of sustainable finance. However, the startup’s technology sounded fascinating, and the project itself seemed to require both analytical and creative capabilities. Because I am particularly interested in climate tech innovation and venture investing, I felt like this project presented a unique opportunity to conduct market research and company due diligence while developing practical tools that can be used in a fast pace start up environment.

Navigating the beginnings of a client project is never easy. Especially when you have been given a scope like ours. In the beginning, it seemed to include everything; a market and policy analysis, an impact assessment, a projection for profitability, some identified best deployment methods and the optimal production capacity. To me, it sounded like our client wanted us to tell them how to scale their business on virtually every front. Furthermore, I was not familiar with their technology and their market. Although I have preciously conducted due diligence on a company like theirs, I quickly realized the market our client is operating in is different. 

Our client company has developed a mycelium fermentation technology that uses food industry side streams to produce ingredients such as alternative protein. Mycelium is also known as nature’s recycler because it plays a crucial role in breaking down organic matter in ecosystems. It is rich in proteins, fibers and bioactive compounds, making it a versatile material with various applications in food, packaging, textiles and medicine. Mycelium has the unique ability to transform agricultural and food industry byproducts into high-value ingredients. Despite its immense potential, the market is still in its nascent stages, requiring substantial infrastructure development, regulatory frameworks, and consumer education campaigns to fully thrive.

To gain a clear understanding of our client’s needs, we needed to undertake extensive scoping exercises. At first, it was frustrating to me: Why are we wasting so much time in figuring out the problem statement and defining our scope? Should we not already be working on the solution? However, a memorable SIRI practicum class provided a valuable insight: we were told that Einstein once said that if he had one hour to save the world, he would spend 55 minutes defining the problem and only 5 minutes solving it. This gave me hope that we were indeed on the right track. 

It took us 3 weeks, 2 client meetings, numerous team sessions and countless group chat discussions to finally narrow down the scope to a point where we can start dividing the work and developing a precise action plan. During the next 2 months, we will develop an Excel decision making tool for our client. This tool should be able to consider various inputs such as political, economic, geographic, and technological factors and generate outputs in the form of market demand forecasting, production capacity estimates, financial projections, recommended deployment methods and sustainability impact assessment. On the one hand, I recognize this task as a challenge as I have personally never built a similar tool. I believe one of the monumental tasks of the next two weeks will be to find a manual for a tool framework and decide which software will best aid in its development. On the other hand, I am excited to refine my Excel skills and grow with this challenge, as I am sure it will be useful to me in my future career.

During the initial weeks of the project, we attended the SIRI consulting workshop, where we learnt valuable skills on project management, effective communication and impactful presentations. As an example, the Gantt chart helped our team to create a timeline that serves not only as a visual overview but also a precise action plan outlining each individual team member’s responsibilities. Ever since discovering this tool in the workshop, I have included it in all my other semester projects.

Last but not least, I am enjoying working with a diverse team, not only in terms of cultural background but also in terms of skill sets. We each bring different perspectives and capabilities to the project leading to challenging questions that spark meaningful conversations. This synergy has not only contributed to our scoping exercises but also made the experience rewarding and inspiring.

Looking ahead, I am excited about the challenge of building a decision-making tool that genuinely helps our client make informed and data-driven decisions in the future. I see this as an immense opportunity to improve my Excel and programming skills while creating lasting impact by offering practical solutions through our project.