Best Experience Ever #SharksDen - A Reflection


Aliza Wajih

Yes we didn’t win, but it doesn’t mean it wasn’t one of my greatest team experiences ever! Shark’s Den gave me the opportunity to meet amazing people and taught me valuable start-up business lessons such as marketing, management, innovation and the most important of them all, the value of teamwork.

I had the opportunity to work with dedicated teams every Wednesday in July and it was inspiring to see such good work being done. Every team in every session had come up with innovative and unique ideas. Their passion and dedication was truly reflected in all of their work and despite being in a competition everyone mantained a supportive and creative environment.

At the end of every session I would usually have a chat with members of other teams and we would share our thoughts on our projects. Their constructive and positive feedback did not only help me understand different points of view but also helped me make better decisions.

Working with my own team, Team Next-Gen Phone Cover, was itself an excellent learning experience. The support, encouragement and passion of my team allowed me to get through times when, even as a CEO, I began to doubt our decisions. Chris, Guna, Ali and Katie put their heart and soul into finding the idea we were passionate about and bringing it to life. I could not have been prouder nor could I have wished for a better team. I would like to thank you all for all your efforts.

In addition I would like to thank Research Platforms, David Flanders, Paul Mignone and Vincent Khau for giving me the opportunity to participate in this challenge and all the other teams for being friendly and supportive. I would also like to Congratulate Team Fit n’ Click for winning. It was an honour to work with everyone.