They called me Student Innovator of the Year: One Year Later

The whole student competition thing is a game. Games have rules, and strategies that you can learn to give you an edge over the uninitiated (maybe I'll do a separate article about them). Competitive games have clear winners and losers. About a year ago, I won both prizes, the grand prize and the crowd favorite, beating out some serious pandering by another team, but more on that later. 

With all the focus in business writing on the virtues of failing, I like to remind myself that winners finish first. Recently, I heard it described by Uber CEO Travis Kalanick as the champion mindset. Basically, think like a winner, act like you will win, don't let hard things keep you from your dream and so forth. 

I don't think we need to focus on feeling good when we fail. You have to be smart and not repeat mistakes, but adding more hustle solves most problems your startup will face. Most startups fail because the founders gave up, not because the idea wasn't viable.

If I was going to put time into the Student Innovator of the Year I wanted to win. The 'experience' and the 'journey' weren't going to be enough for me, I have too much pride and ambition for an outcome like that. The thing that kept me rehearsing the presentation for days, developing a compelling demo, designing the product, and prepping for all sorts of questions that could come up, was because I was going to win. 

When I was on the stage the story flowed out of my mouth. After the 25th recital you can pretty much do it in your sleep, but the trick is to make it sound like its the first time you've presented it. You master the intonation and eye contact, pauses and smiles somewhere after the 40 or 50th time. The competition was tough, the other innovative products were strong and well developed. One team even took to throwing 30 cheeseburgers into the crowd to try and win them over (it didn't work). 

So what am I trying to say in all this? There is something to be learned from failure, but it is not to be celebrated. Winners finish first. Think like a champion, and you will carry a certain confidence that gives others confidence in you. 

Looking back, it was that champion mindset that ultimately brought both victories.

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But it's just a silly student competition right? Right. Well, almost right. When your company is starting out, you can take all help you can get. Student competitions can help the early idea get focused, but do it for too long and it might just do the opposite. 

If you stay in the student competition circuit for too long, it will certainly cripple, if not kill your business. The funny thing is, it feels good to win. It not only feels good, but might make you think your company is being validated. After the Student Innovator of the Year competition, my team and I won a few more competitions. We drew the line at the University World Cup when we made it to the finals which were to take place in Denmark, and didn't go. 

Although the presentation was getting better with each competition, the company was not.

Pick your competitions. Have a strategy and reason for doing every competition you choose. What is the specific outcome you want and how is this competition going to get you there? Why this one and not another? And remember, winning doesn't mean you've made it, but it could be a pretty good indication that you are onto something. 

Never let your product development slip. Make sure your company is moving forward as you are winning competitions. Competitions aren't your job, but if used properly can multiply your efforts, connect you with people and open doors.

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There is so much more I could say, but really, what this retrospective comes down to is this: 

Let's be real, no one has come knocking on my door (or has even mentioned for that matter) how I won Student Innovator of the Year. It would be kinda silly if they did. But I am able to leverage the title to get jobs I want, and connect with people. People don't value the all the work I put into winning, they value the result. 

Even though it's just a student competition, it came with a trophy. It also came with the title. The title, is a concise way to describe what I did at university that explains a lot about me in very few words. It also implies a lot, and sounds kinda cool to boot. A title like this is good because it shows I accomplished something no one else could (that year at least). A title like that puts you in a different bucket.

I am a firm believer that effort is silent. People connect you with what you have done. And one year later, I think I am glad I did the competition. It didn't directly help my company at the time, but it helped me personally. 

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What do you think about results vs effort? Winning vs learning? Let me know below! I always tweet the lessons as I learn them, if that is interesting to you, follow me on Twitter @MasonWooley.