About the role
Turn Disruption into Opportunity. Turn Challenges into Comebacks.
The Opportunity
What separates businesses that merely survive a crisis from those that emerge stronger because of it?
Every business faces moments of uncertainty. Market disruptions, changing consumer preferences, financial setbacks, operational failures and unexpected competition can challenge even the most established organizations. But for a true entrepreneur, every setback presents an opportunity to rethink, rebuild and reinvent.
The Founder's Resurgence is a business strategy and case-solving competition that challenges participants to think like entrepreneurs, strategists and decision-makers. It is designed to test your ability to analyze complex business situations, identify critical challenges and develop innovative, practical solutions.
Inspired by CREST's overarching theme, Beyond Antifragile, the competition goes beyond conventional problem-solving. It challenges you to transform adversity into opportunity and develop strategies that enable businesses not just to recover, but to emerge stronger, smarter and better positioned for the future.
Are you ready to step into the shoes of a founder and make decisions that shape the future of a business?
Event Format and Structure
The competition will unfold across three challenging rounds, testing your business acumen, analytical thinking, strategic decision-making and presentation skills.
Round 1 - The Business Showdown
Think Sharp. Analyze Smart. Stay Ahead.
The first round will be an online quiz designed to test your business knowledge, analytical abilities and decision-making skills.
The quiz will challenge not just what you know, but how effectively you can apply your knowledge.
Qualifying participants will advance to Round 2.
Round 2 - The Strategy Deck
- This is where the real entrepreneurial challenge begins.
- Shortlisted participants will be presented with a real-world, industry-relevant business case highlighting a critical organizational challenge. Teams must step into the shoes of business leaders, analyze the situation, identify the root causes and develop a strategic solution that creates long-term business value.
- Your task is not simply to suggest a temporary fix. Think like a founder: challenge conventional approaches, identify opportunities hidden within the problem and develop a strategy that can transform the business.
Your submission: PowerPoint deck of up to 5 slides.
Your presentation must follow this structure:
- Slide 1: Your Team's Introduction Slide
- Slide 2: Root Cause Analysis - Finding the Real Problem
- Slide 3: The Resurgence Strategy - Your Proposed Solution in phases
- Slide 4: Your proposed solution's implementation during the first 100 days
- Slide 5: Long term go to plan for the business
Make every slide count. Your strategy should be innovative, practical, financially viable and backed by sound business reasoning.
The submitted decks will be evaluated on problem understanding, root cause analysis, strategic thinking, creativity, implementation feasibility and expected business impact.
The top-performing teams will qualify for the final round.
- ROUND 3 - THE FOUNDER'S ARENA
- Present Your Vision. Defend Your Strategy. Make Your Mark.
- The ultimate test of your entrepreneurial thinking awaits!
- The top-performing teams will qualify for the grand finale, which will be held offline at Great Lakes Institute of Management, Gurgaon.
- This is your opportunity to take your ideas beyond the slides and bring your strategies to life. Shortlisted teams will present their proposed solutions before an audience of business enthusiasts and an esteemed panel, putting their strategic thinking, creativity and decision-making abilities to the test.
- Step into the spotlight, communicate your vision, defend your decisions and demonstrate why your strategy deserves to stand out.
The final round is where ideas meet reality, strategies face the ultimate test and future business leaders make their mark.
Important Guidelines
- The competition will consist of three rounds, and participants must qualify for each subsequent round.
- Round 1 and Round 2 will be conducted online.
- Only shortlisted teams from Round 1 will be eligible to participate in Round 2.
- The Round 2 submission must be a PowerPoint presentation containing no more than 5 slides.
- Participants must address the business challenge provided by the organizers and ensure that their recommendations are relevant to the case.
- Participants should avoid spending excessive space on company background and focus primarily on their analysis, proposed strategy and its execution.
- Solutions should be practical, logically structured and supported by reasonable assumptions wherever necessary.
- Shortlisted teams must be available to attend the final round (Round 3) at Great Lakes Institute of Management, Gurgaon.
- Submission deadlines, event schedules and other instructions will be communicated by the organizers.
The Mission
- Don't just solve the problem. Reinvent the possibilities.
- A setback can expose weaknesses. A disruption can challenge established thinking. But the ability to turn these challenges into opportunities is what defines great entrepreneurs.
- The Founder's Resurgence is your opportunity to think beyond conventional solutions, challenge the status quo and demonstrate what it takes to build businesses that thrive in uncertainty.
- The challenge is real. The decisions are yours. The resurgence begins with you.
Are you ready to think like a founder?