Diving into Sports Innovation with HADO

An event for alumni, students of the Undergraduate School, and the Business School was arranged to familiarize participants with the technosport HADO, about which a webinar on sales strategy for innovative products was held the following day featuring an alumnus who is the sales director of Meleap, the company behind HADO. With the help of the NUCB Business School Student Representative Council (SRC) members who helped organize and run the event, participants came together and enjoyed using AR technology to launch virtual fireballs at one another and dodge incoming projectiles from the opposing team.

After only a brief explanation of how to play, most of the participants were moving and attacking with natural speed and grace, SRC President Sipo Makananda reports. The competition was very stiff, which made the experience all the more fun for all involved.

One of the many ways in which Frontier Spirit manifests itself is through novel ideas that build upon an uncertain present toward a brighter future. With fewer options for recreation, interaction, and even physical activity available for those concerned about the pandemic situation, technology-driven sports innovations like HADO are providing new ways to make memorable moments while adhering to health and safety guidelines.

Connecting with alumni who have gone on to have successful careers lights a fire under MBA students considering their own options after graduating from their programs. The webinar entitled “Augmented Reality (AR) Innovation and Sales Strategy” featured speaker Jocelyn Bouchet, an NEOMA/NUCB Business School double degree alumnus and Sales Director for Meleap, the company behind HADO, discussed his own journey and that of his technosports startup.

Opportunities in AR are clearly growing across a variety of fields, but starting a business in an emerging market comes with both well known and completely new pitfalls. Discussing what he viewed as Meleap’s biggest mistakes, Jocelyn honed in on the key decisions that ultimately enabled his company’s early growth and continuing success.

Jocelyn closed his presentation by drawing upon his experience as a recruiter to share some dos and don’ts with students thinking of looking for work in Japan after graduation, shedding light on the benefits of working with startups rather than larger firms, and steering recent alumni away from LinkedIn’s #OpentoWork badge.