The Story Behind 'My INSEAD Story' (Part 1)

The case tells the story behind “My INSEAD Story” – a unique book for children based on the INSEAD MBA experience of their parents. Sian Bentson and Ankur Grover came up with the idea as part of their final assignment for the “SPSD: Creative Thinking” course. It subsequently became the basis of a commercial product and, ultimately, a company, StoryPie (storypie.co) – which creates storybooks from the personal experiences of parents. Ankur Grover shares the behind-the-scenes journey, describing the rollercoaster ride from concept development to product launch. The case explains how innovation projects (even for simple products) are carried out – from gathering user insights to ideation, prototyping, and testing – and the sources of uncertainty that a project leader has to manage during the innovation journey. There are two versions of the case. Part 1 describes the product conceptualization as part of a 10-day course assignment. The complete version covers the journey over the two months that followed the course to develop it into a commercial product.

. Understanding and appreciating how innovation is enabled in a process-driven manner . Comprehending and analyzing the challenges of managing an entrepreneurial/innovative project . Evaluating business opportunities and identifying appropriate business models to go with them