Summer interns take over
In a new reality show, a bona fide CEO hands over the reins
Five college students will skip the corporate ladder this summer and run a real company on a new reality TV show developed by a Babson College senior.
Taking advantage of the reality TV craze, "CEO Intern" will put students from Babson, Harvard, and the Olin College of Engineering in Needham in the corner office and let them make all the decisions for eight weeks. They will travel to Decatur, Ill., to manage 300 Below Inc., a private industrial cryogenics processing firm.
But unlike popular reality TV shows such as Donald Trump's "The Apprentice" and Mark Cuban's "The Benefactor," the objective of "CEO Intern" isn't to pit people against one another to compete for a prize or career opportunity. Instead, the goal for the students is to win as a team by making 300 Below a better company.
"Creativity, innovation, teamwork," said the show's creator, Prescott Paulin, who graduates from Babson's business college this weekend and will be commissioned as a Marine second lieutenant soon after. "In the business world, there's no such thing as a successful business that has an environment where people are pitted against each other. It's refreshing to see a show that doesn't belittle other people; that doesn't denigrate them. We are simply showing the positives of good teamwork."
But "CEO Intern" hasn't landed a TV deal yet and Paulin admits that the show's format might be a tough sell for major televi sion networks. Still, Paulin said he's hopeful and is shopping the show to "smart" cable channels that might be interested in a different kind of reality show.
Meanwhile, the student cast members, who were chosen by Paulin and Babson's manager of consulting programs, Rosemary Casey, jumped at the chance not only to be on TV, but to run a real business.
"It just seemed like such a wonderful opportunity, such a unique experience," said Angad Singh "Nick" Bawa, 19, a freshman at Babson.
Babson sophomore Charles H. Brown, 19, agreed. "I know it's going to be a great experience, whether or not the production side of it works out," he said
For some cast members, it's also a chance to get out of their comfort zone.
"You have the management abilities and all the knowledge, and you try to see how you can use them, how you can implement them, in an absolutely different way, in an absolutely different industry," said Bentzion Chudnovskiy, 22, a graduating senior at Babson.
"It's not even close to what I'm doing, but at the same time, I think the opportunity to come to an existing company and try to implement something new is really incredible."
300 Below certainly is different from the students' college experience. The company's business is increasing the lifespan of metal products by heating them to red-hot and then quenching them in ultracold liquid nitrogen. It's a process the firm has used for everything from spaceship parts to Jack Nicklaus's golf clubs.
Prescott Paulin's father, Pete, is the founder and chief executive of the company. He agreed to give up the executive office for a few weeks for his son's dream.
He will transition to chairman while the show tapes from June to August. He said he's not at all nervous about having college students run his company, which has been profitable for 15 consecutive years.
"They'll be running it lock, stock, and barrel, 100 percent. We're going to turn over everything including the checkbook to them," Pete Paulin said. "We feel very fortunate to have a brain trust of this magnitude. It's a tremendous opportunity."
