Boardroom Rivals | Business Simulations for Higher Education

Inside The Boardroom

What your students see

Screens from a class in progress. Click any screen to see it full size.

A market that moves every day

Through each day, four to six news items land on the Company page: another brand's Meta campaign, new reviews, a vet practice asking about wholesale. Each says what it could mean for the business.

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A market that moves every dayThrough each day, four to six news items land on the Company page: another brand's Meta campaign, new reviews, a vet practice asking about wholesale. Each says what it could mean for the business.

The COO's reorder card for one product: sales, coverage, the cheapest, chosen and fastest supply options, the reorder pipeline, and a 3,000-unit order with supplier and freight set. — Every reorder has a lead timeThe COO picks a supplier tier and a freight mode for each product. The cheapest option is sellable four cycles out; the fastest arrives this cycle at over three times the cost.

The CMO's Channel Mix panel: spend per cycle and creative tier for Meta, TikTok, influencer, PR and email, each tagged with its fit for the pet market. — The CMO splits spend across channelsEach cycle the CMO sets ad spend and a creative tier for five channels. Spend counts for more in channels that fit the pet market, with diminishing returns.

The S&OP matrix: for six products, on-hand stock, sales velocity and cover, then projected demand against available supply for cycles 12 to 14, all marked aligned. — Demand plan meets supply planThe CMO's demand plan meets the COO's supply plan for each product over the next five cycles. Cells flag stockouts and dips below the CEO's inventory floor before they happen.

A morning briefing after every updateAfter each overnight update, teams get a written briefing, a P&L snapshot and AI competitor numbers. Here it flags a product launched with no stock and tells the COO or CEO what to do.

The class leaderboard: the top three teams, a table of eight teams' company value, EBITDA, market share and composite score, and one team's breakdown with a KPI per role. — Ranked on value and operating excellenceTeams rank on a composite that includes company value, IRR, recent EBITDA, market share, revenue growth, team health and coordination. Each seat also gets its own KPI.

About This Simulation

The Boardroom is Boardroom Rivals' flagship simulation. Teams of 4 take distinct C-suite roles (CEO strategy, CFO cash + pricing, CMO growth + brand, COO inventory + suppliers) and operate a DTC brand — skincare, snacks, apparel, or pet products — for 25 cycles across 5 weeks (M-F). Every real week = 1 in-sim year, and the last active weekday of each week is the Board Meeting where the year closes. Each role submits per-cycle decisions in their functional dashboard; a nightly engine reconciles pricing, inventory, ad spend, competitor moves, brand equity, and a fixed 3-competitor market to produce the next morning's P&L. Teams communicate through a built-in Slack-style chat. Company value at end (brand-tilted 4×–8× TTM EBITDA + cash + inventory + brand equity − debt) sets the leaderboard.

LMSCanvas + LTI 1.3 compatible platforms·SSO + one-click grade publishHow it works

Share this with your team— printable one-pager for a chair or procurement./for-your-team/the-boardroom

Learning Objectives

Play a distinct C-suite role and own its decisions end-to-end
Coordinate cross-functional strategy under per-cycle pressure
Read a per-cycle P&L and translate metrics into next-cycle levers
Balance short-term cash discipline against long-term brand equity
Manage inventory, pricing, and marketing as interdependent systems
Compete against AI competitors AND other student teams in a live market
Communicate + negotiate across roles using in-sim team chat

Week-by-Week Overview

1

Year 1 — Foundation

5 daily cycles Mon-Fri. Pick brand positioning, set launch prices, stock inventory, learn the per-cycle rhythm. Real P&L, real competitors, real inventory pressure. Friday closes Year 1 at the Board Meeting.

2

Year 2 — Optimize

Data starts to tell a story. CMO tunes channel mix; COO negotiates suppliers and reorders; CFO revisits pricing and can raise capital (equity, debt, credit line). Coordination events start hitting cross-role.

3

Year 3 — Scale

Board challenges, R&D pipeline, and Specialist hires unlock. Competitor pressure intensifies. Teams that ignored brand equity or cash discipline start to fall behind.

4

Year 4 — Consolidate

Market events swing harder. Turnaround gate activates if cash + margin slip below thresholds. Strategic bets (subscription plans, buyer deals, capacity capex) start compounding.

5

Year 5 — Endgame

Final stretch. Company Value crystallizes (brand-tilted 4×–8× TTM EBITDA + cash + inventory + brand equity − debt). Composite leaderboard blends Company Value, IRR, recent EBITDA, peak share, team health, coordination, board challenges, and forecast accuracy.