Sk Arif Fuad and Zaheen Tasfia Zuhair of BUP, competing as Team Defaulters, took the championship title by what the judges described as a clear margin. I personally reached out to the duo to learn more about the journey.

Team Defaulters consists of SK Arif Fuad and Zaheen Tasfia Zuhair. Arif studies Accounting Information Systems and Zaheen studies Business Administration, both at BUP. They met through a mutual friend with the intention to compete in bizcomps. Slowly, the teamwork grew stronger and Team Defaulters was formed.

The name “Team Defaulters” has its own story. “When we first started out, we’d make it to the finals and then something would go wrong,” Arif explains. “A gap, a mistake, something that cost us at the finish line. We called ourselves Team Defaulters because we kept defaulting on the win.” Then the winning streak came. The name stayed anyway.

From the circuit to the championship

Arif and Zaheen achieved this milestone in their final year of undergrad, but their interest grew in 2nd year. In 2nd year Arif had a question sitting in the back of his head. “One of my close friends told me that business competitions are extremely hard, and those that win are on another level. And it made me wonder, on what level are they? How much better are they from me?” That curiosity, more than anything, is what pushed him in; it was what challenged him.

Zaheen’s entry was less dramatic. “In our second year, a friend and I were trying to break into bizcomps, but something was missing. We kept losing in the first round.” The missing piece turned out to be the partnership itself.

By the time Innovade came around, they were not a team still figuring themselves out. With their sufficient experience, the partnership grew stronger and the task became easier. “We had worked together on multiple competitions before, which sped up the process,” Zaheen says. “We knew exactly how the other person operated. That efficiency was what made it possible to handle the insane volume of work Innovade demanded.”

Innovade 2026

Initially, Innovade had 804 participants. Each round of Innovade brought a new industry, a new company, and a new set of constraints. Round one was Smart Technology’s international expansion strategy. Round two was Novoair, not just where to fly but the precise mode of market entry. The final round was Yamaha Motors Limited navigating conflict-driven supply chain disruption.

Their approach across all three was the same. “We weren’t trying to sound the most innovative,” Arif says. “We were trying to be the most feasible.”

Team Defaulters had their own division of duties and responsibilities. Arif handles the financials and builds the strategic direction, while Zaheen goes deep into the research and context.

The margin that felt surreal

Innovade landed right in the middle of BUP’s midterm season. For Zaheen, this meant doing something deeply uncharacteristic. “I gave up my usual approach of cramming the night before. I probably lost some marks because of it. That was the trade-off, and I made it knowingly.” Arif is more philosophical about it. “Every return comes with a sacrifice. For me it was a lot of sleep and a bit of sanity.”

After the final presentation, the judges called out how complete and organised the solution was and how the strategy was grounded in accurate data. That was when something shifted. “Confidence in your work and confidence in the outcome are very different things,” Arif says. “Hearing that from the panel, after everything we had put in, that felt surreal.”

Then the result came and they heard “Team Defaulters.” They had won, and not by a little but by a clear margin. In most business competitions, first and second place are separated by a handful of marks.

The prize package reflected the scale of it. Team Defaulters took home Tk1,25,000 in prize money and four Novoair flight tickets, two return trips on the Dhaka–Cox’s Bazar route. The same Novoair that they had solved a case for in round two.

But the moment that stayed with both of them was smaller than any of that. After the competition, their university club posted about them on social media. Scrolling through the comments, they found one from a judge, not out of obligation, simply to say they were excellent. “That comment meant more than anything else in that moment,” Zaheen says. “It was validation from someone who had absolutely no reason to keep saying it after the competition was over.”

On ending undergrad on this note

For two students wrapping up their final year, the timing carries its own weight. “The championship was great and all, and we are glad this happened,” Arif says, “but we will definitely miss our undergrad life. It was a part of our life nothing else could replace.” Zaheen puts it simply: “It’s a very good kind of overwhelm.”

When asked what they would tell a first-year with an idea but no confidence, Zaheen did not soften it. “Your first idea is going to suck. And that’s good. You want to drain out all the bad ideas so you regularly start pushing out good ones.” Arif adds: “Take your time to test the waters. Be prepared to lose a lot if you eventually want to win.”

Asked to describe the journey in one word each, Zaheen laughs. “Sleep deprivation. No, eye-opening. Because I had to force my eyes open till 5 am.” Arif does not hesitate: “Meaningful.”