11 Different Entrepreneurs. 11 Different Stories.

Roy Klaasse Bos
Jul 22, 2017 · 12 min read

The Summer Entrepreneurship Training (SET) 2017 is unique in many ways: it is hosted in a different country in two different locations (Porto & Guimarães), with different universities (Porto & Minho), different people (11 new people from 8 different nationalities!) and different trainings focussing on different aspects of entrepreneurship (more than 30 workshops/lectures/presentations). So you get the point: it is different than most other events. On that note, I’d like to make a small comment about each of these different human beings I collaborated with in the past two weeks. 1.. 2.. 3.. 4.. 5.. 6.. 7.. 8.. 9.. 10.. 11. Here we go! (it’s gonna be a long read, you have been warned..)

1. Florian

In many ways you are a stereotypical German. You like a beer. And you can drink it incredibly fast. This makes you a diligent competitor in all the German drinking games you learned us. Related to that, I can still remember the moment you launched the beer cap into the air which eventually ended up in a trash can a couple of metres away from you. Practice makes perfect, right?!
But even for Germans there is more in life than beer. When you introduced yourself and told us where you came from, almost nobody had ever heard of “Paderborn”. Others probably thought it is somewhere in the middle of nowhere. But as with other things, you told me: “I don’t give a crap”. So it’s no surprise that, you liked to be in the (party) picture. But yeah, with your gigantic length it is easy to make a group selfie of course..

2. Tomás

From large to less large. You had so much to tell about your (favourite) city Porto. It was like having a travel guide available 24/7. And you were not even an official organiser of the event..

The first day you told me you would only sing ESTIEM songs when you were drunk. Well, if that was really true you must have been drunk many times in the past few days. Even more, multiple times a day. Anyway, as a member of my team you were very active; both in our own project as well as another start-up you work for. Though, being active in the early morning was a little bit more challenging: your alarm clock had to go off at least 3 times before you finally would wake up. However, — despite Portuguese time — you were always in time. That’s what they call: work hard, play hard.

3. Kimberley

Back to German roots again. You arrived a bit later than the rest but this was no problem at all. You adapted quickly and mingled with the rest of the group as if you were already there from the very beginning. This open mindset is also what you appreciated in others, such as during your semester abroad in Canada. Further, you find independence very important: having the freedom to go where and whenever you want. Now that SET is officially over — but you are still in Portugal — you told me you are going to explore the city and the beach one more time. Much better than the university classroom, right? But I can tell you, you are probably going to like the Dutch higher education if you decide to do you masters in Delft, a university which is known as the biggest rival of Eindhoven University of Technology. No matter where you are going to study Manufacturing Support, good luck with it!

4. Pablo

If I remember correctly you had a special story of how you ended up at SET. You simply googled for “Summer Entrepreneurship Training” and learned about the program that way. Pretty cool to have a someone from the Canary Islands in our group, especially because they don’t even have an ESTIEM local group! You were probably the only one who could pin a needle in the country of origin on the world map in the corridor of Oporto Sky Hostel and still recognise it the day after.

In our visit to Startup Braga I had to interview you to articulate your current problem point of view in terms of needs and wants for a specific problem. In the end, I formulated your need as “Pablo needs a way to improve his basketball throwing technique by viewing previous throws and getting actionable insights”. Although I haven’t played basketball with you in Portugal this may be your perfect business idea. Your SET-project may not have worked out as expected, but if you keep trying and remain as positive as you are there will be some day that it will be a big success. Lastly, when you go to Rotterdam for your masters, then you should definitely go surfing in the North Sea (very nearby)!

5. Lampros

It must have been a big disappointment to arrive at Porto and discover they lost your luggage. Luckily, you could borrow it from your Greek brother for the first few days. To repeat my previous point about “differences”, from these 2 weeks everyone of the group can tell you there are quite a few differences between you and Antony. For example, when we had to pitch our initial ideas you didn’t have any idea that you wanted to present. On the other hand, Antony pitched not 1 but 2 business ideas. Even more, he thought of a random idea on the spot and presented it on behalf of you. As days passed you seemed to feel more at ease. From not knowing any ESTIEM song/dance to becoming a role model for the rest of group. What didn’t change is your love for canteen soup and your inseparable relationship with CookieMonster #MakeCookieMonsterGreatAgain

6. Antony

Since the very beginning you stood out to me because of your somewhat striking statements. Your best known one: “Take her dick out”. Or during the ice breaking sessions when you had to share your story as one of the first: “I thought we would save the best stories for last?”. You are such an enthusiastic person, always full of energy, joking all-day and day dreaming about the Erasmus bar since the moment you wake up.

Given your, Tomás’ and my personality, it was initially quite a challenge to figure out how we are going to make the project work team-wise. The day before yesterday I think we clearly showed that we can work well together during the final pitch. Though my favourite moment was the day prior to that. You and I worked for more than 3.5 hours non-stop on the presentation script. Very good teamwork, or as you would say: a “Dream Team” (that’s also how you called our team’s WhatsApp group).
Nothing else left to say, so now please close your eyes… And enjoy your pizza..

7. Artem

During the ice breaking session, you told us one of your most important reasons for joining SET is to improve your English command. I liked your approach; during an event like this you are naturally forced to speak English rather than in a artifical classroom setting. The fact that you made use of practice opportunities such as the final presentation shows a lot of determination. What’s more, you did a farewell word at the Erasmus bar after Gala Dinner. I think nobody had expected that from you. You should be really proud of that.

Besides a determined person and a bear of a man, I think you are a generous and warm hearted person too. Let me illustrate that with an example: the day you left you asked me to inform the others in the morning about the Russian chocolates you had left behind for them. Moreover, I’m pretty sure during the nights others have enjoyed the premium and powerful drink you brought with you from Moscow..

8. Loïc

This true Frenchman lives in Belgium but doesn’t speak any Dutch. No problem, many of us love your French accent when speaking English I guess. Because of your nationality, good wine and some romance can be expected. As for the former, Porto offered you plenty of opportunities to enjoy your favourite alcoholic beverage. And the search for a high-quality bracelet for your girlfriend can be ascribed to the latter. I can still recall the seller from the tourist shop in Porto who tries to demonstrate the degree of quality of the bracelet by stretching it.. and then breaking it. He should probably take some of our pitching trainings too..

Last night you told me it was your best night so far thanks to the presence of Evonik’s investor. Ironically, the guy is a lawyer by training but doesn’t support the current law system. You found it even more surprising that he spent so much of his (probably valuable) time with a bunch of college kids. I agree with you, we’ve seen some many incredible cool people during SET.

Although I have to admit you have a better feeling for direction than me, I think I certainly have a better feeling for time. Let me refer to Tomás’ quote: “If Loïc is here, everybody is here.” Let me rephrase it a bit: “If Loïc is here, you are going to find your way.” You showed me the best places in Porto and made sure my travel from Trindade to Aeroporto went according to plan, despite the problems with the card machine. Thank you for that and I’m curious to know whether 2018 will be the year of your 3rd SET involvement in a row, this time as a project leader.

9. Meryem

Next up, another Frenchman from Lyon (but from Morocco by origin). A city which is known for its excellent gastronomy and is characterised by its calm and peaceful life flow. This mindset became clear during all the workshop and lectures we attended. You seem to be a very interested and attentive listener, provided that you are awake..

Until half-way the first week you were the only female SET-participant. Even though you may be used to that - since for most engineering classes there is an unequal gender ratio — you mingled easily with others thanks to your openminded non-judging personal attitude, or as you said yourself: loyalty towards others (such as a horse). Aside from that, you had a great French speaking conversation partner as well as a German one.

Thank you for giving me the sticker from LG Lyon on the day I left. Compared to the one I got from your colleague from Paderborn, I think the lion 🦁 symbol looks way cooler. Just kidding, the bunnies 🐇🐇🐇 from Paderborn are also cool Florian..

10. Marcel

Another guy from German, but from the south of the country close to the Swiss border. Unexpectedly you got the opportunity to work on your highly specialized business idea. You seized this chance to bring “Empatch” to life. I can still remember the moment we had to pitch our preliminary start-ups to some Portugese highschool students who were following English classes. Because of the complexity of your idea, their inital reaction was logical: “Sorry I didn’t get anything of what you were saying.” Luckily for you, your customer segments don’t include highschool kids. On the other hand, the manufacturing industry probably acknowledges the problem and sees potential, especially since it solves a problem you have experienced yourself in the industry.

During the workshops you usually asked a ton of questions which showed your eagerness to learn from others such as in your study. On the contrary, what probably required some of your adaptability is the phenomenon known as “Portuguese time”. While Germans are extremely punctual this is obviously not the case for Portuguese. You told me a story where your boss desperately called you and your colleague because you were only 4 minutes late. On that note, hopefully you had a great flight despite the 3-hour delay for your flight from Porto to Zürich!

11. Birk

You and Artem were a great duo: you both smoke, you both like going to the beach (even for less than half a hour) and for some reason you both got lost all the time (already on our very first night out at the white party!).
When we together performed the newspaper challenge we didn’t get lost fortunately. In our case, we had to test whether there was market demand for an alternative type of bio-fuel based on the residues of whisky. Using a little white lie, pretending we were some PhD researchers from the University of Amsterdam, we gained reputation among tourists and managed to conduct 5 interviews by approaching only 6 different people. I approached the tourists and you recorded it. Great teamwork!

You liked good parties. You liked the early schedule a bit less. After the gala dinner night, you were in a very deep sleep and snoring. Others tried all crazy things to wake you up: from shining a flash light directly in your face to playing very loud hardcore music next to your ears. After 15 minutes or so you finally woke up from your hibneration. In that sense, I’m really curious what alarm clock you guys have in Turkey, it must be pretty impressive I guess. Have a good 4 hour bus trip to Lisbon (and a good night of sleep)!

Organisation

In any case, SET is a joint effort by the local groups of the University of Porto and Minho. It was great to see both groups had their own approach to this event. For LG Porto I think it’s quite an achievement that you have been able to organize the 2nd week of SET given the time and people constraints. Also, your perseverance during setbacks (e.g. jury problems) deserves appreciation. On the other hand, I really liked the personal approach by LG Minho. On my behalf, you were really able to create the family feeling. The fact that some of the Minho organizers attended our final pitches in Porto tells it all I think. In the end, you all did a great job. Whether Porto, Porto B or Guimarães is better, is completely irrelevant. More generally, the SET-organisation has contributed to the development of the future generation of tech-entrepreneurs, as well as a great start of my summer vacation. Thank you for that.

As a final word, I am really curious what stage all of you will be in exactly 1 year from now: Sunday 22nd of July 2018. Whether you have pursued your current business idea or not, whether you have become an entrepreneur, an intrapreneur or are still unemployed, it shouldn’t matter as long as you’re passionate about it and provides satisfaction and opportunities for growth.

This post is already way too long, so time to wrap up, time to do the work, time to walk the talk. Or as Ramires puts it:

“Quotes are simple. Execution is hard.”

Greetings and from Eindhoven, also known as “Lichtstad” (Light city), smartest region of the world and “Eindhoven de gekste” (Eindhoven the craziest),

Roy.

N.B. If you ever come by the Lichtstad let me know, then I can be your guide.

N.B.2 If you liked this post, I think you may also enjoy my day-to-day blog. You can check it out HERE. (This weekend I’ll complement it with more pictures and I’ll finish writing the posts of the last 2 days. Keep an eye out for that!).

Roy Klaasse Bos

Written by

Research Master Tilburg University | Data & Product Studyportals | Graduate Intern Microsoft

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