9 Weeks to Launch

For the last leg of my trip to the Benelux, I spent two packed days in Brussels. Alongside the slowly decaying medieval canals, squares, and merchant houses, I attended the demo day of Le Wagon in a modern building across from the 11th century St. Michael’s cathedral.

The demo day was the culmination of a bootcamp that took entrepreneurial minds and trained them how to think as developers. Students of this intense, 9 week bootcamp executed their product ideas and pitched about 20 new ventures.

These students took ideas and interests they were passionate about and built around what they loved to make products they thought others would enjoy as well. A rock climber built an enthusiast community site allowing climbers to find each other and plan their routes. A foodie built a dinner package delivery service that provides you with ingredients and recipes allowing you to cook your own food. You could practically see this entrepreneur drooling during his presentation.

It was inspiring to see that these students who had gone into the program 9 weeks before with just an idea had come out with a fully functional product they built and designed themselves. Anyone with an idea and the will to create can become an entrepreneur.

I’m pumped to head back to Hopkins and start helping our fellow students take the next steps in pursuing the ideas they are passionate about.