Entrepreneurship might come as a surprise, but it’s the challenge that keeps you learning
Ekaterina is a professional in International Market Development from Russia. She and her team were recently distinguished by the judges in Ultrahack with a business idea that was first developed at the Digital Prototyping Weekend last spring at The Shortcut. Kati shares her experience as an entrepreneur with us.
Ekaterina was actively looking for a job when she was suggested to participate at the School of Startups. Open to the idea of learning something new while she had spare time, she attended two of the three weeks of SoS where she was constantly asked: “What is your business idea?”. Kati realized through her experience as a job seeker that there wasn’t any existing system to support her job search. So finding an answer to that problem became a working idea which she presented at DPW and took the second prize.
“The value that The Shortcut brought to me is that it made me think about the option of becoming an entrepreneur”
Kati says that she was shocked for three days after the Digital Prototyping Weekend after her idea was announced as one of the winners: “The Shortcut motivated me to try, I can’t say that I am not confident about my skills, but entrepreneurship, I didn’t know it was my thing, I didn’t know I could try.”. After the DPW she was looking for coders in order to proceed with her idea. Her new teammates, Jere and Idaira, were also participating in the School of Startup and were eager to take part in Perfect Career Organizer project.
The Shortcut showed me that it can be me generating the idea, and not only the one making others’ businesses grow.
At the moment they have started to work on the MVP and for that the networks that The Shortcut can provide are crucial. Kati also adds: “it’s not only about the networks though, The Shortcut always helps me to keep on track, to talk to persons that are going through the same struggles and that keeps me motivated. I learn a lot from other people, such as Liza, who just has registered her company.”
Ekaterina, Jere and Idaira were recently invited to lunch with the Ministry of Employment in order to discuss their product and opportunities to apply it on the market. Looks like the things start to work out even though it seemed so unrealistic to Ekaterina from the very beginning.
“Some people might have entrepreneurship in their DNA but for me, the support from others was relevant, because this was not my comfort zone. It can be scary from the start but it is also a great school. I have learned much more within this half a year than in the previous two. When you are working in your field you are working on something that you are already good at, but to explore something new is challenging, and The Shortcut is a good start and support for this challenge.”
Great to hear that things are progressing for Ekaterina, Jere and Idaira, we wish them all the success that brave entrepreneurs deserve and more learning experiences to come. Also, good luck in your participation in Junction!
