MSc31: first hot seat session

This month marks the beginning of a journey for a unique set of students: The full-time Nyenrode Business Universiteit MSC31 students who have decided to take the plunge and bring their ideas to life by starting a business.

This newsletter presents the teams hoping to make a difference with their innovative ideas. Let's follow them in the journeys these entrepreneurs have embarked on and what challenges they now face.

The names of the teams mostly speak for the ideas themselves:

1. Team Prominder
2. Team Givemore
3. Team Bubbly
4. Team Lumi Lock
5. Team Giusta Fashion
6. Team Hybrid Outboard Engines
7. Team Vinylability
8. Team e-Health
9. Team Giverly
10. Team Cleanline

During the first hot seat session last week, the combined challenges the teams now face became clear:

1. How to pitch your progress to a team of seasoned startup coaches and ask the right questions;
2. Ask yourself: What problems do we want to solve? Research the industry and think about what you are going to do differently;
3. Validating your assumptions (do not say: I think …, I find … etc.);
4. Pivot to another idea if you can't find an existing problem;
5. Make use of the (alumni) network of Nyenrode;
6. Speed up, get out of the building, investigate, copy who is successful in your industry, and be practical.

Each team has different insights on surmounting these challenges, so seeing how each team fares in the coming months will be attractive. What is certain is that these entrepreneurs have taken the first essential step in making their dreams a reality. We wish them all the best in their startup journeys!