Ten lessons I learned about entrepreneurship (that you will not find in the playbook)

I never read introductions in online posts, I directly jump to the bullet points in the article, so I did the same here. There is a background on the topic for those who like reading long paragraphs, followed by my favourite part, the lessons that I learned during my enrolment in the European Innovation Academy. Other than bullet points you will figure out I love brackets a lot (you probably can notice from the title) so bear with me.

Before we start, what is the European Innovation Academy (EIA)?

It is the world’s largest entrepreneurship program. EIA is a fifteen-day (over the course of three weeks) accelerator. It occurs usually twice a year in two different locations (there is a third one coming up soon at Qatar, stay tuned) around the world. This year there was more than 400 participants from 70 different nationalities in the program that I attended only.

You can check them out here

How did I get there?

I currently live in Qatar, and Qatar Science Technology Park (QSTP) sponsors a group of students every year to attend EIA. Last year I wanted to attend the program after it was advertised at my university, but I was not allowed to apply from my university side (because I was a freshman back then and I should leave a room for the seniors, OK!). So I waited one more year, then after a long process that I won’t go through its details I got accepted. Hooray!

I attended the cycle that took place in Italy, and here I have to mention that it was my first time in Italy. It is beaaautiful.

Other than enjoying the Gelato I learned a lot in those three weeks that I tried to summarize in the points below:

0.Enjoy

And this comes as zero because it is not one of the advices, it is more of a base for everything that will follow. Make sure to have fun along the process. Whether you are travelling to a new country or working on your start-up from home. If you are not having fun you are not doing it right. During the program I have seen Turin, Milan, and Rome. I met so many great people, and got lost in the city.

1.Team, Team, TEAM

I did not really appreciate that point until I had to work with someone who is the polar opposite of me for three weeks. Before I go to the program and while I was looking for a team I only focused on the idea that I will be working on (which does not really matter later, see lesson No.6 for why). Make sure that you are working with people that you can actually work with. That does not mean just stick to your friends or people that you already know, but make sure you have an idea about your team members before you commit to the team (Hint: just ask them and see what their goal from the program or the start-up is, if you want to create a local start-up and they want to dominate the world then that is a sign that you will not make a good team).

2.Know your skill set

Upon the acceptance to EIA you are asked to create a profile on their platform on which you have to mention your area of speciality. They have pre-defined categories like marketing, software developer, and so on. As a mechanical engineer I wasn’t really sure what category defines me. I changed my category on the platform about three times before finally sticking to ‘other’. Later in the program as we worked on the project I discovered to my surprise that I am really good with design and I helped with the UI/UX work. The point is try to discover what you are really good at (even if it has nothing to do with your major).

3.Work ahead, but not too much

If you already have an idea for the start-up that you want to work on, or have in mind an area that you will be working on (AI for example), some research in advance won’t hurt. It will get you acquainted with the topic and will help you later when it is time to formulate your idea.

Be aware not to go into details and specifics of branch of the topic or about one certain idea because once you start working with your team the idea will change (believe me).

4.Go out of your comfort zone (sounds cliché I know)

We had to bump into random people in Milan and survey them. To be honest I did not do the talking myself, but the mere idea of going up to strangers as a team frightened me. In a start-up you will have to pitch, approach people that you never met before, spam your contacts to get them filling surveys for you, and answer investors questions on spot. I don’t want to terrify you, just be ready for that.

5.Grow your network (even if you don’t have a successful start-up, at least you have new contacts)

During my time at EIA my LinkedIn was on fire. I have met so many people and became a friend with a good number of them. To me this is what I gained the most out of this program. I expanded my network and made new friends in countries when I will visit I will have someone to contact. Your network is what will open new doors for you later. Maybe it will be a recommendation later or a job offer, you never know.

6.Pivot, then pivot, and pivot

Pivoting in the entrepreneurship dictionary means you have to change your idea, customer segment, or business model (or all of them) to meet the market needs. Be ready to do so because even the moment that you reach to your ‘perfect’ idea, believe me you will have to change it later.

7.Have a clear goal from the beginning (and share that with your teammates)

I have touched on that earlier in the first point I made, but it is very important that you have a clear goal in mind from the beginning. If you are not sure at least try to have a rough idea in mind. For me I applied to EIA wanting to learn more about Entrepreneurship and discover if it is a path that I want to pursue later in life. To my delight I achieved my goal in those three weeks. Having a goal in mind will also help you to group with people who have the same goal as you do.

8.Be flexible

Here flexibility has two streams. One when it comes to the idea you are working with, and other when it has to do when working with your team. Don’t cling too much to the idea (especially if you are the one who came up with it). It will change, or will take a different form. Be flexible when everyone around you is advising you to pivot and let go of your love to the original idea.

Regarding the team, be flexible with them, even if you don’t like one of the team members or the idea you are working on took a different form than the original that you now despite. Make sure you go with the flow and don’t be the one who renders the team progress.

9.Be passionate

Make sure that you really like the idea you are working on. If you are not passionate about it you will not be performing at your best with your team. For me I did not like the idea (after we pivoted) that my team was working on in the accelerator, but I still completed it. I knew that I will have to work on that idea for only three weeks, I was certain that I will not go forward with the team after the program was over because I am not passionate about it.

10.Make sure entrepreneurship is the right thing for you

You probably won’t know this for sure until you go through the experience at least once. But for me after my first accelerator experience I had to give entrepreneurship another thought. Let’s face the truth that the founder lifestyle is not for everyone. You have to be ready to have a different schedule every single day, not getting paid for a while, having to stick with your start-up for about five years on average before starting to make any profit, plus you have to be a good multi-tasker. For some people that is exactly what pulled them to entrepreneurship from the beginning, having a flexible lifestyle. For other people, like me, I like having a stable life where I know my budget for every month ahead of time and plan my holidays the year before. Whatever you prefer make sure you are honest about it with yourself.

After mentioning my last point you may wonder why I bothered to go through an accelerator if I know it is not my style. The answer is that simply I did not know. Also, the accelerator experience did not go to waste. I am having a little social start-up as a community service that I am doing besides my studies where I started to apply the principles I learned at EIA. Also, I figured out that I like the academic side of things so I will be browsing more on how to be behind the scenes of an accelerator (I want to help with the preparation of the curriculum and activities of accelerator programs).

Go out to the world and don’t be afraid to follow your dreams.