The MBA participants of the RSM Start-up Bootcamp, which took place on the ECE Campus in the Rotterdam Science Tower, explored opportunity evaluation and refinement, business modelling, customer development, and assumption identification and testing.
Developing new business ideas
“The bootcamp was very useful. We were provided with the tools and step-by-step guidelines to follow to establish our start-up,” said MBA student Hala Abu-Jaber from Jordan, adding that she thought the method of teaching was effective and based on both theory and practice.
The RSM Start-up Bootcamp was a combination of interactive and dynamic formats, such as mini-lectures, team presentations, break-out workshop sessions, and an energetic pitch training and competition. “I learned to always think about what gains I’m giving the customer and what pains I’m relieving,” said Abu-Jaber, adding that she also discovered that ‘a customer’ and ‘a user’ are not always the same.
Taking ideas further
The three- or four-member teams from RSM’s International Full-time MBA Class of 2017 generated new business ideas and developed them into credible and viable new business propositions. The learning goals focused on four specific domains: content, analytical skills, social-communicative skills, and attitude.
Indian MBA student Neeti Ghildiyal said her team is willing to take her idea further. “The bootcamp was such a great experience,” she said. “I learned that the execution of the entrepreneurial process is what matters. You can have the world's best idea but if you can't execute it right, you can't grow.”
Entrepreneurial opportunities
American MBA student Michael Magdongon also joined the RSM Start-up Bootcamp to learn how to start a business with a structured approach, and to explore the entrepreneurial opportunities that are available to RSM students. “It was really useful in enabling further develop my ideas,” he said. “Starting a business is a scary and uncertain endeavour. The ECE bootcamp helped put some fears at ease and gave myself, as well as others, more confidence to start a business.”
The bootcamp was organised by the Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship (ECE) in association with RSM’s Venture Capital & Entrepreneurship Club.