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Summer Startup Update week 5: The most important thing I have learnt so far...

16 December 2019

We’re now halfway through this year’s Summer Startup Programme, but the momentum certainly isn’t slowing down! This week featured more guest speakers, mentoring, and progress being made by all of the ventures.

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Lucy Turner, Luke Campbell, Caitlin Dow and Stefano Barfucci participating in Nadeera Ranabahu’s feasibility analysis workshop.

Week five of the Summer Startup Programme was focused on putting the learning and ideas from the Programme so far into practice. On Monday and Tuesday, we were lucky to have Glenn Renwick spend time at UCE and provide insightful talks on his career and effective leadership, plus one-on-one mentoring with the ventures. UC alumnus Glenn was the CEO of US insurance company Progressive (which is currently ranked at #99 on the Fortune 500!) for 16 years, and recently shifted to a new role as the Chairman of its Board of Directors. 

UC Business school lecturers Nadeera Ranabahu and Matt Scobie also spoke during the week on feasibility analysis and corporate social responsibility. 

We asked some of our students to share the most important thing they have learnt during the first half of the Summer Startup Programme. Here’s what they said:

Glenn Renwick speaking to our Summer Startup cohort. Glenn Renwick speaking to our Summer Startup cohort.

Emma Pickup, ILKMYLK
“The number one thing I've learnt over the last few weeks is the importance of prioritising taking time out for yourself.  Being an entrepreneur is really hard; you have to make all the decisions, and everything comes down to you. It's exhausting and can be quite mentally draining! It's such an exhilarating, rewarding journey, but it's also important to make sure you're having fun and enjoying yourself.”

Caitlin Soal, Red Roses
“The most important things I've learnt is to take risks, learn from your mistakes and never be scared to dream big.”

Corbyn Greenwood, Vinta
“I’ve learnt the importance of validation to ensure you’re making the right product, that the market actually wants, not what you think is the right product.”

Luke Campbell and Lucy Turner, Vxt
"Being part of the Summer Startup Programme for another year has reinforced how valuable being surrounded by people going through similar journeys to us really is. Entrepreneurship has fantastic highs and extraordinary lows, being able to share that with people who understand is super helpful."

Katie Young, Progressiva
“I’ve learnt that it’s best to start small and focus on what you can do right now.”

With only a few more days to go until our break, the Summer Startup students will soon be having some well-earned time off. Our weekly updates will return when the Programme restarts in the new year!

The UCE Summer Startup Programme is a chance for students to work on fast-tracking the development of their ideas into realistic business ventures for 10 weeks over the summer. To find out more about the UCE Summer Startup Programme, click here.


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