Second Impact Week

TU/e Eindhoven, along with The Gate, hosted our second Impact Week and provided our fellows with the opportunity to meet other entrepreneurial minds.

This week fellows focused on setting out their assumption matrices and market segmentation. In their attempt to unpack the wants and needs of their potential customers, they worked on polishing their interviewing and listening skills. To prepare them for market eavesdropping, this Impact Week’s training contained different exercises regarding active listening and interview techniques.

One of the most effective ways for new entrepreneurs to learn is to learn from successful entrepreneurs. So on Monday, we welcomed Jan van der Tempel, the founder, inventor and CEO of Ampelmann, the Delft-based offshore access specialist. The next morning we had a visit to the Eindhoven Engine, where Scientific Director (and innovation expert with a high media profile) Maarten Steinbuch and Managing Director Katja Pahnke, greeted our fellows with a morning coffee and some entrepreneurial-scientific talk and encouragement. Talk about encouragement and motivation has been continued the same afternoon when Jeroen van Woerden, a managing director of the Gate, introduced us to ambitious initiatives coming from The Gate and TU/e Eindhoven, which made us even more excited about having our Impact Week at The Gate, as well as we are looking forward to seeing all others Gate’s plans flourish.

Have we already mentioned that fellows, aside from their individual projects, are working on their group projects as well? Okay, but we’ll reveal more soon. Hopefully, next time, when we are in Delft. Until then, like the rest of Europe, we’re trying to stay hydrated and not overheat. Which is becoming a bit of a challenge with climate change. But hey, our fellows are working on solutions!