In touch with the real world
SDU Entrepreneurship Labs is the startup incubator for students at the University of Southern Denmark. Student startups have the opportunity to test out their budding ideas and grow their established companies in close cooperation with a team of SDU Business Developers. Students are provided with office facilities, business development, training, workshops and access to a network of industry experts and potential investors. Not to forget the free coffee! All of the above is packed together in a safe environment, with no costs. But is it too safe?
Theory vs practical teaching
There is no question that the safe environment offered in student incubators is nurturing the process of creating the perfect Value Proposition and especially the designing of the perfect product/service for the imagined end user. But how about the “real world”? Our finest job is to push them out of the “incubator nest” and let them get out there and sell their products, almost before they’ve even started developing it. But this is easier said than done? Especially when you work with students who are used to theoretical work inside the world of academic.
The solution, as we see it!
At SDU Entrepreneurship Labs we believe that the solution lies in a strong collaboration with our external environment. We do our best to facilitate the meeting between the established companies and our academically focused startups. This is done through our Company and Expert Meetups. We push our startups to go to market, still when their product is still in the idea face – we urge them to fail fast and test out the idea before any unnecessary resources is put into the project behind the desk. YES, we are huge fans of LEAN thinking! Our constant search and focus is on; How do we further that cooperation with the external world and our academic world and cut wasted time and costs for both parties? How do we open up, so that the merging between the real world and our startup nest is nurtured?
This Friday, the 22nd of September, is the perfect opportunity to meet our team, our startups, and other key stakeholders in Odense. Join us at Cortex Park 26 at 16:30 for the Startup Odense Community Meetup of September 2017!
AuthorsKatrine Damgaard Foster and Christian Fuglsang Pedersen are business developers at SDU Entrepreneurship Labs
What do you like about Odense?
There is a great focus on entrepreneurship and on fostering startup environments by the educational institutions.
What is your best entrepreneurial advice?
Get out in the real world and test your idea- TODAY!
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