On 20 October 2017, 3 NOC Shanghai students made their way to Ning Bo to participate in the Techstars Startup Weekend Hackathon (Fashion x Tech edition). They were the last participants to arrive punctually, and were rewarded with 3 L-sized participant shirts that none of them selected in their registration. A mass introduction to the event proceeded soon after, and this was followed by an ice-breaking session where the participants got the chance to mingle with each other. This ice-breaking session was especially memorable as the audience was treated to performances (forfeits) by talented singers (participants), including one by a very impressive beatboxer, and the not-so-talented. For this hackathon, the 3 NOC students also decided to stick together and work on the same idea. Finally, with 6 members (altogether) in the team, the most popular idea from the pitching round, and a vague outline of how to proceed, the team dispersed and rested for the day. The second day started with one less member in the team. Even though this day was intended mainly for teams to work on their ideas, there were also arranged “coaching sessions” on selected topics such as the familiar Business Model Canvas (BMC). While refining their idea through group discussions, the team also greatly enjoyed getting challenged and sharing their idea with both mentors and curious fellow participants. However, it was not all work and no play as the NOC students got to visit the third of 3 point of interests (POIs) that they had time to visit in Ning Bo – a shopping center (located beside an amusement park!), where they did their market validation. The first and second POIs were respectively, the railway station and a café cum working space (which was the hackathon venue). If the initial idea after the first night was a rectangular block of ice, this was the day when most of the sculpting took place. Unfortunately, the number of pairs of hands working on this ice-sculpture would decrease again at the end of the day. Nevertheless, there was good progress. The third and final day was even more hectic than the second day. Despite rushing to complete the presentation materials in the morning, the team was still not able to get it ready by the scheduled rehearsal time in the early afternoon. It came as a relief that the team was able to barely complete them before the actual presentation (that also went smoothly enough). The best is yet to come though. The best part wasn’t the result (the team did well enough to emerge as the winning team), but the final comments and feedback that the mentors and judges gave each individual group before announcing the overall results. Good feedback is not necessarily nice feedback, but sincere feedback. The mentors and judges did not just share their thoughts about each group’s ideas specifically, but also about entrepreneurship in general, values and attitudes. They include: Belief You yourself are (and should be) the greatest supporter of your idea. If you don’t believe, you are not going to be able to convince investors, people to work with you, users, etc. If you aren’t confident of what you want to do, you will just follow what others tell you to do. Responsibility If you decided to, and did not put much effort into this hackathon, it is fine because you can just go back to school or work once it ends. If you don’t want to continue to work, it is fine because you can just resign. However, if you decide to follow through with your idea and become an entrepreneur, it is not fine when you decide to quit because there will be other employees who depend on you. Thank you, organizers, for working hard to support and ensure the event ran smoothly. Thank you, fellow participants, for your encouragement and the entertainment. Thank you, mentors and judges, for sharing valuable experiences and advice. Thanks again to everyone for being so friendly and accommodating to the NOC students. Their experience would otherwise not have been as fulfilling and enriching. 知不如用,想不如做。 Knowing is not better than trying, and thinking is not better than doing.
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SHEN
申城 (shen cheng) is an ancient name for Shanghai.
As a group of NUS and NOC students who are in Shanghai for a year-long internship programme, we have named our student organisation as SHEN (Shanghai House of Entrepreneurs). Archives
November 2017
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