Our students share their experience with APE

At the beginning of March, 6 students from the Institute of Economics and Management took part in the Academic Program for Entrepreneurship International Bootcamp. 6-day intensive Bootcamp was held via Zoom. The students gained a lot of practical experience. Full week worked in English and therefore improved ability to use English.

What else did the program bring them? What surprised them the most and how will they deal with their newly acquired knowledge and contacts? Read more…

Barbora Tichá (The Economics and Management Bachelor's program) was a member of winning team. She says: “The biggest surprise was what are people able to do. I was not expecting that it would be such a successful course. They did amazing work. I was surprised what I have learned. I thought that I knew better.

I gained a lot of new knowledge, information, friends, and contacts I can use for example for looking for a job or an employee, or looking for a team to start a start-up :)”

Tomáš Hortlík (The Economics and Management Bachelor's program):

“The APE program was really beneficial in terms of an approach to designing products and innovation-based design thinking and user experience methods. Another important aspect of the program was an opportunity to work with international teams at projects in a completely online format, which requires different tools and high level of empathy than in the face to face format because the online communication is very much different to what I have been used to when working at a project of this format.

The biggest surprise was that we were able to make it so smoothly, without any minor technical issues. I would say I was very serious in the first point, so one fun fact – it is very difficult to understand the Scottish speaking English…

I am planning to use the gained knowledge and approach in both my further studies and work. In the age of digital economy and seeking for added value in products is the user-oriented approach highly needed when developing a new product or service. I regard the networking aspect as one of the most beneficial parts of the whole event – I have gained 70 new LinkedIn connections!”

Nicole Paulerová (The Economics and Management Bachelor's program):

“Thanks to the APE Bootcamp we had the privilege to meet and work with the industry experts and exclusive guest speakers, such as from Deloitte Deutschland or FC Bayern München. The course also allowed us to learn how to cooperate with other international students and use in practice design thinking, UX and entrepreneurial and innovative skills. Personally, I really appreciated the emphasis on teamwork and that the course was mainly about doing, not only listening.

Even though this 6-day intensive boot camp was held via Zoom and it was exhausting to sit all the days in front of our computer screens, I was surprised how much educational and fun that could be! I discovered some useful tools like Miro (online shared whiteboard), that significantly simplified the remote interaction, and I did not expect that everything would work that smoothly. My outstanding teammates were motivating me and pushing me forward during the whole week and I am so glad that I participated despite the online version of the boot camp and did not give up. And last but not least, the regular boxing lessons twice a day was the biggest surprise for me - the organizers from the Strachseg Center really did not forget anything!

Because I would like to enroll for my master’s degree abroad and study Entrepreneurship and Innovation, I have just confirmed my enthusiasm both for this area and for surrounding myself with amazing international people. I hope that through my future studies I will dive deeper into entrepreneurial thinking and gain more practice. My long-held ambition is to start my own business, and I am excited that we had the opportunity to build a network of many inspirational people because you never know when you can meet and work together again.”

Tetiana Hamaiun (The Sectoral Management Master's program)

“The APE Bootcamp brought to me an inspiration to upgrade my skills in the different fields. The new tool for me was Design thinking and Human-centered design process. I enjoyed a lecture of Nick Fannin, Steve Gedeon and Assaf Shamia. Those lectures upgraded my mindset. I definitely will use them in future.

The Moritz’s (Hoffmann) secret power to stay active through the whole week:-). That was a kind unexpected that we will be able to learn boxing and meditation with Urban Tiger. I thought that it would be something regular. Nice job!

I was happy to make many useful contacts. I am planning to use them for my future friendships (some of my teammates), for my career, motivation, mindset. In addition, I am interested to help/contribute to their work if it necessary.

I want to add a huge thanks to Radovan Kačín. Without his effort, it would be impossible to discover that interesting program.  Our school needs more projects/subjects/events like APE Bootcamp (especially, non-business programs). Students often forget about alternative and interactive ways of gaining the knowledge and fun.”