Embedded Files
While studying abroad at Delft University of Technology in Spring 2023, I participated in a course called “Idea to Startup – Global Food” (a UIUC equivalent is TE 250 – Idea to Enterprise) which was taught by Professor Fátima Delgado Medina. In this course, I worked with a team to develop a startup idea in the global food industry. We analyzed various contexts, including social, economic, environmental, political, and entrepreneurial aspects, and identified a problem / challenge in the food sector. Then, we developed an innovative startup concept to address that challenge. My group identified the problem of excessive plastic food packaging waste, and we created the idea of mycelium-based food packaging (made from mushrooms!) as an alternative to plastic.
Throughout the course, I learned to design and validate a startup idea, create a viable business model, and roadmap the journey from idea to a sustainable innovation-driven company. The course emphasized sustainable entrepreneurship and circular business models that can have a positive impact on society and food security. We focused on agro-food technologies that transform supply chains, farming, and energy solutions both globally and locally. We also learned valuable entrepreneurial tools like value proposition development, customer segmentation, value chain analysis, and sustainable business modeling to identify opportunities for development-oriented startups that can contribute to food security, poverty reduction, and sustainability.
While in the Idea to Startup course, I honed several of my leadership skills. As I was considering diverse factors in the global food industry to identify a suitable challenge to focus on, I had extensive practice with problem solving and creative thinking, which are important abilities for leaders to have when they solve complex problems.
Additionally, I had a lot of practice in communication and collaboration, especially given that I was working with people from the Netherlands, which has a different language and culture than what I’m used to in the United States. While the language barrier was not massive, there were always nuances I had to consider while communicating (my Dutch teammates might not understand all the references I make, idioms I use, etc.). I also had to carefully consider our team’s strengths and weaknesses. Some people were better at the design and writing tasks while others were more skilled at the analytical and statistics-based tasks. When delegating tasks, I always verified with my team members to see what they were comfortable with in order to maximize our team’s success.
In the end, we excelled at our final presentation (see PDF slides for a glimpse), and we received great feedback from the “Dragons” (local experts in entrepreneurship similar to the Sharks from Shark Tank) who evaluated our business idea. I was grateful to have had the opportunity to work intensively with my teammates and walked away from the experience with a better understanding of how to best work with others from different backgrounds and cultures.
Funghi-Fresh.pdfPage updated
Google Sites
Report abuse