We had a good chat, talking about entrepreneurship and Startup passion project with Sabine who says that one of her passions is to find raw, untouched diamonds with the passion to learn about entrepreneurship.
Startup Passion program has been going on for 2 years now and this year is the last for a while. It is a program for people who want to become successful entrepreneurs.
The program has had many attendees from different countries, usually including young adults, but older people are also invited. Last year for example the program had a team from our Xamk University of applied Sciences.
All the attendees have coaches helping them on the way facilitating the workshops, building the teams and helping with building ideas. Sabine says that: “We’re there to help, but we won’t get in the way”.
Everything starts from building the culture. Each individual has its own personality and own cultural background so at the beginning of the Startup Passion journey it’s interesting to get all these people mixed with their thoughts and dreams of becoming an entrepreneur.
Sabine said that one thing that drives her motivation is those moments, “..When you see in the beginning, how those closeminded or shy attendees open up on the way and in the end do a perfect pitch from their idea, which has risen and changed many times in the Startup Passion Journey..”
The connection with other projects is important throughout the process, because if you can’t find the help you need from the Startup Passion Journey, you can join other similar projects like Levelup Accelerator or Ship Festival at Kotka.
Those projects are working alongside Startup Passion, building the ecosystem and the network of entrepreneurs. Every attendee gets the networks from all the coaches, but they can also build new relationships with all the other participants coming from different countries.
But what are the skills an entrepreneur needs according to Sabine?
It’s not just about becoming an entrepreneur. It’s also about the mindset. You really need to have a motivation for it and you need to be committed from day 1. Sabine also reminds that you need to be ready to work many hours for free at the beginning and be ready to take a lot of risks.
Sabine’s favorite moments from the Startup Passion project have been, when she has seen the raw untouched diamonds starting to shine. Couple of weeks ago she got an email from an earlier Startup Passion attendee which said:
“…Half a year ago I didn’t know what the word Startup meant. But things stood out right with passion and level up. We are now one of the main sponsors in providing the largest mentoring team for an upcoming hackathon Hack the Food together with Founder Institute and Posti. In March we are going to Michigan with one of our teammates to explode a market for a pilot lounge in the US with a Finncell collaborations. “
And one shining diamond got sent in to the world.
“You may have an idea, but that idea might change many times on the way”, says Sabine.
Listen to the Podcast here: