Give ambitious Tio business students a day full of inspiring lectures and practical master classes and they take up every challenge with both hands. The business case for these second-year International Business Management students was announced today during the kick-off of the project week in Pathé Leidsche Rijn: create a pitch deck to attract investors for an existing tech startup. The Finance Week is on!
The assignment
The bar is high during this very first Finance Week, as the business students will work with real companies. In just five days, the students will visit start-ups, gather relevant information, make an investor pitch deck and present it to real investors. A huge challenge, according to Tio lecturer Hans van de Ven: “Because the students are going to work with real companies, the learning effect is extremely high. The students learn what they should take into account when starting a business and looking for investors. This Finance Week is really a tool for students who want to start their own business later."
Learn from the experts
After the announcement of the assignment, two master classes followed. One about the how and why of a pitch deck, and a guest lecture by a professional from the field. Building a start-up from scratch in three years into a thriving company worth around 30 million euros; Ronald Kouvelt did it with his company StuComm. And he told the students everything about it. His tip? “Share your entrepreneurial ideas with others, listen to their criticism and use their feedback. And just start. Just do it!”
Get started yourself
Then it's time for the workshops. The students immediately start working in groups: calling their company to make an appointment, preparing the company visit and doing preliminary research. Crucial, because only with the right questions the students get important information. Student Sem: “I have specific ideas for my own company; this Finance Week is very useful to me." Student Britt:" I am very curious about the rest of the week!"