After the welcome session of the Venture Incubation Program —an initiative by EIT Digital, led by Inneürope— and the introduction of our mentor team and participants from across Europe, this week we jumped straight into the program’s first big challenge: identifying real problems before building solutions.
The opening module, Problem Identification & Solution Design, was led by Alejandro Blanco, mentor and expert in business development and innovation, with over 15 years of experience supporting early-stage startups.
His message was clear and direct:
“Experimenting, failing, and learning fast — that’s how you build solutions that truly connect with the market.”
During the session, many key ideas were shared that will help guide many of our participants in the weeks ahead:
- Not every good idea is a real opportunity. What matters is solving a specific problem — and finding someone willing to pay for it.
- Validation starts with questions, not answers. Observing, listening, and understanding the full context is essential.
- Culture is everything. A truly innovative startup is built from day one: with an open mindset, tolerance for failure, and clear ground rules.
- An MVP is not a demo. It’s a functional version — even if minimal — that already delivers value and enables learning.
- Fewer ideas, better tested. What counts isn’t quantity, but early validation.
And this is just the beginning. In the next module, we’ll dive into market validation and early-stage testing, using real tools and a critical mindset.
We’ll keep sharing reflections, insights, and key moments from the #VentureIncubationProgram — because entrepreneurship isn’t (just) about ideas… it’s about doing things right, from the very start. 😉
