I entered TU/e with a basic entrepreneurial foundation from working as a freelance designer. I already understood client communication, pricing, deadlines, and the need to produce work that creates clear value. During my bachelor, I developed this from practical experience into a more structured understanding of markets, stakeholders, risks, and value propositions.

In Design Innovation Methods, I learned to use personas, journey maps, competitor benchmarking, stakeholder mapping, and PESTEL analysis. Our work on IKEA examined its market position, customer segments, operational challenges, and sustainability transition. We proposed concepts including Green Zones, AR/VR consultancy, digital pricing, and IKEA Thrift, a circular second-hand marketplace. This taught me to evaluate concepts not only by their originality, but also by their customer value, operational feasibility, competitive position, and potential to generate long-term revenue. Receiving an excellent grade confirmed that I could apply these methods coherently.

My strongest entrepreneurial development came through Fabrique AI, which evolved from Project 2 into a startup. I worked across concept development, branding, manufacturing planning, investor communication, and business strategy. Workshops at Innovation Space introduced me to patents and intellectual-property protection, while discussions with investors and external stakeholders taught me to communicate value differently depending on their priorities. I also learned that entrepreneurship involves risk, persistence, and the willingness to pursue resources and opportunities beyond those immediately available.

My experience representing a bicycle brand at trade fairs further developed my ability to build professional relationships and discuss products, markets, costs, and commercial opportunities. In Project 3, I involved Fashion Tech Farm and a Polish sewing-machine manufacturer to validate our modular machine concepts with both users and industry.

During my internship, I learned how small changes in geometry, material thickness, or surface design can create substantial cost differences at mass-production scale. Supplier collaboration showed me how tooling, scalability, brand positioning, and production efficiency influence design decisions.

I now approach business considerations as part of design from the beginning, rather than as justification added afterward. My goal is to create products that are desirable, technically feasible, commercially viable, and relevant to the users and organisations involved.

To me, Business & Entrepreneurship ensures that the combined creative, technical, computational, and user-centred solution creates value and remains viable within its market and organisational context.

During my FBP, I learned to translate a technological opportunity into a value proposition that connected user preferences, acoustic performance, sustainability, and vehicle positioning. Working within Škoda required me to negotiate the sometimes conflicting interests of audio engineering, design, marketing, market research, manufacturing, and product strategy. Feedback on cleanability, Czech heritage, cost, brand language, and model hierarchy showed me that technical feasibility alone does not create business value.

I therefore reframed the outcome as two differentiated acoustic trim concepts rather than one expensive universal solution. Continuing the project within Škoda after graduation indicates organisational interest and creates an opportunity to investigate implementation in real vehicles, although it does not yet prove production feasibility. I became more proactive in identifying stakeholders, managing risks, and adapting the proposition without losing its central vision.