Between August 2018 and January 2019 thirty Young Talents worked on eight challenges provided by local companies to learn more about the skills and mindsets of entrepreneurs. Following the principles of design thinking and lean startup the students learned how to reframe problems into thought-provoking challenges, define a target group and prototype solutions. In the end they presented their solutions at the Local Demo Day in an elevator pitch, the winning team will pitch their solution again at the International Demo Day in Ulm in May.

The second round of the DA-Space project started in August 2018. Eight challenges were provided from seven companies, ranging from smart cities to employer brandings. Around 30 students aged 17 to 19 joined as Young Talents to solve these challenges.

In the first phase of the project, the challenges were introduced and the Young Talents learned about different personality types and roles in teams. After assessing their own strengths and weaknesses they were asked to form teams that matched their interests in the different challenges and united different personality types for a wider range of ideas.

Following principles of design thinking and lean startups, the teams first analyzed their challenges, taking in information from the seekers and interviews with members of the target group. Afterward, they redefined the challenge as a “how might we” question and started to brainstorm ideas for possible solutions. Those ideas were discussed, refined and finally transferred to a prototype that the teams tested with users from their target group. After another iteration, the prototype was ready to be presented to the seekers.

In cooperation with bwcon the Young Talents also learned about the business side of entrepreneurship: They explored their solutions with the business model canvas and learned how to present it in front of an audience and possible investors in an elevator pitch.

While the methods were explained and tried with the whole group, the teams spend a significant amount of time working themselves on their team projects, practicing what they learned in their real-life challenge. The seekers provide insights and access to further information, experts and users.

The second round of the DA-Space project ended with the local Demo Day in January 2019. Four teams presented their outcomes in front of their peers, stakeholders from the city and the participating companies and the judges, who selected the winning team that is going to present their solution as part of the international Demo Day in May.

The best teams from all countries are going to receive a speech and presenting training by a voice coach from Berlin to prepare them for the final pitch. The best team will then present their pitch at the innovation conference where all participants have the chance to connect to international talents, seekers and other stakeholders to share their learnings.

Additionally, the content from the Entrepreneurship Training will be merged into a week long design sprint to solve a challenge either provided by the Young Talents themselves or by the City of Ulm.