11st of July. Already four days here in Shanghai and we are getting used to the Chinese lifestyle. As usual, we spend the morning at the Tongji campus. Today, we learn about entrepreneurship and start-ups, focusing on innovation and the importance of management. For the ones who still don’t know, startups are kind of an experiment, an experiment that comprises a lot of risk, but it’s strongly related to passion and emotions and reflects our aim to have an impact on society.
After the talks given by Claudio Feijoo and Sergio Ramos, we prepare some material for a value proposition using our innovative ideas and following the so-called ‘lean-canvas methodology’,
We learn the importance of knowing our customer as well as designing our product. The first step to achieve this goal is to define the needs, the wants and the fears of our potential clients. With all these things clear, we’re able to design the features, benefits and experience of our product, in order to satisfy our customers.
After our lunch at the Arch Cafe, where we already know the waiters, we enjoy a lecture about Art and Sculpture by Juan Manuel Gabarrón, from The Gabarron Foundation. We analyze the evolution of arts through history, while learning to understand art as as a way of expression that involves creativity, imagination and inspiration, and something that has a direct relationship with innovation and potential ideas in our minds.
As the tourist we also are, we finish our day visiting the second highest tower in the world, the Shanghai Tower. After taking the fastest existing elevator, we reach the 119th floor, where we get astonished by the views of Shanghai.
We lose track of time as the sun goes down and the city wakes up again with the night lights. The incessant movement of cars, ships and people prove that this city never sleeps. But we need to rest. A long day awaits for us tomorrow.
Jaime, Patricia, Wenqi, Yicen
11/7/2017
