Our lead digital innovators had a primary goal: to cultivate an effective team dynamic within the collaborative Purina and start-up teams to make sure that they were able to accelerate. During 20 weeks we rapidly (in)validated critical aspects of the startups to further define their proposition. Emma van der Wal and Robert van der Harten have supported start-up teams in 10 sprints over 20 weeks. Using tested methodologies, they helped the start-ups strengthen their business foundations, and inspired us to achieve more than we thought possible.
Robert: During this journey, we created a trusting team environment, allowing us to make significant progress in two-week sprints. Over the course of 20 weeks, I was reminded of the challenges inherent to a start-up. While having a great product or service is important, knowing who your customer is and what their needs are is another level of complexity. I am truly impressed by the start-ups' resilience, dedication, and willingness to pivot when necessary. This collaborative effort has made it a success, and I will continue to follow the development of all start-ups.
Emma: A Purina champ beautifully said to me: “The power of the program is trusting the process, and sometimes it’s many insecurities. It’s letting go of creating the perfect roadmap, and over planning: but building, testing, and learning as fast as possible.”
I am so proud of all the teams, as we worked diligently to foster a trusting team environment that allowed us to execute and experiment at a high pace.
Over these 20 weeks, I was reminded once again of the essential strengths that a start-up founder must possess: the ability to identify the true problem they are trying to solve, to delve into the real customer needs and personas, to pivot if required, and to embrace mistakes while trusting the overall process
"Their exceptional coaching skills and unwavering passion have been instrumental to the achievements of our Class of 2023."
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