Rapport zur Collecte vu BeWéiser Annex 4 – Befindunge vun Succubus Interactive Ltd, Frankräiche
Outcomes from the group discussions with companies, Succubus Validity of the results The interviewed companies are all dealing mostly with the digital economy at different levels of maturity. However, one of the interviewees is the director of a business incubator, therefore his feedback reflects this larger perspective than the entrepreneurs’ one. All of them are based or have started their business in Nantes area and are expanding towards Paris but have larger ambitions. The introduction to the CDTMOOC thematic and objectives has been provided by the use of the leaflet, email and a personal presentation.
General observations on discussion with companies: All interviewees easily agreed on the fact that Innovation is the essential building block of their entrepreneurial adventure, its essence and its winning asset while facing competition. Differentiation is the common understanding about the impact brought by innovation. All of them share also the view on what competences are needed for an entrepreneur: apart from own domain-specific knowledge expertise, all entrepreneurs need to be knowledgeable in management, cash flow and accounting, finance and fund raising, marketing and sales. However, all of these competences can be acquired and developed over time. Lifelong learning is a necessity and is fuelled typically by participating in workshops, following MOOCs, performing a permanent technological watch-out. Other relevant sources are given by networking and trial and error, that is, learning from own mistakes. Therefore, what emerges is that a good mix of hard and soft skills is required. Emerging necessities will also drive the acquisition of new skills. The level of maturity of a company influences also the kind of competences to be developed. Everyday practice of entrepreneurial activities is the other key learning component for an entrepreneur. Internship and use of intermittent workers are the ways students that have the potential to be hired are tested and taken on board. Usually the courses in marketing and entrepreneurship delivered by the interviewed entrepreneurs themselves at universities and academic institutions represent a way to reach prospect collaborators among the students. This way a fruitful collaboration with academic institutions can be started and sustained. However, students taken on internships lack of experience on the field and need to be trained on the core technical skills and they need to develop the good reflexes too. The good side is that they bring in a fresh new perspective and ideas as well as their up-to-date theoretical expertise. Most importantly students need to have the right attitude to become a potential new collaborator: 1) adaptability, 2) ability to learn and 3) willingness to grow. Usually it is easier to get along with interns than with academic institutions since their objectives differ: the former look for a real opportunity to improve and test themselves in a real working
IO1. Rapport zur Collecte vu BeWéiser
56
