Every International MBA student at EADA gets a chance to put theory into practice during the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp, a week-long, hands-on challenge where students turn an idea into a pitch for real investors. In this article, I share my journey from brainstorming ideas to presenting our final solution — including the unexpected pivots along the way.
About the Challenge
The first trimester ended with our final exam, and we closed it with something completely different: an entrepreneurship bootcamp. Everyone was tired, but at the same time excited about this new hands-on experience.
The challenge was simple in concept but intense in execution: identify a real problem, turn it into a business idea, and pitch it to real investors — all in just one week. This is EADA’s learn-by-doing methodology in action.
Bart Huisken, an experienced entrepreneur and professor at EADA, guided us through the process. Our first assignment was to write five ideas or problems we wanted to solve, choose one to develop further, and pitch it to the class in less than 30 seconds.
From there, it was necessary to form teams based on shared interests and complementary skills. Bart emphasized that even the best ideas fail without great execution , so the people behind the project truly make the difference.
From Idea to Investor-Ready Pitch
My initial idea was to solve the problem of finding vegan products in Barcelona. So, I approached colleagues with similar interests in veganism and sustainability. Once our team came together, we refined our mission and vision, conducted ten qualitative interviews in just two days, and started analyzing insights to pinpoint the ideal solution.
When choosing a solution, it was important to evaluate whether it truly solved the problem, whether it was unique, and whether it was better than existing solutions. This required deep market research and analysis of competitors and current alternatives.
Once we were confident in the solution, we moved to the next phase: creating a business model. This included defining how to create, deliver, and capture value, identifying the required resources and capabilities, and estimating the necessary investment.
The next step was to create a minimum viable product (MVP) and test it. With AI tools available today, like Lovable, this process became much easier and faster. If the tests performed well, we then needed to create a go-to-market plan: how we intended to launch, how much investment was required to acquire real customers, and how to make the business successful.
Each team also had an advisor to support us throughout the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp. After all these steps, we had to create a 7-minute pitch for real investors, proving that our problem was real and that our solution was the best one. We also had to decide how much investment to ask for, supported by financial analysis, and how much equity of the company we were willing to offer.
Like in Real Life: The Pivot
At the beginning, our challenge was focused on solving the problem of finding vegan products in Barcelona. However, 48 hours before the pitch presentation, after many hours of research and testing, we realized through our interviews and validation efforts that the problem we were trying to solve was not strong enough. The solution was also complex. So, basically there was no clear product-market fit.
At that point, we decided to take a step back and accept that it might be time to pivot, even though we had worked very hard on researching and developing the solution. I was initially very attached to the solution, but one of the key lessons we learned from this class and Design Thinking class is to fall in love with the problem, not the solution. And in our case, none of us was truly in love with the problem.
We went home, and the next day, each team member presented a new idea, we voted internally, and selected the most promising ones to move forward with. After the internal pitches, we chose two ideas: one closely related to our initial concept and another completely different. We presented both to our advisor and to Bart, and they both advised us to follow the idea that was entirely different from the first one.
With less than 24 hours remaining before the final presentation, we had to redo almost everything. Still, we were aligned, motivated, and genuinely committed to both the problem and the solution. And we made it work!
How? We were confident and focused, we worked as a true team, divided tasks in a very organized way, and stayed highly productive. And it felt just like real life. Because pivoting is normal. I could actually strongly relate this experience to my professional life before, working as a product manager, where we often pivot ideas after realizing that a problem is not real or that the solution is not the best one.
In the end, we presented a strong pitch with a clear storyline that connected the personal and professional interests of all team members. Our new solution focused on connecting Pilates instructors and studios to solve the problem of last-minute class cancellations—a major pain point for studios and a lost opportunity for instructors.
And the best part is that we even won the best business idea for scalability.
Learning by Doing It
For anyone considering an International MBA at EADA, this bootcamp shows that hands-on learning is the best way to develop entrepreneurial skills. The experience taught me that success requires flexibility, teamwork, and the courage to pivot when necessary — lessons that every aspiring entrepreneur can apply.
We learned that there are key ingredients for a successful company:
- choosing the right people,
- identifying a real problem,
- building something customers truly want,
- having an efficient, sustainable, and scalable business model.
We also learned the importance of talking to real people and getting out of the building, as Steve Blank says.
“As a product manager, I was already familiar with interviews and customer discovery, and I could put this knowledge into practice to support my team.”
Overall, we learned how to start a company:
- how to generate a business idea,
- conduct customer discovery,
- define mission and vision statements,
- build a team and understand board roles,
- design business models using different canvas templates,
- build an MVP using AI tools such as Lovable,
- how to be convincing, tell a compelling story, and pitch to real investors.
I also learned to listen to other ideas, think differently, and see alternative approaches to the same problem. And most importantly, we all learned that it is never too late to change direction. If you do not have a real problem or the best solution, you must be willing to pivot.
Author
Aline Costa Octavio
Participant - International MBA 2025-2026