"One step back might lead to two steps forward"

Ngan Tran '22

Major | Computer Science & Business

Nest | EdTech

At first, I doubted if I was suitable to be an entrepreneur or not. I felt vague most of the time during the first three weeks. Our problem statement was too big, we were stuck with our first idea and could not get out of it. However, every time we did not know how we could figure out the problems, the enthusiastic, dedicated staff in the Baker Institute and all the amazing friends in Hatchery helped us to deal with them.

I remembered the first time Chris told us to go back to think about a problem statement when we came up with an idea. I was worried because we would be left behind. Then, after going back, we understood our problem more. We did empathy interviews again, came up with problem statements and how might we questions again. After that, I felt confident about my project; everything became clearer to me. Without doubt, we stepped back three times during three weeks whenever I felt everything goes wrong. I learned to be more patient and decisive every single time we made a choice to go back. I understand that in order to let our project go far, we need to go slowly but firmly. We are satisfied about the problem statement as well as the idea we go lastly. In terms of academics, I realized that in entrepreneurship, one step back might lead to two steps forward.