Let teenagers think creatively – internship in Black Pearls VC
Summer is the time when there are Black Pearls VC’s internships at our headquarters at Olivia Business Centre. We believe that it is a great idea to give teenagers a chance to learn creativity and entrepreneurship. This year, thanks to O4 and Black Pearls VC eight young people from Braniewo came to our offices to spend a month on learning and changing their hobbies into future business. The majority of people believe that internships are pointless due to the simple and demotivational tasks like perking coffee or using photocopier. That’s why we launched our special internship program called “Startup Marathon” with a rigid daily schedule. Every day is planned, teenagers have mentors who support them and help them work on their projects. As far as coffee is concerned, the interns brewed it only for themselves 🙂
This summer, there were eight young people whom we divided into two groups of four. Each group could choose their own idea of business development. Both teams chose video games. Their idea was to create two separate RPGs as well as learn how to introduce them to the market, verify customer segments and think about the promotion and marketing aspects. The two teams’ games “Snake RPG” and “Czarna Perła” (“Black Pearl”) had engaging plots and characters. An interesting fact about “Snake RPG” is that it was created only for smartphones and tables – its designers realized that those devices are still gaining popularity so their game could reach more people. During their 4-week internship, our experts familiarized them with the basic business concepts like Lean Startup, Business Model Canvas or “elevator pitch”.
“Internship program was made to fulfill the gap of entrepreneurial education in schools. The participants of 4-weeks program have a clear goal to build their startup, both technology- and business-wise” – commented Dominika Łobodzińska, Black Pearls HR manager and creator of the program. “If you want to design a video game, an experience is a vital issue. I don’t have much experience, however, during the 150 hours spent in Black Pearls VC I learned a lot and my business consciousness has changed. Now, I know what is crucial to launch a good and successful startup” – added Monika, the only girl among all our interns.
After 4 weeks of hard work, both teams had an opportunity to pitch their business ideas in front of mentors from Black Pearls VC. We were also the first people who could test both games and it was definitely an exciting experience. The two teams did a great job and that is why we decided to reward their efforts with a set of books.
Our mission is to support young, creative minds. “Startup Marathon” is our idea of how it should be done. We hope that the summer internship in Black Pearls VC was a valuable lesson and an unforgettable time for the teenagers from Braniewo and we are looking forward to the next summer.
Check out the two videos from our internship:
WORK
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBmBuy1Tefg
FINAL PITCHING AND GAMES TESTING
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cFCcmCwYc8