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Since she was young, Eina-Helen Viste Lillemo was told to reach for the stars and never give up on her dreams. Instead, she should use her dreams as an inspiration to overcome the obstacles she might encounter along her journey in life.

Not always feeling like she had the best available solutions to her problems, she let her imagination run free. However, her ideas were not always practical; as a first grader she wanted a flying recliner with a popcorn-holder taking her to and from school, but alas, she had to rely on her feet to do that job.

As she grew older, though, her life threw her some curveballs. She could no longer rely on her feet, as she had to amputate a leg. With that, she experienced that already existing solutions for living her everyday-life, were not always good enough for her. In that regard, she developed a passion for helping other people to make their lives a little easier. This also translates into another passion of hers, namely traveling the world, which can be challenging for those who are disabled. She finished her Bachelor degree in Tourism Management in 2019, and wants find a way to combine these two passions in the future.

Eina-Helen, now 23 years old, is a student at the University of Stavanger. She is taking her masters in International Hospitality Management with a course in Service Innovations and International Entrepreneurship. Her dream is to one day bring her ideas to life, and being able to make a difference in peoples’ lives.

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2. My thoughts on the networking process

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2. My thoughts on the networking process

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Interacting and connecting with others, or networking, is really important and can be very beneficial for your career. A good network can help you a long way as an entrepreneur. Having connections with people that might help you out with resources, financing, advice, recommending you and spreading the word to their network are some of the benefits that can come from having built a strong network. Essentially, a network can increase the chances of business success.

There are several things I think are essential, and that I try my best to do, when meeting new people. One of the most basic and important things is to smile, be generous, show that you are interested, ask questions etc. Focus on the person, not solely on their positions or which resources you want that they possess. Of course, this can be what initiated the networking, but approaching people and simply saying “I need this, can you give it to me?”, will probably not work well.

A good way to meet new people is for instance by attending conferences within the field you are interested in, where there are other like-minded people. I have only been to a couple, usually as a part of my education (for instance Norges Fotografforbunds landsmøte), but I think that conferences are a super convenient way to network. Also, as you build relationships and expand your own network, you might get an “easy” access to the network of those you have already connected with.

Personally, I have not focused too much on “professional” networking during this semester. However, the courses I am taking at the University of Stavanger is based on a case study method, facilitating for a lot of group work and therefore connecting with others. My class comprise of people from all over the world, so it has been interesting to meet them, have discussions and learn more about working together, even though we might have different values, perspectives, etc. I really see the benefits of that, and I see it as a very valuable experience that I think will be of significance for my future career as well. To further prepare for my future career, I recently created a profile on LinkedIn, and I am eager to learn more about this networking-tool and start building up my own network.

When meeting new people, I mainly use Facebook and Instagram to follow up with them. Because I recently made a LinkedIn profile, I want to start using that as well. However, I do see that as a good tool for the more “professional” relationships. So, when it comes to my social network, I will probably continue to prefer Facebook to keep in touch with new people I have met.

Being a student at the University of Stavanger, there are plenty of opportunities to supplement your in-class experience. For instance, I have taken advantage of the library and group rooms to meet up with fellow students to discuss, reflect, and work together on class assignments. There are also a lot of courses available, like writing workshops, speak workshops, etc.

I just listened to a podcast called Spartan Up where the guest, Elizabeth Weil, talked about the importance of carving out time for your non-negotiables in life. Things you don’t want to compromise for your networking/career journey forward. I really value honesty, and being true to who you are. Therefore, one of my non-negotiables for networking is that I will not lie and pretend to be someone I’m not, in order to connect with people. Another non-negotiable is linked to my social network. I highly value my family and friends, and I will not thrive in a job that consumes so much of my time, having to constantly network “professionally”, leaving “no time” for nurturing my social relationships.

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For this task, I chose “young people being robbed of their childhood due to serious illnesses” as the case that breaks my heart, as I have personal experiences with this myself. I knew of an already existing product called AV1, which I think is brilliant. Therefore, I decided to use this product for the Really Big Idea Sketchpad. The reason why I chose to use this existing product, and not creating one myself, is that I believe AV1 is a very good aid for people in those situations. Usually, one of the hardest things as a child dealing with a long-term illness (besides all the aspects of the sickness), is the feeling of isolation and missing out on socializing with their friends. So, if I was to create a new “solution” to this problem myself, I would have gone for something similar to the AV1 anyway.

The idea - the why, what and how
In Norway, there are 6000 children suffering from long-term illnesses. 6000 children being robbed of their childhood due to nothing but bad luck. Instead of going to school and hanging out with friends, these children often find themselves confined within the 4 walls of their bedroom or hospital-room, isolated from the outside world. This isolation, the feeling of loneliness and losing contact with their friends can be very difficult to deal with, in addition to everything else that comes with the illness. Therefore, the people in the Norwegian company No Isolation has come up with a product they call the AV1, which they believe can be of tremendous help for children in that position.

The AV1 product consists of a physical product (small robot) and a digital product (app). The robot will act as the user’s eyes, ears and voice. With built-in WIFI and 4G, the robot can be taken everywhere. The children will be able to attend school and hang out with their friends, “go” to a football-match, or a friend’s birthday party, all from their own bedroom.

The value that is hopefully created by using the AV1 is that it can help increase the life quality of sick children during their difficult situation. It can help them with a feeling of normalcy and joy of having the chance to hang out with their friends, and therefore decrease the feeling of loneliness and isolation. This robot helps children take part in their everyday lives on their own terms.

There are several buyers of this product. Mainly foundations such as Barnekreftforeningen and insurance companies that can lend it out to their members, schools, and it can also be rented by private individuals, such as parents of children that have been diagnosed with a long-term illness. The reason why the buyers would want to purchase this product, is that it appeals to their values/mission/goals to help children.

On the team for developing the AV1, there is of course the minds behind the concept, No Isolation AS, and support/investments from foundations such as Barnekreftforeningen. In addition, the potential future users, sick children, are involved in the process and give feedback and help shape the final product. It is important to have knowledge about innovation, technology, app development etc. Also, with passion, creative thinking and technological knowledge as core competencies, the team should have the abilities to create the AV1.

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Feedback is very valuable in order to improve. After working on The Really Big Idea Sketchpad I found 5 people to pitch the idea of AV1 to. I provided them with the feedback tool called The Really Big Idea Critique Pad, which they filled out. One thing to note, though, is that I chose an already existing product that has been through this early phase of “idea development”, and therefore has a pretty solid base already. However, I did receive some critique that I would have taken under consideration if I was to make The Really Big Idea Sketchpad 2.0.

After assessing both impact and feasibility based on the scores the respondents gave the idea, it was apparent that they all considered AV1 to be within the “really big value” zone shown on The Really Big Idea Critique Pad. This signalizes that they perceive the idea (AV1) to be good and that they “give the green light” for further development (if this was merely a concept and not an already existing product).

They all noted that they saw a strong connection between the user and value proposition/creation. They thought that the AV1 was a unique product that would be very beneficial for the users. Two also commented on the fact that the potential user was listed as a part of the team for developing AV1 as a product. They found this to be very positive as it would “make sure that the product will work with the users’ preferences, needs and wants”. One person also noted that passion was one of the core competencies, and thought that this was very important. She said that this signalized that the idea came from the heart and that the team would probably work very hard to finalize a good product for the users.

There were a couple of respondents noting an issue with the name of the idea as “the name of the idea did not tell me much about the product and I would have a hard time remembering the name when telling a friend about it”. This statement is something I understand, as I don’t really see the logic/meaning behind the name AV1 myself. I also got some comments questioning more specific details, like the size of the product, if there were any special features etc. The Really Big Idea Sketchpad does not leave much room for specifics, but of course I understand the curiosity and wanting more information. Perhaps I could have tried to phrase myself a little differently, so that I would have room to include a bit more about such specifics.

The thing I got most critiqued for, was the people on the team. It was stated that I had some key partners, but that I also missed some, for instance people to advertise the AV1. Therefore, if The Really Big Idea Sketchpad 2.0 was to be made, I would have focused more on finding the right people to have on the team. This would then have included people that would be in charge of “advertising”, meaning making videos about the product, create/maintaining the website for information, articles etc.

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5. Business Model Canvas for Green Small Business Development Center 

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5. Business Model Canvas for Green Small Business Development Center 

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https://bmfiddle.com/f/#/Y3zj2

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AV1: https://www.noisolation.com/no/av1/

Spartan UP! (2017). 138. Elizabeth Weil. How non-negotiables can facilitate success. (Video). Obtained from https://www.spartan.com/en/media/podcast/episodes?article=45381