Entrepreneurship Isn’t a Role But a Way of Thinking — Kairun’s Talent Story
by Kairun Daikoku
“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever.” — Steve Jobs
Hi!
Reflecting back to the summer of 2018 in Canada, this quote summarizes my thoughts and feelings quite accurately. Fortunately, I’ve been raised with the possibility of “designing my own life”. Personally, this means that I wasn’t bound to the traditional responsibilities of having to find a stable job, finding a spouse, moving in together and then living happily ever after. Well, living happily ever after is still on my list, but you get the point.
I would like to start my story with a decision, and that decision was to either accept a promotion to Hiring Director at an experiential travel agency or to accept an interdisciplinary master’s program in Nuremberg, Germany. This was a difficult life decision because one side of the coin provided stability and security, in addition to holding a leadership role in an industry and organization I was happy to be involved in. The other side of the coin provided fear, excitement and unpredictable opportunities. I think we can all guess which path I decided to embark on. Fast forward down the rabbit hole two years to April 2020 and enter ZOLLHOF.
ZOLLHOF and The Talent Program
I discovered ZOLLHOF by coincidence. After spending a mandatory semester abroad in Beijing, China, I grew an interest in the startup ecosystem. Upon returning to Germany to complete my final semester, I was motivated to learn more about the ecosystem, and thus decided to write my master’s thesis on it. Naturally, I began cold-messaging people in one of the biggest startup hubs in Europe, Berlin. Thankfully, people were very responsive and after a few meet and greets, I was informed of a tech incubator in Nuremberg. I think you can all guess the name of that incubator. I reached out to Valentina (People and Culture Lead) to ask about potentially working together for my thesis project. Appreciatively, she was very enthused about my project and recommended I apply to the Talent Program as it can serve as a gateway to learn more about the ecosystem. After a round of interviews, I was successfully invited to participate in the three-month program, yay!
In hindsight, the program exceeded my expectations and there are a few reasons for that. After living in Germany for one and a half years, I learned of a stereotype that it can be difficult to work without knowledge of the German language. The program proved that wrong, as the main form of communication was in English, phew. Additionally, the warm and welcoming energy at ZOLLHOF provided a comfortable workspace for me to be myself and to proceed with my thesis research. During this experience, I was not only able to finish my qualitative data collection but was also introduced to the design thinking methodology. Personally, this methodology is not only applicable for entrepreneurs, but for all walks of life, especially the first two stages, which are ‘empathizing’ and ‘defining’. These two stages can be applicable in both private and public life, regardless if used while listening to friends talk about their life problems or determining which candidate to hire for the job opening. Everyone deserves to be heard and understood or in other words, given a chance. I’ll provide a full image below of the design thinking concept; I highly recommend you take a deeper dive into it.
Motivation is Contagious
As you read through my story, you may be thinking “Kairun, where are you going with this? What are you trying to achieve? When does your journey end?” The short answer is, I’m not sure. But, what I am sure about is that you don’t have to create a successful or unsuccessful startup in order to be labeled as an entrepreneur because entrepreneurship isn’t only a role, but rather a way of thinking. That’s how I interpret the introductory quote by Steve Jobs.
Entrepreneurship can be a lifelong rollercoaster with many ups and downs, and this can be a scary thought. However, at the end of my journey when I reflect back on my life holistically, I don’t want to be filled with regret, which is why I choose to believe that my dots will eventually connect. So, what are you waiting for? Don’t hesitate and overthink, but act! Go learn by doing and see what happens!
Kairun is a former Talent Intern at ZOLLHOF and is currently completing an interdisciplinary master’s program, Standards of Decision-Making Across Cultures at FAU. With a diverse background as a Tour Guide and Journalist, he is always eager to connect and collaborate with new personalities.
