From idea to prototype: the second in a series of panel discussions offered plenty of tips and insights

On Wednesday, April 22, FIT hosted the second in a series of panel discussions aimed at students seeking ways to bring their own projects to life—even to the point of developing business plans. While the first panel was designed for those trying to formulate their ideas, the second focused on the transition from an idea to the first prototype. Transforming a vision into a functional solution and determining whether a project has real market potential is often the most difficult step. There are many related questions: How do you organize your ideas? What does creating the first prototype or MVP entail? Where does the true value of a project lie, and how can you tell that this particular idea is worth investing time and money in?

Once again, five successful “startupists”—founders of technology companies with ties to our faculty—accepted the invitation to join us in searching for answers. Students had the opportunity to interview Jan Polišenský (founder of Lakmoos), Michal Španěl (founder of TESCAN 3DIM), Jiří Tobola (co-founder of Flowmon Networks), Petr Janošík (co-founder of Smartlook), and Michal Hradiš (founder of Cognitechna).

Get out there! And above all, don’t be afraid to get started

Once again, the discussion was introduced by the Vice Dean for Marketing and External Relations, Vítězslav Beran: “Our second meeting is intended for you, the students, who have an idea in your head but don’t know how to take it further. That’s why we’ve organized a discussion with people from the industry who’ve already gone through something like this. And these are truly interesting stories.” Michal Hradiš, founder of Cognitechna and co-founder of the startup Maia Labs, which focuses on the application of artificial intelligence in healthcare, warned right from the start against focusing too narrowly on the technological aspect of a nascent project: “The technical part is only a very small slice of the project. Alongside that, you have the business, marketing, and understanding what customers want—those are, in my view, the even more important parts of the business.” Jan Polišenský, whose company Lakmoos specializes in synthetic market research—or “cloning people,” as he himself humorously puts it—emphasized that the project he leads has always been strong in technology. “But ultimately, business determines whether anyone will buy your product. Technology is strong, but it isn’t everything.”

One of the conclusions of the afternoon, on which all participants agreed, was a call to action: Don’t be afraid to take the first step. Michal Španěl, founder of 3Dim Laboratory—which became TESCAN 3Dim after TESCAN’s investment—mentioned the many mistakes and dead ends one encounters when launching a business venture: “But it was fun. No idea is stupid; at the very least, you’ll learn a lot from it.” Petr Janošík, whose most successful company, Smartlook, was his third venture, also urged the students present not to be afraid to start their own business. Because even potential failure is a learning experience that always moves you forward.

A number of insightful questions came from the audience. It was clear that the students were thinking deeply about how challenging it can be to turn an idea into reality and what might make that step easier. One of the questions was: “How did you find someone to help you in the beginning? Or how and to whom did you divide up the work, delegate it?” Generally, the panelists agreed that in the early days, they were, so to speak, wearing many hats and learning a range of things even from non-technical areas, such as sales, marketing, etc. At the same time, they noted that this approach isn’t sustainable in the long run. Michal Hradiš stated outright that a founder who is also, for example, still studying or working in academia cannot run the company on his own in the evenings—he needs to have his own people who are 100% committed to the company. Jiří Tobola agreed with him: “What was key for Flowmon Networks in the early days was that some of us stayed in school while others went into business. We had that division, and we didn’t lose touch with academic research.” Petr Janošík recalled his early days at the faculty: “I managed to find time while studying. From the start, I learned, among other things, how to communicate with customers and how to upgrade the product suite. For a long time, I felt like some kind of jack-of-all-trades. At the same time, I was constantly looking for more collaborators, developers, more developers… It wasn’t easy. By the time I joined my third company, I already had experience and my own team. But the whole process took—how long? Ten, fifteen years? It’s a long process, so don’t come up with complicated business plans at the start. That initial naivety can, paradoxically, help you.” Michal Španěl concluded the topic by noting that it is precisely the situation where a company founder often has to try out non-technical roles that subsequently allows him to correctly define what he can and should expect from future colleagues in those positions.

Jan Polišenský also confirmed that the early days of entrepreneurship are not easy and that there is no universal recipe for success: “We had an idea at the beginning, but then we needed to validate it. Simply to find out if it was a real problem and if anyone would pay for its solution. We went around to corporations and asked how they conduct market research. And we did indeed confirm that the problem exists. However, if I had known at the start of the business how intense it would be, I might have reconsidered. But the entrepreneurial experience itself is priceless.” According to all the invited guests, getting out among people, so to speak, is a crucial step in the early stages of any project. It’s necessary to find out what problems others are facing, whether a new product or service could help them—you simply need to test your own ideas against reality. “Even your own need is a good starting point, but it shouldn’t lead you to believe that just because I need it, a million others will need it too. Y