Hello. My name is Wesley dos Santos.
I will show you the key competences
of the current and future economy.
These are applicable to every student.
They are all about to help you
to continue outdoing yourself...
...and to fulfil your dreams and goals.
You are obviously aware
that everything is changing.
You change, your environment changes,
your functions and education change.
If that were not enough,
a virus came to change the whole society.
The world is always on the move.
The probability that you will work
on what you're studying now is also small.
That's because the current job profiles
can't keep up with technological advances.
Even Usain Bolt can't keep up
anymore with technology.
What's still important at this moment?
Which skills are still important,
despite all these changes,
to continue outdoing yourself...
...and to fulfil your dreams and goals?
I think these are the key skills
which make us human beings.
Our human touch and imagination power,
our courage, ambition,
love for each other and for the Planet.
These skills are not
replaceable by technology.
That's why I really think
it's important to focus on...
...developing new skills set,
called Tinkhustcularity.
Tinkhustcularity includes
these three skills:
The first one is 'tinkering.'
It means to experiment with pleasure
and to use your own imagination strength.
Just enjoying because it's fun.
Meeting yourself, I would say.
Big chance you did it a lot as a child.
Recall when you played
with your Barbies or you little cars,
your Playmobil, Connex, you name it.
Always things to make you use
your imagination strength.
I notice lately,
also about myself as an student,
that we forget to 'tinker.'
That's because many things are programmed,
at home, at school or at work.
It's a pity, as 'tinkering'
looks after a better world.
It also allows you to raise the bar.
Let's see how chips were found out.
Some guy, by chance,
asked continuously potato chips.
Every time thinner and thinner
so he could enjoy them longer.
Edison didn't imagine a record player
would be used to play music.
A pacemaker is figured out experimenting
with frequencies to warm up the body.
Don't think tinkering is
just for technical chaps.
Let's think about football players,
like Soufiane Touzani.
They constantly play with a ball,
keeping it high and trying new tricks.
Before you know it,
they come up with a new trick.
Musicians do the same.
They play a number and start jamming.
From that jamming, that experiment,
rise maybe a huge hit.
As entrepreneur, tinkering is one
of my strategies to start a business.
I have an image in my mind and
don't wait for the best moment or idea.
I get to work at once with what I know,
who I know, what I can and Google knows.
That's how I started my first business.
Well, actually one of my businesses.
It's called iKapitein,
a circular boat renting in Rotterdam.
About three years ago
a friend gave me a Groupon coupon.
It was for me and my girlfriend to sail.
First time in our lives.
Never sailed before. Three years ago.
So I got a Groupon coupon
to sail in Amsterdam.
I got into the boat with my girlfriend.
We knew nothing about water,
boats and sailing.
But we just did it and experimented.
After one hour sailing
we started joking on the boat.
How cool would it be sailing
from Amsterdam to Rotterdam?
To the Delfshaven, where we are from.
There is a lot of water,
but it's not used.
We kept on joking and suddenly...
...we jumped from joking
to the imagination power. That fast.
We looked at each other
in the eyes and say:
Can you imagine your own boat renting
but in Rotterdam?
We both say yes
and got to work right away.
I was totally blowing up.
I got my phone and wrote down...
... What do we need if we start
our own boat rent business?
My girlfriend and I had some saves.
We wanted to buy a car.
But we decided to strengthen
our imagination and start to work.
We bought a boat and created a website.
We saved each 6000 euro,
so we had 12.000 euro.
We invested that in order
to realise our imaginations.
Actually... We got to work,
I used my phone,
I built up a small business plan at home.
I put together a team with family members.
And then I registered
at the Chamber of Commerce.
We didn't know that three years later
we would hugely grow up.
Something that started
with tinkering and experimenting...
...resulted in...
...a big demand for our services,
domestically and internationally.
We won the RET Aardig Onderweg Award.
I talked to our king Willem Alexander
and the president of Cape Verde...
...about circular thinking in the Netherlands
and its application in Cape Verde.
And at last, last month...
No, three months ago...
...we launched the first pleasure boat
with dirt trappers.
What started with tinkering
resulted in many highlights,
which I never could dream about before.
I'm convinced this happened...
...because I didn't wait
for the best idea or the right moment.
But I got to work with my imagination.
Also with what I can,
who I know and what Google know.
In short: tinker, tinker, tinker.
If you don't experiment,
you cannot improve.
I applied this tinker skill
to build up my sneaker business,
with a good friend of mine, Adilson.
As a teenager, I was obsessed
with expensive design sneakers.
I bought everything: Lanvin, Dsquared,
Dolce&Gabbana, you name it.
My friend and me had a little job.
We set apart about 400 euro
per month to buy designer sneakers.
In September 2014,
my mother said to me:
Go and tidy up your room,
specially your shoes.
My room was a mess.
Well, she actually yelled at me.
So I went upstairs...
...and I started tiding up my shoes.
I was cleaning my shoes
when I looked inside.
I saw every time 'Made in Portugal'.
I had a few made in Italy.
As a Portuguese speaker
from Cape Verde I was curious.
Why did the last five pairs of shoes I bought...
...come from Portugal?
What is there that I don't know?
I was super intrigued.
I knew nobody from the shoe business
so I couldn’t ask anybody.
So I asked my best digital friend.
Why were my last shoes from Portugal?
What is there?
My best digital friend is Google,
sure you know it.
The reason I got is that in Portugal...
The craftsmanship is super good
and they are very flexible:
you can produce and order
limited editions shoes.
And the work conditions are really nice.
I was so curious that I though...
I want to experiment the possibility
to create my own shoe brand. Why not?
With no concrete plan,
design or anything...
I called my best friend
also obsessed with design sneakers.
I explained to him my idea
to launch my own sneaker line.
First he thought: 'What?
Your own sneaker line?'
How are we going to do it?
We have no money to start a business.
I imagined the shoe and everything.
I invited him to my parents place...
...so I could explain him better
what my imagination was.
Before he came at my parents'
I draw some designs...
...so I could strengthen my imagination
and explain better my vision.
My vision was a sneaker line
inspired in Rotterdam architecture.
The place we come from,
our inspiration source.
We are very grateful to it.
We talked about at my parents'.
I showed him this picture.
This is the first one I draw.
It looks horrible.
But the most important
is that what you have in mind...
...you try to convert
in something recognizable for others.
So I showed it to him and he said:
You know, let's try it, let's do it.
Next day I called the Dutch embassy.
Why?
When searching on Google, I found a PDF.
It was mainly about
doing business in Portugal.
It explained why Portugal exports
so many shoes, most to the Netherlands.
There was also a telephone number
you can call to do business in Portugal.
I called the next day.
I explained my plan and said clearly...
...that I didn't have a big budget but
I'd like to contact some manufacturers.
When I hung up...
...the Dutch embassy sent me
a list of 40 manufacturers.
I wrote down a standard e-mail...
...and I sent it to all 40 manufacturers.
I got answer from 10 of them.
Only 4 of them said to me:
you could explain your idea to us
at the factory in Portugal.
It was very cool and I got the idea
it all began to get real.
I couldn’t show up with this first draw,
so I went to my second-best digital friend,
called LinkedIn.
Through LinkedIn I found
a shoe designer who helped me...
...to turn my first draw
into a technical draw...
...so the manufacturer in Portugal
could precisely understand what we wanted.
We bought then our tickets to Portugal.
We didn't know if we would come back
with a deal, due to our small budget.
But we went.
Finally, just one manufacturer said...
...that, despite the minimum batch
we could afford,
they wanted to go into business.
We could then launch our first shoe brand,
as well our first collection
inspired by Rotterdam architecture.
Here too, what began as curiosity
and imagination power...
...led to our yearly shoe collection.
We won the Funx Media Business Award,
and we give workshops
and lectures to students.
Our goal is show them what we've done...
...and how they can start
their own shoe or clothing label.
I turned back to the manufacturer.
From 4 manufacturers,
he gave us the chance...
...to produce our shoes.
Why?
He told me that the reason was...
...that he saw a drive deep inside me.
Even we didn't have a big budget...
...and we were are a start-up,
he saw a certain drive in my eyes
and I work focused on my target.
So I realized that...
...it's my mindset and mentality
what made me move from...
...imagination, tinkering...
...to building up my own business.
This brings me to the second skill.
The second skill from the set is Hustling.
It means continuously
searching to chances.
You search your own highest moments,
by creating them, of course.
Hustling is also about daring.
About courage and the adversity
you will go through,
as I did with my shoe brand and the like.
It's about feeling comfortable
in uneasy situations and dealing with it.
When it comes to hustling
you should have a strategic plan.
How will you achieve your goals
and with who.
A tactic I planned for myself is...
...to create a fictitious house.
You can also do it, as student.
When you build a house,
you start with the foundation.
You are the foundation.
Me too and you as a student.
For the foundation, it's crucial to know
who you are, what you are good at,
how do you behave now,
what's your motivation and ambition.
It's very important to know yourself,
as I explained with tinkering,
before you raise the bar.
You first manage those things.
Then you can move forward
to build up the house upon.
When placing the bricks
you think who you need.
Which pillars do I need to make sure
this house stands on a solid base.
As an student you can ask yourself
which students you go around with.
Which projects you will execute.
Which teachers you have contacts...
...and what matters
for your study career coaching.
What's your goal?
You can only deploy this...
Or you can best deploy this...
...if you know who you are
and what you are good at. Your foundation.
Once you've got your building bricks,
it's important to have concrete
in order to put them together.
Concrete is...
...your secondary activities,
what you do besides your study.
What complements you.
What does your social media look like?
And your LinkedIn?
Or your Instagram,
if people searches who you are.
If they have opportunities for you,
can they reach you and see what you do?
Super important.
Extra chances can arise...
...when you show what you do, who you are,
where you are from and your goal.
As entrepreneur, I have a house
with foundation, bricks and concrete.
If I want an extra floor,
as you ca see here,
you should think about investors.
They can see you have a certain vision
and where you target.
And then they decide to invest on you
so you can take the next step.
As student...
...maybe of a ¿¿¿¿ coaches,
some teacher, manager or the like
can say something like:
We see a pear coach in you.
Maybe you could help other students.
Or a college offers
an international interchange program...
...and people at the management know
who you are, your skills and your goals.
Then they may ask you to participate.
Very important.
Everything to make sure
you get your diploma...
...and the fireplace keeps burning.
It burns by itself
when there is a foundation.
The bricks are well, you have concrete
and eventually an extra floor.
When you finish you study, it's very cool...
...to share your knowledge and experience,
as I do know with you.
Solar panels on the roof are
very important at this point.
I'm dipping now into...
...the last skill out the skills set.
We've seen tinkering, experimenting,
hustling, the lead.
The last from the skill set
is circular thinking.
Circular thinking means
grow up by giving back.
You have two ways.
You can personally grow up
by giving back...
...or grow up as a business by giving back.
I see the personal growth by giving back...
...as a deep-rooted drive,
related to hustling.
My deep-rooted drive
comes from the fact that...
...my parents immigrated
from Cape Verde to the Netherlands.
They pursued a better future for themselves
and eventually for their children.
They gave me the chance to go to school,
to do what I like to do.
They gave me chance
to experiment as much as possible.
And I feel somehow responsible...
...to do something in return.
Of course it's not about money,
nor something I can do to pay them back...
...for everything they did for me.
But my plan is to show them
that I understand.
On the business I think on a circular way,
about giving back knowledge,
information about what I've been through.
Such as I'm doing now.
It was also business circular thinking
what brought me to the idea...
...of a pleasure boat with a dirt trapper,
like iKapitein.
People come to iKapitein to rent a boat.
I noticed that the boat was very dirty
when they brought it back.
We also saw a lot of dirt in the water.
By circular thinking
on a business way I got the idea to...
...pay back to the river I navigate.
One thing I could do is
to keep the water clean.
That was the trigger
for a pleasure boat with a dirt trapper.
Besides business thinking on a circular way
it's about creating synergy,
the resulting cooperation.
What can you give back
to the environment or the world?
So, beautiful and talented students
of the Rotterdam college,
I'm truly convinced that
you can keep raising the bar.
If you just tinker, with the mindset
of a hustler and on a circular way.
Thank you for listening to my talk.
I hope and I'm sure you'll benefit from it.
Let's follow each other on LinkedIn,
Instagram or whatever.
I'd love to keep up with your progress.
If you want to know more about these skills,
tinkering, circular thinking and hustling,
take a look at the book recently published
'Ondernemen als een baas'.
I hope to see you soon.
Bye bye.
Thank you for watching this video.
We hope you got inspired for a new fresh start.
If you want to see more
of the official opening of the academic year 2020/2021,
go to hr.nl/klaarvoordestart
Have fun and good luck this year!
