It’s exactly 8:45 a.m. as I push open the heavy iron door – the entrance to the CDTM. My gaze catches on a poster that has been put up on the door. That wasn’t there yesterday, I think, leaning back a bit to decipher the letters: CDTM Hacks – APPLY NOW, in dark blue letters on a light background.
Ah, the hackathon – of course. Some of the students, particularly the marketing taskforce, are currently organizing a big hackathon with 125 participants. Everyone I’ve met so far on the organizing team is putting in so much heart and soul that the event is bound to be great. And the design of the poster is really well done. Awesome, I murmur quietly to myself as I hear footsteps approaching from behind.
I turn around and recognize today’s lecturer for the session I’ve organized in the core course “Managing Product Development”.
“Hey, Felix? How are you? Cool that you’re here today,” I greet him. Felix, a CDTM alumnus, always enjoys coming back to the CDTM – and especially to share knowledge from his own, still relatively recent startup founding with the current generation of students.
“I’ll take you to the room we’re in today.”
“Great – I’m excited to be here,” says Felix as we climb the stairs to the first floor. That’s where the seminar rooms are, where we usually hold our workshops.
“Tell me – it’s been a while for me, what exactly is MPD about again? Don’t worry, I’ve prepared well for my session today anyway,” he says with a grin.
“Sure, no problem,” I reply. “In MPD, the focus is on developing a digital product based on real problems from industry – from problem definition to ideation and solution finding. The teams are each assembled in an interdisciplinary way.”
“That’s right, now that you mention it – I remember my team back then exactly. It was an exciting mix.”
“Oh, very cool – do you still keep in touch with some of them?”
“Yeah, definitely,” says Felix. “Not with everyone from my class – that’s what we call the cohorts here – but with some, yes. And definitely with my MPD team; the collaboration back then was really intense. Are there any major changes in the course since I did it five years ago?”
“Yes and no, I’d say – the basic goal of the course is still the same, but of course we try to keep up with the times and adapt individual contents and formats. Current topics like AI are also incorporated – students should be challenged in the MPD and at the end feel like they’ve really learned something. At the end of the day, students should feel empowered.”
As we talk, Felix gradually sets up his equipment in the room. Today’s session is about the first phase of MPD: User Research. Gradually, the first students arrive. I greet everyone.
Vera, a student from the current class, asks the group:
“Tell me, who’s going to be with José at the Founder’s Journey tonight? His startup is right around the corner and does something with robotics – I think the investors are even there – this is going to be really cool.”
A few hands shoot up.
“I unfortunately can’t make it,” says Niko, also from the current class. “I was already at the Fuck-up Night last week – today I really have to get to the gym.”
“Fair enough,” says Vera. “Tomorrow is the CDTM Running Club again – only done it once so far, but it went well. Let me know if you’re interested.”
“I saw that on Slack too – I’d be happy to sign up,” says Niko.
I go over to Vera – I need to discuss something with her. She recently had an idea for a new elective on the topic of mindfulness, which I found quite interesting.
“Tell me, what kind of content did you have in mind for the elective?”, I ask.
“Different reflection methods, meditation, breathwork – something along those lines.”
“Super interesting,” I say. “Let’s talk about it again after the session.”
I just see a call from my colleague Sebastian on my phone. But now that all the students have arrived, I briefly introduce Felix as the lecturer and hand over to him.
Quietly, I slip to my seat in the back rows and open my laptop.
What’s up?, I write to Sebastian. I just need your opinion on something regarding the London Startup Tour in two weeks. And also: which youth hostel is the next kick-off for the new class at so they can get to know each other better at the start?
Wow, there’s a lot to do again today, I think. While I listen to Felix, I type away at the computer at the same time and get back to work – the CDTM is truly a unique place.
This article is the fourth and final part of a series on the CDTM. Read the first part here, here the second part and here the third part.
