From Student to Start-Up Consultant.

Applying My Masters Learning to Support FlowSense Through a Real and Meaningful Business Challenge. 

The E&I Capstone Project was one of the most valuable experiences of my master’s degree. It was my first opportunity to work directly with a real client and start-up founder, rather than analysing an established company or a case study from a textbook.  

Our client was the founder of FlowSense, an early-stage start-up developing an accessible menstrual health solution for visually impaired women. I felt proud to be part of the first cohort of students to work on this project. There was no previous student work from the same course or example for us to follow. This gave us more freedom to be creative and explore different ideas, but it also made the process more challenging, particularly at the beginning. The mission behind FlowSense was another reason the project felt meaningful to me. Knowing that the business aims to support the independence, confidence, and dignity of visually impaired women made me feel that our work could contribute to something with genuine social value. 

At university, the problems we receive are often already clearly defined. This project was different. We had to understand the founder’s challenges ourselves, ask the right questions, carry out our own research, and identify where our skills could add the most value. This gave me a much more realistic understanding of what it is like to work with a founder who is still shaping her business.  

Learning to Deal with Uncertainty 

One of the first things I learned was that real business problems rarely come with one clear or perfect solution. At the beginning, I found this difficult. FlowSense was still at an early stage, so the challenges were broad and there was no obvious place to start. We had to explore different ideas, question our assumptions, test our thinking, and sometimes change direction after receiving feedback. This uncertainty was uncomfortable at first, but it became one of the most important parts of my learning. This experience connected closely with what we learned in the classroom about entrepreneurial uncertainty. Early-stage founders do not always have a fixed plan and often develop their businesses gradually by using the resources, relationships, and feedback available to them. 

Working with FlowSense helped me understand this in practice. The founder was shaping the business step by step through research, user feedback, partnerships, and funding opportunities. I realised that uncertainty is not always something that can be removed through more research, it is a normal part of developing an early-stage start-up. The project helped me become more comfortable with not having an immediate answer. I learned that working under uncertainty requires patience, flexibility, and a willingness to adapt.  

Working with People from Different Backgrounds 

Working with my team and the founder was another important part of the experience. Each member of the team brought a different background, perspective, and way of approaching problems. This allowed us to look at the same challenge from several angles. We did not always agree, but these differences encouraged us to explain our reasoning more clearly, listen to one another, and make stronger decisions as a group. The project also taught me the importance of adapting my working style when collaborating with different people.  

Our regular meetings with the founder taught me another important lesson: listen before offering solutions. At times, it was easy to focus on what we believed would be best for the business. However, our recommendations needed to respond to what the founder genuinely needed and what was realistic for FlowSense at its current stage. Some of our initial ideas needed to be reconsidered because we had not fully understood the limitations of working with a pre-launch start-up. Once we slowed down, asked more detailed questions, and listened more carefully to the founder’s feedback, the quality and relevance of our recommendations improved.

Growing as a Professional 

The project helped me develop skills that are difficult to build through lectures alone, including communication, teamwork, research, problem-solving, and presentation skills. It also made me more confident when sharing my ideas and explaining the reasoning behind my recommendations. Knowing that our work would be presented directly to the founder made me take greater ownership of its quality. I did not want our recommendations to be included only because they sounded academically strong. I wanted them to be realistic, practical, and appropriate for the stage the business was currently at. 

During our final presentation to the founder, I felt genuinely confident when presenting our research and recommendations. From the founder’s response and feedback, I felt that my suggestions were listened to and valued. That experience gave me an additional sense of confidence because the work I had contributed to was being taken seriously by someone who was actively building a real business. It made me feel that I could apply the knowledge gained during my degree in a practical and professional setting. 

My Advice for Future Students 

My main advice would be to make the most of every opportunity the E&I Capstone Project provides. Ask questions, even when they appear simple. Share your ideas, even when you are not completely confident about them. Some of the most valuable discussions during our project began because someone was willing to speak first and allow others to develop the idea further. I would also encourage future students to seek advice from lecturers, mentors, the founder, and professionals with relevant experience. Some of my most important learning moments came from conversations with other people rather than from working alone. 

It is also important to remain open to feedback. An idea may appear strong from an academic perspective but may not be realistic for the founder’s current circumstances. Feedback should not be viewed as criticism of your ability. Instead, it can help you produce work that is more relevant, useful, and practical. Most importantly, you should not treat the E&I Capstone Project as just another university assignment. It is one of the few opportunities during a degree to experience what it is really like to work closely with a founder on a real business challenge. 

The more curiosity, commitment, and openness students bring to the project, the more valuable the experience can become. 

Final Reflection 

The E&I Capstone Project became much more than a group project for me. It changed the way I approach problems, supported my professional development, and gave me greater confidence in applying what I had learned throughout my master’s degree. 

Being one of the first students to contribute to FlowSense’s journey was one of the most rewarding parts of the experience. It gave me the opportunity to support a meaningful mission while learning directly from the realities of working with an early-stage start-up.