On Monday, April 8th the members of PWN Paris Entrepreneurship Club had a unique opportunity to take part in a private tour of Station F, the biggest start-up campus in the world, situated in Paris’ 13th arrondissement.

We were guided by one of Station F team members, who walked us through the vast Halle Freyssinet, a former train depot which was made into one of the most recognized hubs of entrepreneurship in Europe.  We learned about the history and future plans for the place and the amazing programs it offers to host and support up to 1000 early stage start-ups from all over the world (up to one third of Station F start-ups are international and the official language on campus is English). We visited innovative product prototype workshops, walked through the public part of the campus occupied by Station F’s high-profile partners such as Business France, AWS, Google, Ashoka, and others. We then peeked into the private working space area (visitors are not allowed to walk though the offices, for obvious reasons) where Station F resident start-uppers work on making their projects success, with the support of Station F programs (including the unique Fighter program that helps founders from disadvantaged backgrounds for free). Our visit ended in the beautifully designed, vast eating and drinking area – this part is open to the public, so next time you’re in the area make sure to pop in for a drink or a bite and soak up the energy of creativity and innovation :-)

Group guided through Station F by one of its employees

The Station F visit was followed by a networking cocktail that gathered more than 30 women: entrepreneurs, freelancers and some employees. After a quick round of introductions during which each participant could introduce herself in one sentence and share her expectations for the evening, we split into small groups so that everyone could work on their “elevator pitch” and more specifically on its impact.

 Guided by Isabelle Cham and Laurence Contant, the participants listened to and gave feedback one another, doing it with kindness and genuine interest.

 The goal of this exercise, bringing out everyone’s personal impact and strength, is to realize that what we think we are projecting and communicating is not necessary what our audience hears or understands. That’s why it’s important to be aware of how others perceive and understand us!

 In a world where communication is sometimes as important as the project, it is crucial for us entrepreneurs to master our messaging and that’s exactly what we worked on at the event.