Testimonials
At the very core of our entrepreneurial ecosystem are the facilitators, the pivotal forces driving transformation and learning. Here in our testimonial gallery, you'll find the inspiring accounts of those dedicated professionals who have harnessed the power of the Playground for Entrepreneurs to enlighten, engage, and elevate the entrepreneurial spirits of those they mentor.
As you peruse these testimonials, you will gain insight into the rich experiences that our board game and training programs have offered to facilitators from diverse backgrounds and regions. Their reflections shine a light on the enhanced skills, the deepened connections, and the heightened sense of purpose that our community fosters.
We invite you to delve into these powerful testimonials and envision how the Playground for Entrepreneurs can reshape your own approach to facilitating entrepreneurial success.
"Learning and teaching about the Lean Startup has just become more fun! I’m glad to see our lessons learned in such an accessible way at Playground for Entrepreneurs. I am looking forward to seeing loads of new entrepreneurs and initiatives finding their way to success.
Motivating our youth to explore starting their own business will help them craft their own future. And to get them started and excited, we both inspire them and teach them the step-by-step “Lean Startup” method. It will help them to get their business right and grow it as fast as possible."
Bob Dorf, Co-author "The Startup Owner's Manuel"
"My experience with the Entrepreneurship Playground board game has been amazing as it opened my eyes to the various facets of starting a business. The intriguing part of the game is that although the questions are very simple, they force the player to really think through pertinent matters of their business. Our students have also found the game enthralling and getting them to stop playing was a challenge. The game opens up their minds to those facets of their business or idea that they assumed they had covered but realised they needed to give more thought to it and even to research those matters further. Learning in the fun way, the way learning should be."
Hasan Evans, Hub Manager Regent Business School (South Africa)
I was a guest on Rob Alvarez's podcast Professor Game. Listen to the episode!
“Playground for Entrepreneurs is a great tool for inspiring ideation. It creates a safe space for open discussions and learning from peers that triggers imagination and resourcefulness. Playing in a group makes each idea a brick to build on; generating abundance in ideation and creation.
It helps you pose the right questions at both levels: defining a problem worth-solving and finding a unique way to solve it … all using a colorful and playful boardgame.
I have used Playground for Entrepreneurs in integration with the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® Method; where I selected key questions from the game and asked participants to build the answers using LEGO® models. The combination took answers into a whole new level of 3D ideation and imagination"
Qabas Shaer, Founder, Riforma Consulting
"Even entrepreneurs and business owners need to unwind and have fun from time to time...when was the last time you had a fun and enjoyable interaction with your business coach that didn't feel like a typical coaching session?
Through simple questions and answers the Playground for Entrepreneurs is the first board game that facilitates actual face-to-face conversations that generate feedback, insights and reflections for both the entrepreneur and coach. I've been using the game since mid April (2022, red.) and everyone I've used it with has really enjoyed the experience.
The game's questions are divided into 4 areas: heart, ear, eye and hand all leading to better product-market fit for a team's product or service idea. At the end participants pitch the best development insights they gained during gameplay as well as actionable next steps for their ideas. It makes the often hard and messy work of entrepreneurship a bit more bearable and even enjoyable."
Eric Patel, Chief Innovation Officer at Open ExO Boston and co-founder ExI
"The Playground is a board game that gamifies the entrepreneur coaching experience and helps coaches facilitate a meaningful discussion with impactful outcomes.
Through the well thought out questions and the game mechanics, participating entrepreneurs can reflect on their own business idea and model, as well as obtain quality feedback not only from the facilitator but from other participating entrepreneurs as well.
It provides a safe and fun environment for like-minded people to just talk about their business and ask for suggestions for next steps.
I've had the opportunity to use and share this with a number of people, and have had nothing but positive feedback across the board."
Peta Ho, Educator & community activist committed to supporting local entrepreneurs and SME, who participated in the first cohort of certified facilitators
"Playground for Entrepreneurs is an entertaining and revealing game that helps entrepreneurs strengthen their business ideas by creating a powerful experience, through it's provoking questions. It is a true cooperative learning construction. Totally recommended! Make up your mind and join our community."
Claudia (coach and educator who has participated in the first cohort of the Facilitator Training)
"Inge and her Playground for Entrepreneur's game, came to my life unexpectedly. I wasn’t even thinking about bringing my enterprise to a higher level, I was happy about how things were developing with my counselling and provision of workshops in the human development field. I was attending a free start-up Training for Latín American Women Entrepreneurs where Inge was one of the Guest speakers. I was so impressed with her presentation and innovative Playground for Entrepreneurs game that I took her phone number and website and immediately contacted her.
It was a great experience learning in a very welcoming, fun and safe environment, with other multicultural entrepreneurs. The use of a tool like the Playground for Entrepreneurs opened my mind and my understanding of what are the important things to consider when wanting to develop an enterprise. I had the opportunity to bring my own project and answer the game questions, at first in a very simple way. The participants in my group made me reflect and go to a deeper level, with their questions. Their suggestions were an eye opener and they did it in a way where I did not need to defend or justify myself, instead I opened my mind and humbly took their feedback very seriously. I loved it too, when I was the one asking, giving feedback and supporting other members of the group and their enterprises.
Now, I am working on my project more confidently, with a group of volunteers, and we are going at a faster than expected way. I am proud mainly because we have the passion, commitment and now, the knowledge I am sharing with them,that will guide us towards success.
I highly recommend Inge De Dreu and her Playground for Entrepreneurs training, it is for sure, what you need to bring your business at a higher level."
Zuly Jacob, Life Coach (Canada)
"The Playground for Entrepreneurs, apart from being fun to play, also helps the participants to ask the right questions to achieve a broader and more profound view on their venture or project. They receive suggestions and hear about other people's experiences, which nurtures everyone's process in a playful and pressure-free way."
Carolina Gómez, Ontological Coach and Facilitator of "Transformational Journeys"
"In essence, the game is a conversation starter. With well-developed questions, so that you really can't get away with a yes/no or superficial answer.
The first time around, I played the game in an early test phase and I was very impressed with the atmosphere and the interaction that came up. All of us had an entrepreneurial idea that could still be improved or refined. We all did our very best. We supported each other with advice, we thought out-of-the-box and came up with the most bizarre ideas. After more than two hours we stopped, but we would still be able to continue for a couple of hours, really."
Monique (entrepreneur)
"The nice thing about this game is that you get questions that you haven't thought about before. You have to solve these on the spot. This is a very fun and relevant situation, being an entrepreneur.
By playing this game with other entrepreneurs, you get a lot more progress than if you would sit at the drawing board by yourself. This has given me, for example, a different insight into the marketing that I wanted to use for my company. This saves unnecessary investments. I also provided insights to several co-players by helping them with target group research. So in addition to being a lot of fun, this game is also very beneficial for your company’s progress!"