One of us: Guntis Čoders

Today we want to share an amazing interview with Ventspils University of Applied Sciences Deputy Director and mentor of the Start-Up Management study programme Guntis Čoders. A person who inspires and surprises with his unique approach both in the teaching process and in life. Students of this unique study programme are personalities with high ambitions, courage and strong intuition. So we wanted to find out more about Guntis, how he does so well in his professional life and what is the key to his success in communicating with students.

What were you like in high school?

I was a careless bad boy and did quite a trouble to parents and teachers. Didn't know what I want to do so just went with the flow. I was having F.O.M.O. (Fears Of Missing Out) feeling so I had to be in all the parties :)

What motivates you?

One of the main motivations is to prove to myself and to others that I am able to do it. Another thing that motivates is the feeling of progress and the result itself.

Please tell us about the beginning of the creation of your study program, how did the idea come about, does the previously planned one correspond to the current one?

It started out when University invited me as a representative of the entrepreneurship environment when University was looking to take an existing study program from Finland and adjust it. It looked very promising so we took it and made it even better by adding more technology-focused topics, emotional intelligence topics and the way students are gaining practical experience by creating a good cause digital service agency run by students. I would say 80% are the way we initially thought but at least 20% have changed as we are involving students a lot to improve the program on a daily basis.

Please describe one typical day in your study program!

We meet and spend the first ~30 minutes talking about the overall feeling of the teams and individuals. What does work, what doesn't if there are any problems and what could have been done better? Then we take look on the topics we have to cover during the day / week / course and come up with a real business case / problem which could be solved when applying the topics included in the course to get actual and practical experience making the study process more engaging and useful. Then we let teams to decide the approach, plan the project timeline and tasks and split the responsibilities in the team. After that teams are working on their projects and are getting mentorship during the process. Then we are having a milestone check-in in the middle of the day where teams pitch their progress, approach, problems they face and align if the direction they are working on is the right one. At the end of the day, teams are pitching the end result and getting feedback either it's another check-in if the project is larger and it will take more than 1 day. After that everything starts over. In between, we share insights gained, lessons learned and which stage of the process worked well and which not so well.

What success do you see for your study program and students in the future?

Seeing the progress students have already after the first year of studies where students have understood the wide range of opportunities there are around, have been working on practising the way they approach problems and the way they get to the solutions I am more than sure that they will be successful individuals each in its own way. On top of it, they have huge progress in becoming much more productive, learn how to stay more healthy, achieve higher performance in a sustainable way and achieve mindfulness. That kind of mix of skills and competences is the guarantee of becoming successful.

If students are successful and happy then I see that the study program is successful.

What are your favorite websites, books or other resources?

To quickly follow the IT industry news I have subscribed to Business Insider's "10 things in tech you need to know today" newsletter. For new knowledge to gain I am using Coursera.org and reading some books. Additionally to that once in while I am watching TedX talks and listening to Podcasts like Simon Sinek's podcast.

Can you share some important insights from life that could be helpful to students?

"You can't be everything to everyone but you can be something to someone" which speaks about a broad problem of entrepreneurs who very often are focusing on too broad audience - especially in the very beginning. You have to find a niche and monopolize it (be the very best)! That applies not only for a business but for everyday life.

Another thing is to be ready to fail and learn all life long. Don't compare yourself to others too much instead compare with 'Yesterday's you' and never stop developing yourself and becoming a better version of yourself.

Anything else you would like to add?

As one of our study program's main slogans says: "It's not what you know but how you think that matters" so keep practising on improving your mindset all the time and don't try to know everything.

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Letter of support

By Elīna Ērkšķe • 03 Mar, 2022

Dear colleagues and friends, Last Thursday marked a dark moment in the history of Europe and the world as we became witness of a brutal and unprovoked act of war by Russia against a sovereign nation in the centre of Europe - Ukraine. We are deeply saddened by this. We at Ventspils University of Applied Sciences stand with the people of Ukraine at this difficult time and join the international community in condemning on the strongest possible terms the act of illegal aggression. We are prepared to offer every possible support within our means to staff, researchers and students at your institution. We are open look into the possibility to host your staff shorter or longer for periods of time. Once again - we stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine and our thoughts are with all those directly or indirectly impacted by this invasion. Yours sincerely, Dr. Karlis Kreslins Rector of the Ventspils University of Applied Sciences Foto: Shutterstock