October 9
13.30-14.30
Venue: Center Rog
Trubarjeva cesta 72, 1000 Ljubljana
Design–Entrepreneurial Hybrids: Between Vision, Product, and Market
In the past decade, a new generation of companies has emerged in which design is not merely a support for product development, but a central element of the business model, identity, and innovation strategy. These design–entrepreneurial hybrids – often in the form of startups – function as laboratories of the future, where different logics intertwine: creative intuition, technological feasibility, sustainability, and economic viability.
The round table will explore how designers within such structures take on the role of co-creators of business decisions, how design thinking shapes product development strategies, and how relationships are formed between creative autonomy and market constraints. It will also touch upon the risks that the entrepreneurial environment poses for design practice – and, conversely, how design can redefine entrepreneurship as a cultural rather than merely economic activity.
The discussion will highlight first-hand experiences: how to build a company from a design idea, how to translate values into tangible products, and how to maintain a vision once investors, production, and growth come into play. It is a search for balance – not only between design and entrepreneurship, but between meaning and success.
Debate will be in Slovene language.