The idea is to have a tables where anyone sitting at the table is cool with talking to strangers/people about your business ideas. 

According to Google Bard - top business schools have such concepts/tables. Read more here 

Harvard Business School has a "Strangers Table" in its dining hall.

Stanford Graduate School of Business has "Random Seats” in its dining hall,  INSEAD has a designated "Strangers' Corner" in “The Hub", a place where students can come to collaborate, network, and learn London Business School has a "Strangers' Dinner" where students are randomly assigned to tables with people they don't know. Wharton School has a "Global Lounge" on its campus with a designated "Strangers' Corner".

If the initiative is successful and we recruit a good team of volunteers and leaders to drive it forward we may increase frequency.   This depends on the engagement from volunteers and mentors we recruit.

Thematic sessions

Where people have a specific goal of the type of person they want to meet, we may have thematic days. when the table is focussed on participants who have a specific goal, like finding a co-founder,  internships, investors or just meeting new people.

Mentoring - we will pilot sessions with experienced entrepreneurs who can take questions on a wide range of topics.

Why?

Being comfortable with talking to strangers is a key entrepreneurial competence Whether for sharing ideas, getting feedback, making sales, pitching investors, finding business partners or simply developing social relations, people are hard wired to value in person connections. Talking to strangers is good practice and 

It's not always easy to get to know faculty and other students and make the most of being part of a university. This table will help solve this problem.    

Frequently Asked Questions

Q How do I know who I will meet at the table?

A Normally you don't. The whole point is to meet new people. If we have a guest entrepreneur, mentor that will be communicated ahead of time. 

Q Do I have to be experienced to volunteer to help?   

A No, we will have training for volunteers.

Q What's "in it for me"?

A The main objective is helping others.  Being associated with an entrepreneurial new project can be good for developing skills, building a resume/CV,  gaining experience. You will develop your project management and soft skills. If someone wants to take this project further in Portugal and abroad for sure they can apply for grants from local and EU institutions.

Q Where might this idea spread to?

A If we have enough volunteers, then at Nova we will keep this table open for longer hours, more days in a week, and will bring it to internal events. It could spread to other universities in Lisbon, Portugal or the rest of the world.

Who is behind this idea ? 

Richard Lucas, a Polish British entrepreneur with 700 employees in 11 businesses. He brought the idea to the  Nova SBE Haddad Entrepreneurship Institute after doing a guest workshop in March 2023, and recruited a volunteer team

The project leader is Anna Novitskaya anna.nov1605@gmail.com

At Nova the lead  is André Gonçalves Community Manager. 

Any questions, just ask.

Thank you.

Richard Lucas

richardlucas@richardlucas.com

What is the inspiration?

The Chatty Cafe Scheme  The Chatty Cafe scheme operates in several countries world wide and is a social impact idea set up in 2019 by Alexandra Hoskyn was invited to speak about it by Richard Lucas at TEDxKazimierzWomen. (12 minute talk). Participating venues designate a table in their venue (which are often cafes, but also community centres, universities, libraries), where it is clearly communicated that if you sit at that table you have agreed to talk to strangers.   The main purpose of the Chatty Cafe scheme, is to encourage communication and fight social isolation.