Steffen Paust

Steffen Paust is a Researcher at the Institute of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Science at the University of Stuttgart. He received his BSc and MSc in Economics and Business Administration from Aarhus University in Denmark and is currently in the final stages of his PhD on the role of prototyping in entrepreneurial opportunity design under the supervision of Professor WSR and Head of Department Steffen Korsgaard at the Department of Entrepreneurship and Relationship Management at the University of Southern Denmark (SDU) in Kolding, Denmark. During his doctoral studies, he undertook a research stay at the Department of Organization and Management at Vrije University in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Prior to joining the University of Stuttgart, he was a research assistant at the Department of Entrepreneurship and Relationship Management (SDU) and generated entrepreneurial experiences as the founder of Sound of Aarhus, an online-based music publication in Aarhus, Denmark, which further inspired the launching of Sound of Boston, a sister publication in Boston, MA, US.

His research field is situated in the interplay of entrepreneurship and design, where he focuses on the ‘how to’ of entrepreneurial opportunity design with a particular eye on exploring intriguing questions related to the uses and roles of prototyping in imagining, co-creating, and transforming ideas into viable business offerings under conditions of uncertainty and resource constraints. He has presented his research at entrepreneurship conferences and symposiums across Europe, engaged as a guest lecturer in the Crafting Your Future program at EU Business School in Barcelona, and more recently translated theoretical insights into a hands-on practical guide on prototyping, which have received considerable attention and is currently being used at several institutions and universities.