Anu Ruul

Innovation consultant and lecturer

With 10 years of experience in project management, entrepreneurship and startup phase management, Anu Ruul is now helping private companies, MA and BA level students to understand and execute the innovation process, startup mindset, the philosophy behind the continuous learning loop and how to measure progress.

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Passionate about

Innovation

Mindset of spotting and defining problems, validating them and creating new value is a must not an option. What is innovation? What is a startup? Is there a difference? Innovation can be defined as process of innovating. It can be disruptive, incremental, planned or radical change in thinking, processes, organisations or products. Startup can be defined as a first phase of an enterprise that can be described as futuristic, technology based, innovative, scalable, has uncertain conditions and usually with no validated business model yet. Sometimes these terms are referred to as synonyms. They certainly do have a lot in common and both startup and innovation process have almost the same steps in their processes. We innovate, we build, we learn, we measure, we fail. We can either follow the startup process of the process of innovating – the goal is to reach solid evidence to our problem and solution and create value.

Passionate about

Education

There is a huge difference between what you think you know and what you know you know. And it makes all the difference in practice. I believe that education makes a huge difference in peoples lives. I am the example of it. Educating myself and wanting to know more has given me a lot of opportunities professionally and personally aswell. I am currently lecturing at Estonian Business School and Tallinn University of Technology. I was the founder of an educational project BeWise. Being able to share my practical experience combined with the theories has proven to be a very effective teaching methodology. As I strongly prefer practical seminars and practical case studies I have brought practise into classroom via different online tools, best practitioners from their fields and shared my own stories.

Passionate about

Startups

Do not startup if you can. You have to believe in what you do, be willing to give up a lot and live in chaos. I’ve heard that one writer once said that do not write, if you can. The point was that nobody really cares about what you write in your drawer and you will propably die alone and in bankrupt. In my opinion, this is the same with startups. Do not startup, if you can. You will propably die alone and in bankrupt. BUT if you believe in it, you breath it, you are passionate about it and really want to do it, just do it! Do not wait for the right time or the right circumstances. The time will never be right and we always act with limited resources. Create your own opportunities and doors will start to open. And if you do start up, know your metrics, know your personal why’s and know your team mates!

What people say

Anu has provided invaluable support in defining the goals and development needs of Green Tiger Academy participants. She is clear and precise and is able to capture exactly what organizations benefit most from.

Markus Vihma

Leader of Green Tiger Academy, Estonia

Anu is very passionate and energetic about what she does both as a person and as a lecturer. You can see the enthusiasm from miles away and it is a strong advantage when you put together a training programme with her. She is definitely a motivated and inspirational speaker who I can recommend.

Sigrid Sinnep

HR manager

Centre for Defence Investment (Estonia)

When we started Iffent OÜ Anu Ruul was our mentor. She told us about the analyzes, drawings and various validations we need to do to make sure that Iffent is exactly what people need and that it really works.
At the time all this analysis, drawing on paper and documntation seemed “too much.” We thought we had everything figured out in our heads…
Now – 3 years later – I thank Anu with all of my heart for politely forcing us to do all the right steps and analyzes. Otherwise, the idea would still be just in our heads.

Else Källo

COO at Iffent

I am definitely a lucky one to have had the opportunity to get to know Anu, a lecturer who is also an amazing coach and mentor. In the autumn of 2020 I had the pleasure of participating in one of Anu’s startup courses, it was world changing. Three months later I founded my own startup. She dives deep with you and thinks with you. Passionate and positive, Anu earns my highest recommendation.

Riin Sumberg

EBS

Our team met Anu for the first time and the general feedback was very positive. The processes in our company tend to take a very long time, and it is refreshing to meet someone who teaches that you can act differently. Process mapping with Anu, where the team was directed to analyze whether what we consider to be a problem is actually a problem, made me think very seriously. It is often the case that we solve a problem in our own opinion and wonder why something does not change or even is replaced by several new problems. But often the truth is that the real problem has not been identified. We are grateful to Anu for the hours she shared her valuable thoughts with us!

Argo Luude

AS Eesti Keskkonnateenused

Chairman of the Board, CEO

I’ve never had such a passion to study as it was in TalTech’s startup course with Anu in 2018. And you know what? The knowledge from there really pays off as I’m now getting more into the startup world. Anu’s enthusiasm does the magic!

Melani Nõu

TalTech

Anu Ruul is a great lecturer. I had the pleasure to attend her Start Up Entrepreneurship course at the Estonian Business School. As a german Erasmus Master student for management her class would shape my mindset through her experiences in that field combined with her great “do it”-mentality.

Raphael Maria Hess

EBS

Anu’s training and energy and her ability to pass on knowledge and information is admirable. It was a training for lecturers, where all trainees were loaded with motivation after a long day and in anticipation to apply their knowledge in their own classes. If anyone at all can grab listeners and engage in exciting topics, it’s Anu.

Airi Noppel

TalTech

Anu has proved to be an exceptional mentor and I’m grateful to have found a mentor in her, since the time our team of 5 individuals decided to bring the HULT Prize startup competition to Estonia for the first time in 2017.

Saniya Vardak

Hult Prize

I met Anu in 2018 as a Master student of Taltech, where she was a lecturer in Startup entrepreneurship. During this time, it quickly became clear to me that Anu was very determined and strongly motivated to do her best. It is a pleasure to learn from a person who wants to and can teach.

Katriin Rannamäe

TalTech

Anu Ruul

Innovation consultant and lecturer

Innovation

Education

Startups

What people say

Gallery

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