A month ago, on July 29, 2025, a representative from the Visionest Institute interviewed Olga Gurtova, a Ukrainian trainer from the Born Global program, which took place in Ukraine starting in November 2024. We discussed her experiences and insights as a trainer for this groundbreaking initiative that aims to help aspiring Ukrainian entrepreneurs target foreign markets from the very beginning. This interview offers valuable perspectives on her role in supporting these entrepreneurs.
On the photo (from left to right): Tetiana Stratii (Ukrainian trainer), Anu-Mall Naarits (CEO, Visionest Institute), Olga Gurtova (Ukrainian trainer) during the Graduation Event in Kyiv, August, 28.
Why I Joined Born Global
Visionest Institute: What inspired you to join the program as a trainer?
Olga Gurtova: I wanted to be part of something big. Born Global is a large-scale, ambitious initiative designed for a wide range of participants, and it was important for me to contribute to an effort that can truly support many entrepreneurs. I also had a positive past collaboration with the Visionest Institute team and appreciate their approach. Of course, working with international mentors, exchanging experiences, and immediately applying new approaches was a big draw for me.
Learning from the Best: Global Mentorship in Action
Visionest Institute: During the first phase of the program, you received mentoring and training from international experts. How would you describe this experience?
Olga Gurtova: Even if a topic seems familiar and you already have practical experience, the training in the first phase of the program always offers new insights that can be applied in work. Mentorship with Professor Uwe Sponholz was particularly valuable to me. I deliberately chose to work with him, as I remembered his clear, structured instructions and sharp – sometimes uncomfortable – questions from the previous Train the Trainers program, which pushed us to think deeper. Back then, we worked on the sales topic, and this time I was able to see the international perspective on networking and sales in a new light. It was a challenge, but a very valuable and inspiring one.
Visionest Institute: What tools, approaches, or insights from international trainers were most valuable to you?
Olga Gurtova: In this program, I worked in three roles as a trainer: participating in the hackathon, conducting team-building sessions, and developing a training module. The hackathon was a new experience for me – working on idea generation and transformation helped me observe how entrepreneurs adapt their concepts for the international market. It was both a challenge and an opportunity for professional growth.
During the team-building activities, we worked with mentor Roger Stent, who introduced effective group exercises. These helped participants not only get to know each other but also build deeper communication – crucial for teams formed in a new environment.
In the third phase, while working on the networking and sales module, I collaborated with Prof. Uwe Sponholz. This interaction gave me an important insight: we had different views on how to build client relationships. I’m used to working mostly online and often do not meet clients in person – which is normal in the digital environment. However, my mentor emphasized that trust and partnerships on the international level often require face-to-face meetings. This difference in approach gave me a new perspective on cross-cultural communication and highlighted how important it is to consider these aspects when preparing companies for global markets.
Additionally, I want to note that our module received very positive feedback from participants. They appreciated the selected exercises, practical tips, and the focus on real situations they may face during international networking. This confirmed that together with the mentor, we created relevant and useful content.
Visionest Institute: How did this mentoring influence your teaching style?
Olga Gurtova: The mentoring I received during the program had a significant impact on my teaching style. I began to pay more attention to selecting examples that were truly relevant to the target audience. These included personal situations I had experienced, as well as real cases from colleagues or clients – whether convenient or uncomfortable. Such real-life stories help participants better understand how a tool or approach works and what impact it has on the outcome. I realised that theoretical material is absorbed much more effectively when paired with emotionally engaging and relatable examples – and I consciously adopted this approach after working with the program’s mentors.
The Art of Balance: Creating the Right Content
Visionest Institute: What was your approach or philosophy as a trainer in this program?
Olga Gurtova: My approach was to present material as clearly and simply as possible for each participant, regardless of their background or level of experience. The audience was very diverse, so it was important for me to create a comfortable and inclusive environment where everyone could feel confident, ask questions, and find examples that resonated with them. I aimed to combine theory with practice so that participants could not only absorb the knowledge but also apply it immediately to their businesses.
Visionest Institute: What were the biggest challenges in developing training content?
Olga Gurtova: The biggest challenge for me was tailoring the content to meet the needs of participants with very different levels of preparation. On the one hand, it was important to include simple, foundational exercises. On the other hand, I knew that the program included experienced entrepreneurs for whom this might be too basic. So it was necessary to include more advanced, in-depth tasks as well. Finding the right balance between accessibility and depth was key.
A Transformation of participants
Visionest Institute: What overall impression did the participant teams, their ideas, and their readiness for implementation leave on you?
Olga Gurtova: During the hackathon, I saw people of very different ages, backgrounds, and personal and professional stories. It was a challenge at first – it was hard to imagine how such a diverse group could work effectively together. But after the hackathon, the team-building sessions, and several phases of training, completely different teams showed up at the workshops. These were well-formed, prepared teams that had already been through a shared journey. I was truly fortunate to work with teams that had a clear understanding of their projects and demonstrated a high level of preparedness and motivation. In my opinion, some of them were already fully ready to implement their ideas – which made a very positive impression.
Visionest Institute: Olga, you saw the teams from the hackathon stage – what transformation impressed you the most throughout the program?
Olga Gurtova: Yes, I had the opportunity to observe the teams from the very beginning. What impressed me the most was how people with completely different levels of experience, ages, and perspectives were able to unite, move forward together, learn to listen to each other, generate ideas, and work on joint tasks. Throughout the program, a natural transformation occurred: some participants left the teams, but in their place, a stable core emerged that remained committed and carried the work through to the end. This transformation – where people who don’t share the values or believe in the idea fall away, and those who do form an effective working team – was the most telling for me.
Looking Back and Moving Forward
Visionest Institute: What does this program mean to you on a personal and professional level?
Olga Gurtova: For me, Born Global was a true challenge – both professionally and personally. When I learned about the scale of the project, the number of participants, and the range of planned activities, it was important for me to become part of such an ambitious initiative. A particularly emotional moment was when the program was paused due to funding cuts. But when we learned that the project would resume, I was truly glad. It meant we could bring what we had started to completion – support the teams already formed, give them knowledge, experience, and a final push toward implementation.
Visionest Institute: In your opinion, what sets Born Global Ukraine apart from other business education or acceleration programs?
Olga Gurtova: Born Global Ukraine stands out primarily due to its multilayered communication structure and international approach. The program combines the expertise of international mentors, the local understanding of Ukrainian trainers, and active engagement with participants. One of the key features was the opportunity for us as trainers to receive direct feedback from international experts – even at the stage of developing training materials. This allowed us to immediately take into account global market requirements and adapt the content for an international perspective, while still staying close to the realities of Ukrainian entrepreneurs.
Visionest Institute: What entrepreneurial mindset or skills are critically important for Ukrainian entrepreneurs aiming to enter global markets?
Olga Gurtova: First and foremost, openness to new challenges and the ability to see the problems that your product or service can solve. Entering global markets requires not only compliance with technical and regulatory requirements but also a deep understanding of the culture, mentality, and business etiquette of the target markets. It is critically important to think broadly – in a global sense, and go beyond familiar experiences. Entrepreneurs should be ambitious, confident, a bit bold, and ready to take risks and continuously learn.
Visionest Institute: If you had to describe your Born Global Ukraine experience in one sentence, what would you say?
Olga Gurtova: Ambitious, professional, well-coordinated, and effective.
Olga Gurtova – digital marketer, trainer and mentor in digital marketing, and certified export development consultant. Co-founder of Global Marketing Project LLC. Speaker of six online courses on the Diia.Business platform, serving as lead trainer in two of them focused on export development. PhD, 14 years of university teaching experience, 7 years of practical experience in digital marketing, and 2 years of teaching the Digital Marketing course at the Ukrainian-Swedish IT school Beetroot Academy. Experience working with both Ukrainian and international clients.
This article was prepared as a part of Born Global Ukraine Program. The Born Global Ukraine project is developed by Visionest Institute (Estonia) and implemented in cooperation with Entrepreneurship and Export Promotion Office (Ukraine) and the national project Diia.Business. The project is implemented with financial support by ESTDEV – Estonian Centre for International Development (ESTDEV).
