You Could Tell They Were Thinking Like Consultants

How Beta House worked with Forward College students on a real consulting project

When Forward College students begin their third-year consulting projects, the expectation is simple: work on real problems, with real organisations, and deliver something meaningful.

But what does that actually look like from the other side?

At Beta House, a Berlin-based venture capital firm working with early-stage startups, the collaboration quickly moved beyond what you might expect from a student project.

We spoke with a member of the Beta House team about what stood out, and what surprised them.

“It didn’t feel like a typical student collaboration”

From the beginning, there was a noticeable difference in how the students approached the project.

“Usually, with student collaborations, you expect something more academic,” they explain. “But quite quickly, it became clear that this was different. The way they approached the problem, the questions they asked, it felt much closer to how a consulting team would operate.”

Rather than focusing on producing a polished document, the students engaged directly with the challenge itself. They questioned assumptions, explored different angles, and weren’t afraid to rethink their approach when needed.

Working on a problem that actually matters

The project wasn’t hypothetical. It was grounded in a real question relevant to Beta House’s work with startups.

“That changes the dynamic completely,” they say. “When the outcome matters, the way you work changes. You can’t just rely on theory, you have to think about what is actually useful.”

Throughout the collaboration, the students were expected to move beyond surface-level analysis and develop insights that could realistically be applied. That meant dealing with uncertainty, incomplete information, and shifting priorities, all part of the reality of working in venture and consulting environments.

“They weren’t just giving answers – they were building arguments”

One of the most striking aspects of the project was how the students communicated their work.

“It’s one thing to have ideas, but another to structure them clearly,” they explain. “What stood out was their ability to build a line of reasoning. They weren’t just presenting conclusions, they were showing how they got there.”

This made the collaboration more productive. Instead of simply reviewing outputs, the team at Beta House could engage with the thinking behind them, challenge assumptions, and refine the direction together.

“It felt like a conversation, not a one-way delivery.”

A shift from academic thinking to professional mindset

As the project progressed, there was a clear evolution in how the students worked.

“In the beginning, there’s always a tendency to try to get things ‘right,’” they note. “But in a real-world setting, there isn’t always a single correct answer.”

What mattered more was the ability to prioritise, to make decisions with limited information, and to justify those decisions.

“By the end, you could see that shift. They were more confident in making calls, more comfortable with ambiguity, and that’s exactly what you need in this kind of work.”

“This is the kind of experience that actually prepares you”

For Beta House, the value of the collaboration wasn’t just in the final outcome, but in the way the students approached the process.

“What’s interesting is not just what they deliver, but how they think,” they say. “That’s what really determines whether someone is ready to step into a professional environment.”

Projects like this, they explain, offer something that traditional academic work often can’t: exposure to real expectations, real feedback, and real consequences.

“You learn much faster when the work is real.”

More than a classroom project

Looking back, the collaboration stands out because it blurred the line between education and professional experience.

“It didn’t feel like we were working with students,” they reflect. “It felt like we were working with a team that was learning in real time, and contributing at the same time.”

And that balance is precisely what Forward College aims to create.

By placing students in real-world contexts early on, the goal isn’t just to simulate experience, but to build it, one project at a time.