A typical activity of Meesters van de Toekomst, is organizing specific meetings where capital-seeking entrepreneurs are brought together with individuals with capital (business angels) who want to provide startup capital for young companies and help them grow. These investments involve major decisions from both parties – they can be a high risk for the investor to take. This is why the plans presented at these meetings, have to meet very high demands. To learn what specifically is asked from the entrepreneurs, is for example an important purpose of the meetings at VentureLab Twente.

Every first Friday of the month from 13:30h-15:00h VentureLab participants will have the possibility to share their plans and financial request with Radboud. He will assess the current quality of the financial request and where possible will give advice on the further improvement of the plans.

Meesters van deToekomst is an initiative of Oost NV and Kennispark Twente.

In America, most incubators focus on square meters instead of programs or services for their client companies. The VentureLab Twente programme leads the trend of assisting their shooting stars in multiple and tailor-made ways, where the community plays a key role. Especially the possibility to join without fixed idea and the intensity of coaching and availability of trainings can be called unique.

Considering the above, VLT participants and staff can be sincerely proud of what we have achieved so far. And we believe that there is much more to come. The conference left us with very valuable contacts to improve our program even more. So as Walt Disney has said: ‘Stop talking and start doing!’

A few things that struck me in the morning session on growing and managing your client pipeline. Many incubators are commercial and they position themselves in terms of their square meters. As successful clients are their prime marketing tool, they do have selection at the gate (“it’s no use having people who want to put pink lipstick on a pig” said presenter Stephen Hartlen, CEO at Innovacorp, Halifax – Can.). They also keep good track of clients’ progress. Having a good CRM system is of course very important, and…. Be On Facebook and send out a few tweets per day.

In the afternoon the floor was for Chris Reddin executive dir. of the BIC in Grand Junction, Colorado. Her topic was social networking for community building. Eye-openers: people’s contacts have to travel with you, as generation y will have had on av. 25 different jobs before retirement (where now it is between 3 and 6). As important as before are: having a good brand and a consistent message, and a good website to reflect those. Her favorite social media tools, to be used for different purposes: facebook, linked in, and twitter (“ it’s all about your phone now” ). Thank you Stephen and Chris for very interesting sessions.

More info on the website of Kennispark!

VentureLab’s founding father, professor Aard Groen, presented the VentureLab Twente programme to a large audience in the Corrridor’s conference hall. Six VentureLab entrepreneurs gave a pitch, among them Maria Lijding (Smart Signs), Piere Wolters (WitWorks) and aviator Ben Capelle (Clean Tech Development Center), shown in the picture gallery. For more pictures have a look at the website of Kennispark Twente, one of the other organisations housed in The Corridor.

VentureLab Twente nodigt u van harte uit voor de opening van gebouw “The Corridor”, Hengelosestraat 525 te Enschede op donderdag 25 maart as. Vanaf 16.00 uur kunt u een kijkje nemen bij de diverse organisaties en bedrijven die in The Corridor zijn gehuisvest. Tussen 16.00 en 17.00 zullen deelnemende bedrijven in VentureLab Twente een pitch houden.

Dit zijn:

• Amitek Model Factory (3D printing): Rob Wermenbol
  (zie ook press, referencelist, artikel Telegraaf 19 maart “Innovatief Leren Ondernemen”)
• Smart Solutions BV (dynamische bewegwijzering) : Maria Lijding
  (zie ook press, referencelist, artikel Financieel Dagblad 11 maart “Veelbelovende start voor maker van dynamische deurbordjes”)
• The Master Networker Institute B.V. (netwerkprofessionalisering): Robert Reinink
• Twente Institute for Wireless and Mobile Communications (draadloze communicatie): Sonia Heemstra de Groot
  (zie ook press, referencelist, artikel Telegraaf 19 maart “Innovatief Leren Ondernemen”)
• 101 Solutions B.V. (volg- en meetsystemen op afstand): Wijnand Grooten

Verder een bedrijfspresentatie van Clean Tech Development Center (vliegtuigbrandstof) Ben Cappelle 

Vanaf 17:00 uur staan een hapje en drankje voor u klaar. Vriendelijk verzoek u per e-mail aan te melden bij het secretariaat van Kennispark Twente, secretariaat@kennispark.nl

Wij stellen uw bezoek zeer op prijs!

Nominies are:

• Kirsten van der Vaart, Fresh ’n Food
• Tjeert Fontein & Niels Korterik, Fuji Consultancy
• Martin Postel, Avido Skincare
• Sylt Steen, Gerard van Bemmel and Pieter Coerman, Swift Aerials
• Rob ten Hove, Nationaal Forensisch Adviesbureau
• Myrette van Houten, Praktijk voor podotherapie

Prize money is € 6.000, € 2.500 or € 1.500! More info and application to join the festivities, check the entrepreneurs-award site (in Dutch).

On March 18, in the evening, you are invited to the monthly network dinner and VentureClass. Both events are free of charge. You can apply here (Open Training) and here (VentureClass, with more info).

One of the highlights in the Open Training is a training on ‘Understanding Business Strategy’ by Michael Hitt. Michael A. Hitt is a Distinguished Professor and holds the Joe B. Foster Chair in Business Leadership at Texas A&M University. He has more than 260 publications including 26 co-authored or co-edited books. He has been recognized as one of the ten most cited scholars in management over a 25-year period in an article published in the 2008 volume of the Journal of Management.

In addition he is President Elect and a member of the Board of Directors for the Strategic Management Society and is a Past President of the Academy of Management, a 17,000 member international organization dedicated to the advancement of management knowledge and practice. And he is a Fellow in the Academy of Management, a Research Fellow in the National Entrepreneurship Consortium, received an honorary doctorate from the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid and is an Honorary Professor and Honorary Dean at Xi’an Jiao Tong University.

The VentureClass of this month is also really a ‘not to miss’ -event. Speaker is Job Elders (‘64), Business Director Thermo Fisher Scientific Enschede. He was co-founder and CEO of C2V until its acquisition by Thermo in 2009. Since the mid nineties Job Elders was involved in leading positions, in start-ups, mergers and acquisitions, including Alcatel and recently Thermo. More info on the VentureClass page.

Again a new podcast, this time about Business Development: how to renew yourself from within a company. The podcast is in Dutch and so is this news.

Op 12 november vond een thema bijeenkomst plaats van de Vereniging Business Development Nederland (VBDN) over ‘incubating’ (to grow under conditions that promote development). Aard Groen heeft hier gesproken over incubating volgens de VentureLab formule, en over high-tech marketing en Business Development. Hij maakt duidelijk dat VentureLab Twente er niet alleen voor (startende) zelfstandig ondernemers is; ook binnen bestaande bedrijven zijn er mooie innovatieve ideeën waarvoor begeleiding gewenst kan zijn.

In de podcast komt ook Koen Mioulet van VBDN aan het woord. Hij legt uit wat Business Development is en welke rol hij hierin voor een VentureLab ziet. Dit wordt gevolgd door een voorbeeld uit de praktijk: Dhr. van Rongen, die zich bij een Canadees bedrijf o.a. bezig houdt met de technische kant van kilometerheffing…

Een niet te missen podcast voor iedereen die in Business Development geïnteresseerd is. Beluister het hier.

Ook is hier nog een filmpje te bekijken/downloaden!

VentureLab will have a booth with Kennispark Twente at the information fair:
“The companies will set up their information booths at the information fair, which will be held in a large venue on the Ganzenveld. Recruiters can provide information on their companies and students will have the opportunity to meet companies and ask questions. The fair opens at 10:30 and closes at 17:00.The information fair also provides the opportunity for students to talk to the recruiters of companies in which they are interested. Because so many companies present themselves in one venue, the information fair is the place to be for students who want to learn more about the labour market or who are looking for internship opportunities, thesis projects or a job.” (www.bedrijvendagentwente.nl).