Op de persoonlijke pagina van Aard Groen is een aantal nieuwe podcasts te vinden!

Zo geeft Aard een reactie op het plan van Innovatieplatform Twente om Nederland in 2020 weer terug hebben in de top 5 innovatieve landen van de wereld. Hij stelt onder andere: “Een goed initiatief dat absoluut zal bijdragen aan het urgentiebesef dat innovatie essentieel is om economische en maatschappelijk vooruitgang te bewerkstelligen. Maar aan besef ontbreekt het eigenlijk al jaren niet. De belangrijke vervolgstap is het omzetten van de visie naar betekenisvolle plannen waar ondernemers mee uit de voeten kunnen. Zonder deze vertaalslag door samenwerkende overheden, kennisinstellingen en bedrijfsleven zal het plan helaas bij mooie woorden blijven”.

In een andere podcast gaat Aard in op het aantrekken van buitenlandse bedrijven naar Nederland (een belangrijke aanbeveling in het plan van het Innovatieplatform). Hierover zegt hij bijvoorbeeld “Dit is een belangrijk punt waar we met VentureLab Twente al ervaring mee hebben. Het is onze visie dat in Nederland de cultuur en structuur aanwezig is van waaruit Aziatische en Amerikaanse bedrijven Europese markten uitstekend kunnen betreden. Daar profiteren wij als Nederland ook van in de vorm van werkgelegenheid. Voor Nederland zou het goed zijn als er meer van dergelijke ‘hotspots’ bijkomen”, aldus de hoogleraar Innovatief Ondenemerschap aan de Universiteit Twente.

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A visit to the NBIA conference in Orlando, Florida last week was a real eye-opener. Going there with the idea that all is great, greater, greatest in America, my expectations were no different for the incubators that one can find there. However, after listening to different presentations and talking with several people I came to the conclusion that we are absolutely not doing bad ourselves!

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!’

After last night’s heavy rainfall it’s warm and clouded in Lake Bueana Vista, an Orlando suburb, where the annual international NBIA conference is taking place. It’s a great atmosphere of approx. 250 people who share an interest in business incubation. 4 Venturelab staffmembers attend: Rob, Aard, Mariska and me. On Saterday we visited a.o. Kennedy Space Centre. On Sunday I attended a workshop on Advanced Incubator Marketing. Practical information plus useful ‘tips and tricks’. It’s also been sort of a  wake up call for me to hear from the presenters and the people participating in the workshop, that in USA or Canada states struggle with the same issues that VentureLab Twente does, such as preventing braindrain or the need to raise awareness for entrepreneurship as a career path.

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.

Interesting workshop @ Kennispark Twente (in the corridor):

More info on the website of Kennispark!

The Innoversum Convention on the business opportunities of nano-technology in the food, sports and health sectors was a success. We welcomed approx. 400 visitors.  Some highlights. Member of the national Innovation Platform and the ‘most influential man’ in the Netherlands, Alexander Rinnooy Kan, gave the keynote (in dutch).  In the afternoon, senior-and-still-kicking serial entrepreneur, Bert Twaalfhoven stole the show.  The convention ended with award ceremonies.  The Van de Krooneberg award 2010 for young and promising UT spin-off entrepreneurs was for Recore Systems, while Wendy Borneman won the Marina van Damme scholarship for female high-potentials.

VentureLab entrepreneurs Koen Mioulet  (B2B marketing and VBDN – the dutch association for business developers), Max Groenendijk (Lightmotif), Rob Wermenbol (Amitek Model Factory), Wijnand Grooten (101 solutions), and TOP entrepreneur Sandra de Vos (Medisse)  presented their businesses at the Innoversum ‘mini-fair’.

I was actively involved in the preparations of Innoversum 2010, side by side with Kennispark, IPT, Saxion and BTC staff. In particular I was responsible for the organisation of the breakfast debate between students from the  University of Twente (UT) & Saxion Polytechnic, and the mayors of Enschede & Hengelo (our neighbour city) and the chairmen of the Board from the UT & Saxion. My greatest worry was for the students to turn up at all, and preferably on time. And they almost all did! We had good food and a lively debate. It made a great start of the day!

Look  here for pictures.