{"id":443451,"date":"2023-04-14T13:36:15","date_gmt":"2023-04-14T11:36:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/innovationorigins.com\/?p=443451"},"modified":"2023-04-14T13:36:15","modified_gmt":"2023-04-14T11:36:15","slug":"focus-on-team-building-for-start-ups-as-a-founder-you-need-to-nurture-your-passion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/en\/focus-on-team-building-for-start-ups-as-a-founder-you-need-to-nurture-your-passion\/","title":{"rendered":"Focus on team dynamics for start-ups: ‘as a founder, you need to nurture your passion’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Team dynamics are crucial when building your start-up. That\u2019s why it\u2019s so important to create a group of people that suits your project\u2019s needs the best. Of course, expertise is vital, but don\u2019t forget things like diversity, leadership, chemistry, and the ability to ask for support. Ren\u00e9 Brama (Invest.NL<\/a>), Arjan Goudsblom (Techleap<\/a>), and Madelon Strijbos (Robert Walters<\/a>) have had so many founders, potential co-founders, and team members at their desks that their advice is a precious resource for the start-up ecosystem. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

LUMO Labs<\/a> asked the three experts to share their views on a sideline of the Draper Pitch Prize Competition<\/a> finals, Thursday afternoon at the High Tech Campus Eindhoven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Groningen sets the tone in the Draper Pitch Prize Competition finals<\/summary>

Not only the winners but also the two runners-up of the Draper Pitch Prize Competition finals were founded in Groningen. Out of the 6 finalists that pitched their solutions in Eindhoven on Thursday, the jury chose Sencilia<\/a> as the winner. Presented by Dr. Amar M. Kamat, Sencilia builds nature-inspired sensing solutions using innovative fabrication methods to solve critical problems in industries such as healthcare, underwater robotics, microfluidics, water and energy (oil and gas, hydrogen). Kamat won a \u00a0ticket to the five-week Draper University Hero\u00a0Training program<\/a>\u00a0in San Mateo, California.\u00a0
The same prize was awarded to the two runners-up in the contest: Aletta Solutions<\/a> and Elementa<\/a>. Aletta offers a chatbot for patients to support their medication adherence. This results in better clinical trials. Elementa wants to be the ‘siri for labs’, helping researchers document the process of their work.
All three winners have ties to Groningen University<\/a> and the UMCG<\/a> Medical Center.

The jury consisted of:
Irina Kulizhnikova, The Gate
Frank Claassen, Newion
Khadija Ghazi, Draper University
Jordy Schaufeli, OostNL
Vincent Kamphorst, Innovation Industries
Maud Zaal, Microsoft
Rene Brama, Invest-nl<\/p><\/div><\/details>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s all about the second phase of your start-up, Ren\u00e9 Brama says. \u201cIt\u2019s when you realize that you may have this brilliant idea, but without someone to sell it, without an audience that\u2019s interested in it, it\u2019s still nothing. So you have to find a salesperson to work next to you.\u201d And you\u2019d better choose this person – and all the others in your team – wisely, Arjan Goudsblom adds. \u201cYou have got to be aware that you will have to work together for many years. The average journey of a deep tech founder is 10 to 15 years before an exit. So don\u2019t rush into finding new team members. You need to have chemistry, be on the same page, and have the same ambition. I often see that a choice is made based on a paper resume. That\u2019s a recipe for disappointment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/a>
<\/div><\/div>
Four Dutch start-ups win trip to Silicon Valley<\/div>
Not one, but four start-ups will travel to the Draper University in San Mateo, California this summer. They won the finals of the Draper’s Silicon … Continued<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n

The three agree that enthusiasm and passion among the founding team members are crucial. A potential investor will immediately recognize a lack of passion, so it\u2019s a necessity if you want to survive as a company. \u201cBut beware, passion can be killed\u201d, Madelon Strijbos warns. \u201cYou have to be mindful of nurturing and harnessing that passion. Show your drive to your people, be in the office with them, and ensure they are heard by you. You lose good people – and the bad ones will stay – if you\u2019re not there to take care of it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Involve them<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s something else every founder needs to take care of: think as a proper business. Brama: \u201cSpend enough energy with your investors. Share your successes and failures with them, and involve them in your business. Good or bad, ensure they will never be surprised by your financials.\u201d Also, when looking for new investors, be aware that this will cost time and effort. \u201cKeep talking to them\u201d, adds Strijbos. \u201cEspecially now, when investing in deep tech start-ups has become less evident than before.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the way, Goudsblom says, \u201cfinding the right co-founder can sometimes also be a road to new money. Because of their network, or simply because they can invest themselves.\u201d Strijbos agrees: \u201cYou need a business-driven person as a co-founder if you want to properly spin out of the university setting. Those people can give you money and extra runway. A co-founder with cash can really help.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, there\u2019s the need to ask for support. Brama: \u201cBuild a support force around your start-up; use your seasoned advisors.\u201d And although it\u2019s not \u201crocket science or heart surgery\u201d, hiring people is still more than a hobby, Strijbos says. \u201cWriting job profiles, answering emails from applicants, talking to people. That\u2019s something we can do for a start-up. It all starts with asking for support.\u201d With a smile: \u201cI promise all of you: a phone call to us won\u2019t cost you anything.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Aletta CEO Fennie van der Graaf pitching for the Draper Prize. \u00a9 IO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Team dynamics are crucial when building your start-up. That\u2019s why it\u2019s so important to create a group of people that suits your project\u2019s needs the best. Of course, expertise is vital, but don\u2019t forget things like diversity, leadership, chemistry, and the ability to ask for support. Ren\u00e9 Brama (Invest.NL), Arjan Goudsblom (Techleap), and Madelon Strijbos […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1568,"featured_media":494126,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8553,3009],"tags":[77231,61521,28087,8625,8632],"location":[6763],"article_type":[36684],"serie":[],"archives":[],"internal_archives":[],"reboot-archive":[],"class_list":["post-443451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-digital","category-startup","tag-draper-prize","tag-draper-university","tag-groningen-en","tag-lumo-labs","tag-lumo-labs-nl","location-netherlands","article_type-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"acf":{"subtitle":"On the sideline of the Draper Pitch Prize Competition, experts from TechLeap, Invest-NL, and Robert Walters had some useful growth advice for start-up founders and their teams.","text_display_homepage":false},"author_meta":{"display_name":"Bart Brouwers","author_link":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/author\/brewbart\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/PXL_20230413_164212938.jpg","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["Digital<\/a>","Start-ups<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Digital<\/span>","Start-ups<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["Draper Prize<\/a>","Draper University<\/a>","Groningen<\/a>","Lumo Labs<\/a>","Lumo Labs<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Draper Prize<\/span>","Draper University<\/span>","Groningen<\/span>","Lumo Labs<\/span>","Lumo Labs<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":"0","relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 3 years ago","modified":"Updated 3 years ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on April 14, 2023","modified":"Updated on April 14, 2023"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on April 14, 2023 1:36 pm","modified":"Updated on April 14, 2023 1:36 pm"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/443451","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1568"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=443451"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/443451\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/494126"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=443451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=443451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=443451"},{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=443451"},{"taxonomy":"article_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article_type?post=443451"},{"taxonomy":"serie","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/serie?post=443451"},{"taxonomy":"archives","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/archives?post=443451"},{"taxonomy":"internal_archives","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/internal_archives?post=443451"},{"taxonomy":"reboot-archive","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/reboot-archive?post=443451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}