{"id":59958,"date":"2016-05-23T06:32:39","date_gmt":"2016-05-23T04:32:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/e52.nl\/?p=59958"},"modified":"2016-05-23T06:32:39","modified_gmt":"2016-05-23T04:32:39","slug":"ey-joins-hightechxl-with-three-teams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/en\/ey-joins-hightechxl-with-three-teams\/","title":{"rendered":"EY joins HighTechXL with three teams"},"content":{"rendered":"

Startups often have the same challenges as large multinationals, only\u00a0usually they lack the money – and a large organization – to face them. Foreign employees who need a visa, legal and tax hassles, separate salary\u00a0structures: all\u00a0aspects that – though important – distract the starters from the real entrepreneurship. EY, a global player in the field of accountancy and taxes, decided to attack the problem by bringing in a special team with a strong focus on startups. Lower rates, a subscription instead of paying for each question, and even a special guidance. This was five years ago.<\/p>\n

One thing led to another. Along with Guus Frericks, now CEO of HighTechXL<\/a>, a program was devised with the primary goal to support startups in the high tech hardware sector: Startup Factory Eindhoven. The Factory became\u00a0a bootcamp and the bootcamp became HighTechXL. But meanwhile, EY began to see that the service it provided to other startups, could also be useful for EY itself.<\/p>\n

\"Broos<\/a>
Broos Bakens<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Broos Bakens, who along with colleague Patrick Gabri\u00ebls helped set up HighTechXL right from the start, sees that his sector is also awaiting huge disruptions. “Even we face our\u00a0challenges\u00a0with innovation. New data-driven services such as robotic accounting and other automations surely will\u00a0change our work. At the same time we see that we have a lot of tremendously talented people whom we can’t guarantee that they can continue doing their current job. ”<\/p>\n

The solution was obvious, Gabri\u00ebls and Bakens saw: “We just had to counter the trends, so we started off with our own innovation program. Emphatically also because of the desire to offer our\u00a0talents at EY new opportunities”, Bakens says. And so began an innovation track that required an investment from both the employee and the employer. This double investment would remove non-commitment, but also show how EY wanted to make serious efforts.<\/p>\n

To stay on the right track, Gabri\u00ebls and Bakens designed a program with four phases. In the beginning, the employee has to invest a lot of his spare time in the project, at the end it is primarily the employer who does.<\/p>\n

Step 1: Ideation<\/strong><\/p>\n

In this phase, the most\u00a0important thing is to show that there is a feasible idea. But also the team must be formed. Beacons: “At this point we make good use of the learnings from the HighTechXL accelerator in\u00a0recent years. Therefore we know basically everything about the importance of the right composition of the team and we select on intrinsic motivation within\u00a0the team. An\u00a0idea may seem strong, but without the proper composition of the team behind it, it’s nothing. “This is also the stage where we see that the product or service may change substantially as a result of discussions with potential clients and customers. The ideation phase is concluded with a pitch contest: only the best can proceed to step two.<\/p>\n

Step 2: Concept<\/strong><\/p>\n

Through the method of the lean startup<\/a>\u00a0we make the first steps to build a business model. Bakens: “This is similar to what we do in the first phase of HighTechXL: the concept should be given focus and above all be validated. In the Battle of Innovation, all your assumptions must get\u00a0validation.” This phase lasts about three months and still, the participants will have to invest a lot of their own time, although EY also offers hours.<\/p>\n

\"Battle<\/a>
Battle of Innovation at EY, where the internal startups are formed<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Step 3: The Startup<\/strong><\/p>\n

Who has survived the Battle of Innovation, is ready for the real thing: a working product now has to be built. The first three teams from the program have reached this point. They were ‘released’ last week to the world outside EY and must now show that their idea can actually generate new business. It’s no\u00a0coincidence\u00a0that they received a spot\u00a0in HighTechXL, Frericks’s accelerator at the High Tech Campus where EY still plays an important role. Bakens: “We have deliberately chosen not to do this in-house. That would be the fastest way to kill the product in advance. You know how it is: there are always reasons to be distracted by the ‘normal’ work, or you’ll suffer from colleagues who want to get involved. So\u00a0this phase just had to be performed elsewhere. The choice was easy: where else than at HighTechXL?”<\/p>\n

The three teams are now fully part of the HighTechXL accelerator, even though none of them really work on high-tech hardware products. Bakens: “The program is slightly modified, but for the most part this is not necessary. The emphasis is on building the business, not on the hardware itself.”<\/p>\n

Step 4: Scaleup<\/strong><\/p>\n

After three months in the accelerator it will be time to go to market with the new business. “Now it really comes down to peformance. Will they get sufficient funding to continue to build? Now\u00a0new business has to develop.”<\/p>\n

The three EY teams in HighTechXL are working on products that are an extension of the core business within EY itself.<\/p>\n