Business

Background: In the Netherlands, it is customary to include ‘propositions’, essentially opinionated statements defended alongside one’s doctoral work. In this post series, I am outlining the arguments supporting my propositions. Proposition #10: The benefits of Shell’s residency in the Netherlands far outweighed its environmental controversies. Introduction Shell, one of the world’s largest and most recognizable energy companies, has long been a titan in the global market. Founded in 1907 through the merger of Royal Dutch Petroleum and the Shell Transport and Trading Company, it boasts a market capitalization of about $200 billion and operations spanning nearly 100 countries. Shell is synonymous with innovation and resilience in the energy sector - but also with controversy. ...

Background: In the Netherlands, it is customary to include ‘propositions’, essentially opinionated statements defended alongside one’s doctoral work. In this post series, I am outlining the arguments supporting my propositions. Proposition #8: Need-driven research is a better investment of taxpayers money than research driven by curiosity. Introduction Science and research are cornerstones of human progress. They enable innovations that shape our lives, help address pressing challenges and expand our understanding of Nature and the Universe. Albert Einstein once said, ...

Background: In the Netherlands, it is customary to include ‘propositions’ with one’s thesis, essentially opinionated statements defended alongside one’s doctoral work. In this post series, I am outlining the arguments supporting my propositions. Proposition #6: Universities should establish fellowships that fund stays of industry professionals in academic labs. Introduction In a previous post, I argued that the culture of work and research management in industry surpasses that of academia. Industry offers higher salaries and better managerial training, has a larger number of specialized support personnel, generally operates with larger R&D budgets, and implements a range of project management and strategic alignment tools. It also prioritizes reproducibility, automation, and data-driven decision-making to maintain high efficiency and competitiveness. ...

Background: In the Netherlands, it is customary to include ‘propositions’, essentially opinionated statements defended alongside one’s doctoral work. In this post series, I am outlining the arguments supporting my propositions. Proposition #5: The culture of academic research is not keeping pace with advancements in the for-profit sector. I am sure I wrote the concentration somewhere… (feverishly looking through a mix of paper and electronic notes) … I can’t get your environment to install on my machine… (I might if I try very hard, but didn’t you say it should just work?) … You should send an email to Tracy if you’d like to get trained to use this instrument… (she works Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, but might be on vacation; anyway, she’ll send you a test, and after the training is over, you’ll fill out a form and be good to go!)… In academic research, we are often in the business of trying to do something for the very first time. This fosters a culture where unique solutions and one-off tricks are common and celebrated. And honestly, that’s probably unavoidable and mostly alright. In many cases, that’s what I personally love. What’s not alright however, is our tendency to extend this artisanal approach to everything we do. The examples at the start of this post will be familiar to most academic scientists. There are countless others. At the university where I did my PhD, orders for laboratory supplies had to be manually reviewed by no less than four people, causing week-long delays. If you didn’t manually enter the item into the ordering system, it would never arrive. Automatic stock monitoring for common chemicals? Forget about it. Here are more examples: Want to keep your lab notebook old school, pen and paper, scribbling illegibly? Be my guest! Manually entering work hours for every day of 4+ years? Sure - great use of time! (And let’s not forget about somebody having to send reminders about it every month!). I’m far from the first to argue that research needs a productivity boost: 1 ...

Last week I had the chance to attend the 2024 Dutch Biotech Event organized by hollandbio. It was an afternoon packed with inspiring talks, great discussions, and new connections. The program included four parallel breakout sessions. I picked one named “The Basics of Biotech Board Management.” The session was organized as a panel, with three cool biotech executives with range of experience with being board memebrs: Eline van Beest (CEO of Hybrize Therapeutics), Felice Verdyun (Partner at EQT Life Sciences), and Mirjam Mol-Arts (pharma executive previously at companies including Organon and Ferring Pharmaceuticals). I chose this session, as I reasoned that it will be where I learn the most in the shortest amount of time. Good bet, the only time I stopped taking notes was when I raised my hand to ask questions! Below is a summary of these notes. Anyone who is biotech and interested in what makes a good board and how to manage it should find this insightful. ...

Circular Forms. Sun, Moon, by Robert Delaunay, 1912-1931. Delaunay’s paintings are materializations of optimism. This attitude probably did not come to him naturally, as he labored on this painting for nearly 20 (!) years. Photo from Google's Arts & Culture. Introduction In the previous post we looked at the main challenges highlighted in the State of Dutch Tech report issued by teachleap.nl earlier this year. If you have not read the earlier post yet, you can check it out here. If you don’t do that, I applaud you for living by the adage “Rather than trying to change something old, build something new”. You are in the right place and should subscribe to this blog. However, here we will be talking about fiscal policy (brace for it). This is a slow-moving field and the knowledge of how things are now is therefore important. As a brief summary, the challenges were: ...

The Black Square, by Kazimir Malevich, 1915. One cannot help but wonder, did Kazimir Malevich have a premonition about the state of Dutch tech in 2024? Original photo from independent.co.uk. Introduction Are you thinking about starting a company in the Netherlands? Or are you already a founder with the dream to upend industries? Or maybe you are dreaming of a job in a high-growth company while biking along the endless canals on the weekends? ...

A photo by Austin Distel on Unsplash. Pre-revenue start-up valuation needn’t be a mystery! 🚀 💲 Here are the three most common start-up pre-money valuation methods: 💰 The Scorecard (aka Bill Payne) method Starts from average start-up valuation (for comparable stage, industry, size, …), and multiples it by a subjective weighted factor that considers team, timing, size of the opportunity, technology/product (e.g. IP, network effects, …), competitive environment (e.g. barriers to entry), partnerships/sales/rollout, … (and sometimes a bit more) ...

In the episode #385 of Lex Fridman’s podcast, Marc Andreessen talks about what makes a great founder and what advice he would give to young people. You can watch the excerpt here: I have lot of respect for Marc Andreessen. He is a techno-optimist and visionary as well as very clear and opiniated thinker. No one can predict the future, but he gives it a fair shot for some things, and I will listen when he tries. I suggest checking his archival blog for productivity and startup logistics resources, and some of his podcast appearances to learn more about how he thinks (e.g. Conversations with Tyler #152). ...

Photo by Bram Naus on Unsplash. Many of us out there in the tech and business world will consider pursuing an MBA at one point. While this can be a rewarding experience, it comes with a hefty price tag and equally significant opportunity cost. There are plenty of reasons for pursuing a full-fledged program (social capital and prestigious stamp are just a few), but for many, a shorter course and real-world practice will do well. I am a big proponent of self-reliance and thus was delighted to learn about the book The Personal MBA: A World-Class Business Education in a Single Volume. If you are interested in how businesses work, or even considering pursuing MBA, this book a is a great starting point. Below you will find a selection of my personal major takeaways. If you find these interesting, certainly check the author’s website at personalmba.com (it’s also a great source of witty quotes). Without further ado, some things I learnt about running businesses by reading this book: ...