On 14 January 2009, Maarten Grooters, guest speaker from Bridging Competencies, discussed what it takes to start a business.
TiasNimbas students and alumni learned of the history and the philosophy behind the company that Maarten and his life-long friend Erik Bijl started to help entrepreneurs turn their start-ups into long-term successes.
Maarten said that many entrepreneurs fail due to lack of professional business and marketing management. And it was on this point that he and Erik saw an opportunity to start their own entrepreneurial venture, Bridging Competencies.
Part of the lecture contained practical advice to guard against some of the common pitfalls of starting a business. While another part of the presentation focused on some of the trends they've spotted:
- Young (business) professionals seek for broader responsibilities, ownership and influence on policy making.
- A growing group of 'retired' business professionals (baby-boomers) look for fun opportunities to stay connected to business life and to transfer knowledge to the future generation.
- Results-driven compensation attracts true entrepreneurs and creates long-term commitment.
Based on these beliefs, Maarten and Erik join forces with beginning entrepreneurs to build a model that supports innovators in marketing their products. The key objective of the model is to equip these innovators long-term with top-notch people, business models and implementation power. Currently, the company is engaged in several international start-up initiatives.
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