Recent stats show that up to 86% of the workforce in Europe is not engaged or actively disengaged from their work. This has serious implications for the bottom line of companies and the economy. Disengaged employees are disconnected from their companies and may be working against employers’ interests. This misalignment can lead to less productive employees who are more likely to steal from their companies, negatively influence their coworkers, miss workdays and drive customers away. Workforce engagement is not only key in the corporate world. People also have great impact in performance within the startup world. Data from CB Insights show that among the top 3 reasons for startup failure is not having the right team. A diverse team with different skill sets is often cited as being critical to the success of a venture. Unsuccessful founders often lament that they did not have the right people from the start or wish that the venture had a founder with different characteristics and interests.

Europe is lagging behind in the digital transformation

Innovation ecosystems have been faster than ever and forward-looking steps to shape the future of innovation have been taken. However, Europe is lagging in the digital transformation and may fall behind in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Europe is also behind in investment in new technologies. European start-ups find it difficult to achieve scale, while talent remains a scarce resource. It is clear that HR is a true catalyst for fundamental shifts in mindset and culture. In this context, it’s clear that most challenges for HR stem from a lack of alignment with the organization’s wider strategic vision and objectives.

The power of HR in promoting innovation

HR plays a crucial role in promoting innovation, building innovative companies and entrepreneurship. HR must be an intrinsic part of the innovation strategy. Initially, it’s best to focus on simple and pragmatic approaches and involve smaller and fewer teams. With time, and if successful, these pilot projects will provide insights for the fine tuning of the overall innovation positioning. This alignment and the involvement of other functions of the organization will allow for innovation to scale a company to an appropriate level.

Besides helping organizations create leadership funnels toward C-suite positions, a culture of innovation and respect allows for great ideas and entrepreneurial spirit to surface. Financial incentives and status may have some impact, but innovators tend to be driven by something more. Pragmatic and practical opportunities for harnessing the power of HR in promoting innovation are:

– Ideation initiatives: HR should be a source of input for the definition of the innovation communication and positioning strategy internally;

– Identifying early adopters: HR professionals have the unique opportunity to identify, qualify and quantify the alignment of people with the innovation strategy and objectives;

– Mitigating fear: creating a clear framework around innovation allows people with a potentially disruptive idea to understand that there is a structured program that encourages proactivity and learning by doing through informative failure.

Can Corporates learn from Startups?

Hiring the right people can make or break a venture. For example, Airbnb’s Brian Chesky personally interviewed the company’s first 500 employees. As one can easily perceive, it was incredibly time-consuming, but it paid dividends.

Some might argue that this is something completely crazy to do. All startups have a short financial runway. As such, they must be quick. But history has shown that it is best to be patient and focus on finding culture fit if you want to truly be innovative and game changing. In a startup, the first hires will then hire their own teams, so this is particularly relevant.

Nevertheless, common sense tells us that once a startup starts being successful and growing the hiring process must scale. This does not mean doing it hastily or unprofessionally. A company can hire quickly whilst maintaining high standards. Look at how Google quadrupled in size every year between 2001 and 2011 whilst focusing on quality over quantity. Quite counter-intuitive but feasible. According to Eric Schmidt (CEO for Google during this period) it’s all about hiring interesting people.

Most companies can’t afford hiring these types of profiles. But Eric Schmidt’s message is basically about hiring people who are persistent and curious. Persistence is the single biggest predictor of future success. The combination of persistence and curiosity is a very good predictor of employee success in a knowledge economy.

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, has a slightly different, though not necessarily opposing, view. He argues that it’s all about surrounding yourself with the best people possible.

Mark argues that this does not mean you would give them your job. Only that, if tables were turned around, you would be comfortable working for this person.

A true catalyst for innovation

HR is much more than hiring people. This does not mean hiring people is not important, in fact it means exactly the opposite. When HR is done right, hiring is part of an overall strategy that must be aligned with other function of a business. In a Europe that is lagging behind in terms of digital transformation, HR is a true catalyst in promoting innovation, through fundamental shifts in mindset and corporate culture. Both the corporate and the startup world have shown us how HR and hiring can provide a sustainable competitive advantage in disrupting the landscape.

The post Human Resources as a catalyst for Innovation appeared first on Brussels Express.

Seven European consumers’ associations recently launched a European citizens’ initiative called “PRO-NUTRISCORE”. This initiative aims to make Front-of-Pack (FOP) nutritional labelling on food products in Europe mandatory.

Why is Front-of-Pack nutritional labelling important?

Food intake plays a major role in the prevalence of chronic diseases, such as obesity, cardiovascular diseases, cancer and diabetes. International studies identify the usage of FOP labelling as desirable to help consumers improve the nutritional quality of their food choices. In fact, the World Health Organization (WHO) has listed the usage of FOP labelling as one of the most cost-effective ways of reducing the burden of chronic diseases.

Additionally, the usage of FOP nutritional labelling is also perceived as a tool which will promote food reformulation among the food sector. Healthier products would benefit from a better classification according to the FOP nutritional labelling, thus further promoting the improvement of the nutritional quality of food intake.

The Nutri-Score Model

The tables and figures on packaging of food products are far from being readable and easily comprehensible by consumers. It is important to translate this information into a simple, consumer friendly, and readable logo placed on the front of the product. This will help European consumers compare the nutritional value of different products.

Nutri-Score was conceived by a team of independent academic researchers. It consists of a graphical colored representation, which also uses letters to improve the readability of the label. Nutri-Score classifies the nutritional profile of a food product into five mutually exclusive categories.

This innovative algorithm classifies products between dark green (associated with the letter A) and red (associated with the letter E). This classification is based on nutritional criteria and is validated scientifically. Simply put, the computation of each product’s classification relies on a nutrient profiling system which takes into consideration negative elements (calories, sugars, saturated fatty-acids and sodium/salt) and positive elements (fibers, percentage of fruit and vegetables and proteins) of the nutritional contents of each product.

Several scientific studies published in international peer-reviewed scientific journals have shown Nutri-Score’s effectiveness and superiority compared to other similar logos.

The adoption of a European Front-of-Pack nutritional labelling system

Nutri-Score has been developed by the French Ministry of Health and defined as the national reference. More than one hundred and fifteen food manufacturers and retailers have followed suit and deployed (or committed to deploying) Nutri-Score on all their products. Furthermore, other Ministries of Health (i.e. Belgium and Spain) have published national recommendations towards adopting Nutri-Score. Nutri-Score also counts on the strong support of European consumers’ associations.

Lack of decisive action has been promoted by policy and regulatory authorities lying outside the health sector and strong opposition by several food manufacturing companies and retail sectors. As a result, several different FOP labelling systems are used at the national level without any type of standardization.

Evidence shows that the overload of different FOP labelling systems available in the market confuse consumers instead of improving their decision capacity. Therefore, a European and harmonized FOP labelling system should be implemented.

Call to action for all European citizens

Unfortunately, as it stands today, the implementation of Nutri-Score depends solely on the willingness of the food industry. In fact, due to European regulations (implemented a few years ago in line with the interests in mind of large multinationals), companies can refuse to play the game of nutritional transparency. European countries can’t make a particular FOP system mandatory.

Even though some companies have set an example and implemented Nutri-Score, others have not (and even continue to try to torpedo Nutri-Score at the European level).

In order to help European consumers have healthier and more informed lifestyles, a European citizens’ initiative was launched and registered by the European Commission. Several countries are pushing for Nutri-Score. It is time to push for new European regulations to fight for the interest of European consumers.

To do so, one million signatures from at least seven European countries must be gathered. It is necessary to mobilize a maximum of citizens to put pressure on the European Commission and to change existing regulations.

Sign the petition “Pronutriscore” on the official site of the European Commission: www.pronutriscore.org.

The post Pro-Nutriscore: a European Citizens Initiative promoting healthier food intake appeared first on Brussels Express.

What do these questions have in common? They were all brought up during Unlecture’19 with Didier Schmitt.

Unlecture’19 with Didier Schmitt

Unlecture’19 provided an opportunity for all participants involved to discuss changes and risks impacting organizations the most and how to take advantage of future trends. Organized by Loyal Advisory, the opening intervention was delivered by the Unlecturer Didier Schmitt. The Uncommons Ricardo Parreira, Carlos Brito and Fred Canto e Castro gave their own contributions based on the Unlecturer’s intervention.

The unusual format of the event, and unexpected venue, promoted extensive discussion.

Is disruption a threat?

We all know that nothing ever stays the same. Changes come at an astounding pace. The trends of tomorrow will revolutionize the way we live, play and do business. In fact, new technologies have the potential to overturn much of what we know. Despite being scary, disruption can also be a huge opportunity. To seize this opportunity, you must discover what you are building for.

A fast-changing world requires quickly transforming capabilities to keep up with the pace. The window of opportunity to understand and manage the transition to a new future is now.

This was the objective of Unlecture’19. To help all participants gain insights and acquire future-proof capabilities.

Zombies and digital reincarnations

Many people believe that the digital revolution will decrease social relations. Some go to the extent of saying we are becoming digital zombies where, by default, our fingers are typing and our head looking down to a small screen. In fact, over the last couple of years, technology has forced us to reconsider how we shape ourselves and society.

A different perspective stemmed from considerations on office spaces. In the past, offices were extremely different from that of today. Faxes, printers, phones, receipt printing calculators, buzzers and pagers, floppy disks, and many other are a distant memory for some or a complete unknown for the younger professionals among us. All of this, and much more, is now in our smartphones. Offices were impossible to carry around and share. It has now all disappeared and dematerialized. It all reincarnated in the phone.

It makes us mobile. This created an amazing space between people, where we can share information of all forms in several ways. We can even interact with people across the world. We all have an emotional connection with our phones. Our phones know a lot about us. It knows our calendar, location, friends, email address, passwords, home address, etc.

Furthermore, the dematerialization of objects is no longer fiction. Ultra-high-resolution holograms are a close reality. One can imagine anything. Own anything (i.e. the Mona Lisa). Share anything. All in one click. Soon you will be able to send holographic flowers to a loved one and the system, itself, based on previous behavioral data, will tell you which flowers to get.

The will of Artificial Intelligence

Computers have the power to do a lot of things better than humans. Technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning have unveiled a universe of possibilities. In a not so distant future, it is reasonable to assume that people will have their own personal AI companion. This companion will know everything about us. Maybe even more than ourselves. In this scenario, most people would trust their AI companion over politicians. We seem to be willing to give away our decision power to machines.

But the system has no will. No ethics. It is just reacting. Unlike humans, it is unable of waking up in the morning and decide to do something. Without emotions one cannot decide what to do, what to choose. So, at the end who will, in fact, make the decision? Are we ready to filter through tremendous amounts of information and consciously decide to choose? Humans are training technology to train itself, to evolve. But, the fundamentals of the system are still based on human decision, on human ethics.

Learning: the science of asking questions

Technology is evolving at a much quicker rate than educations systems. Workplaces continue to change and evolve. The jobs of today are definitely not the jobs of tomorrow. Children are being trained to memorize everything, rather than think. But the truth is that, in a not so distant future, we will have to be empowered to deal with machines that learn.

We need to prepare citizens and cities to deal with this evolution. Our brains seem to be getting lazier over time. Getting addicted to getting the fast answer. The easy answer. Similar to medicines, AI, and technology in general, might have an issue of dosage. Meaning, it being beneficial or prejudicial for us is only a function of the used dose. Nowadays we live in a world where there’s an enormous flux of information, leading to a lot of problems. Technology is democratizing information, but will the general public make better decisions? Are we teaching people to do this? “The machine” will probably suggest the best solution. But will we be capable of making better decisions with all the technological insights?

To do so, we must leverage both hard skills and soft (or human) skills. Colleges and schools are teaching us hard skills. Until now we have been building managers. We are focusing on giving people answers. Maybe we don’t need managers, maybe we need people who ask questions: scientists. The winners will not be the ones that answer questions but the ones that ask the right questions. The ones that think better and more. Remember to ask questions. Since skills are constantly changing, you have to learn how to learn. We need to prepare ourselves to this new world. It’s our responsibility to teach children how to be critical.

The technology revolution will happen anyway. There is no doubt. We need to think how we can prepare humanity for a mindset revolution. We must revolutionize our education system so that children can grow up with a different mindset and capable of dealing with technology.

Being one of a kind among the crowd

The digital revolution is about sharing and dematerialization. But it is also about disintermediation. Most of us no longer go to banks because they come to us. The same goes for travel agencies, they are slowly becoming absolute since technology has provided much better opportunities. The first thing people do when they are sick is to consult “Dr. Google”. This can be hell, for hypochondriacs, or heaven for those suffering from mild difficulties.

One size fits all will soon be over. Technology will allow us to send a 3D map of our body to get a custom size for ourselves. We will be empowered by technology and become one of a kind rather than one among many. Technology has the potential of helping us improve ourselves. Some argued that we should have augmented people without jobs, others that we should shape our brains so to not be dominated by technologies. It’s a case to say: “Designer Brains in the Pursuit of Human Perfection.”

Are we human? Or are we slaves?

Technological breakthroughs have, in fact, brought about several changes. Besides sharing, dematerialization and disintermediation, the confluence of so many technological changes has caused re-centration. We have lost control of so many things in our life and technology can help us regain control over our lives.

The same technology also has the power of helping us care about ourselves, others and the environment. We are empowered to go from passive consumers to active citizens. It can make us better humans. But, what does this mean? We need to go back to the basics. What was it like before the digital age?

Since the dawn of humanity, our genes tell us we need to own things to survive. The same genes tell us we are social animals. We need time to connect and enjoy each other’s presence. There is a constant imbalance between having and being. Having and sharing. Advancements in science and technology, specially the digital revolution, can make us more humane than ever before if we choose to have less and share more.

The Unlecturer

Didier Schmitt is a scout operating in the future. He is a scientist and a physician. His academic career focused on spaceflight and space analogues research. ​At the European Space Agency he is coordinating the future program proposal at ministerial level for robotic and human exploration.

At the European Commission his first focus was on space policy, and then coordinated scientific and technological foresight with the chief scientific adviser, as a member of the Bureau of European Policy Advisers to the President. Until recently he was a member of the space task force at the European External Action Service, the diplomatic arm of the European Union.

His military experience was as auditor at the National Institute of Higher Defense Studies (IHEDN) in Paris. He is a regular contributor to mainstream French newspapers on future issues in science, technology and policy. Didier is also the author of “Scion|ce – What you need to remember from the Future”. He currently leads also a team of designers in a series of fiction-science graphic novels.

The Uncommons

Ricardo Parreira – Ricardo is the CEO of PHC Software, a Portuguese multinational, and is passionate about leadership, business strategy and corporate culture. Throughout 30 years leading the company, Ricardo has contributed to over 33 thousand companies, across more than 25 countries, having better management tools. Ricardo has helped create an ecosystem of corporate culture at PHC where people feel happier, motivated and more productive. These efforts have led to PHC being recognized as one of the best places to work in Portugal.

Carlos Brito – Carlos Brito is a marketing professor at Porto University, Vice-President of the Portuguese Management Association, member of several consulting boards and Knight of the Porto Wine Brotherhood. Between 2011 and 2018 Carlos was Dean for Innovation at the Porto University. Elected in 2018 as Personality of the Year by the Portuguese Association of Business Angels.

Fred Canto e Castro – When he was only 20 years old Fred left university to start his first business, Sonder, with money he borrowed from his grandmother. Five years later, Sonder has placed thousands of people in videos for brands like Coca-Cola, Instagram and Nike. More recently, Fred has decided to put all his knowledge at the service of others. Fred is dedicated to helping others making the most out of their life and being a better version of themselves. With the support of the future King of Norway and his organization, Global Dignity, Fred is building #IAmHuman, a global movement.

The post Managing the Transition: A Quest for Future Opportunities appeared first on Brussels Express.

In the beginning it comes from prospective customers, then from venture capitalists, then from private equity people, then investment bankers, and so on. You really have to learn how to deal with it.

Entrepreneurship is about big non-consensual or unexpected ideas and opportunities. If not, big companies or tons of other entrepreneurs would have had a go at it already. It is the lack of agreement around a specific opportunity that gives space for creation and, potentially, the opportunity to build something big and unique. Very smart and experienced people will say no to huge opportunities (by the way, it has happened to all the unicorns and successful startups of today).

From this perspective, rejection is a good thing. Everyone saying yes to you and your ideas, besides being meaningless, would not necessarily be good. You must learn to distil the “no” you are hearing. History shows that great, groundbreaking, ideas seem laughable at first sight.

What is the kind of “no” you should be wishing for?

Pay attention to the quality of the “no” you get. This is what really distinguishes bad ideas from potentially great ideas. Look for, at least, a tiny bit of friction, either between people (if pitching to a group) or as a person explains the reasoning behind a “no”.

It is also important to truly understand what is leading people to saying “no”. Sometimes, it comes from externalities which are completely unrelated to your idea or project. For example, when pitching to venture capitalists you might encounter profiles that are simply not willing to acquire the context necessary to understand what you’re working on, or maybe it is something they consider extremely boring and, as such, just don’t want to get involved in.

Focus on understanding the “no” and learning when there are learning opportunities or brushing it off, when it is simply an externality. In the latter, simply brush it off and move on.

What happens after an entrepreneur pitches to VCs?

Recently, I heard an interview of a partner of a big multinational venture capital firm. He shared a bit about the backstage of pitching to venture capitalists; what happens immediately after an entrepreneur leaves the room. I consider it to be great food for thought for entrepreneurs getting used to hearing “no”.

“If I’m presenting an idea to my partners and they all go, “That’s great! We should do that.” I’m like, “Careful. Here’s a bunch of hyper-smart people and no one’s saying, ‘Oh, watch out for this, or watch out for that.’” It’s too easy. The idea is so obviously good, I can already hear the stampede of competitors trampling over our hopeful little startup.”
(Adapted from Reid Hoffman’s podcast series ‘Masters of Scale’)

It goes to show that even venture capitalists (people whose professional purpose is to identify successful startups) are looking for a polarised reaction among their peers. What they want is some people fully aligned with the startup. And others questioning if any of it makes sense.

In a nutshell, if you are feeling the friction in the “no’s” you’re getting, you are most likely on to something.

Dealing with rejection

Despite everything I just said, rejection is extremely hard to deal with. And even when we understand the rationale behind it, it still generates emotional stress.

Some entrepreneurs develop a thick skin, others face it as just part of the routine. I believe that the best approach, at least for me, is to change mindset. Look at the “no” as a gift. A gift of feedback that you can build upon. Don’t take it personally. And remember, if you are doing things right, you know more about your customers and your business than any investor out there.

Listen, learn from the “no”, but also learn how to hold on to what you know and stand your ground if needed. You will, most likely, be respected for it.

The post What’s the kind of “No” that entrepreneurs should be looking look for? appeared first on Brussels Express.

All entrepreneurs make mistakes. Quite often mistakes lead to wasted opportunities, time and even money. But in fact, mistakes are part of the excitement of doing it. Otherwise it would just be a dull and easy exercise. Anybody would be able to do it. Knowing that you are outsmarting the challenges is a huge thrill and motivation for entrepreneurs.

There is no recipe for success. No checklist you can blindly follow to be a successful entrepreneur. This does not mean that being an entrepreneur is about taking a leap of faith and hoping for the best. It is not guesswork. It is a mindset. A skillset. Previous experience and knowledge can help.

Besides personal experience and learning, huge value can be created from the failures and learning of others. Books are an amazing resource for this. The best thing about it is that, compared to other learning alternatives (i.e. formal education), it is extremely cheap.

I would like to share with you a list of books that helped me being better at my job as innovation consultant. The learnings in these books are useful for entrepreneurs but also, and based on my personal experience, for big and multinational organisations wanting to be more innovative.

1. The Lean Startup by Eric Ries

This book guides you through the different stages a startup goes through. It details a go-getter approach which differs from traditional approaches. From identifying which opportunities are worth pursuing to finding the right people for your team, this book helps you learn how to avoid getting stuck in typical traps.

2. The Non-Technical Founder by Josh MacDonald

What if you have an amazing tech idea that you want to explore, but have no idea how to code? Nowadays, there is no need to know software to start a business. This book condenses advices from over twenty founders of multimillion software companies for non-technical people.

3. The Founder’s Dilemmas by Noam Wasserman

This book is based on research done at Princeton. It focuses on helping entrepreneurs avoiding common mistakes that can have huge negative effects on a business. The book is particularly interesting for unexperienced entrepreneurs as it familiarizes the reader with business structures. It uses easily recognizable examples, which makes it entertaining as well.

4. Surge by Matt Kane, Steve Garguilo and Sergiy Skoryk

Many of us are extremely passionate about specific ideas but we do not act on them. We tend to wait for the perfect timing or opportunity. This book delves into strategies helping people bring ideas to life instead of waiting for an idyllic moment that will never happen. It covers issues such as dealing with anxiety, fears and the feeling of being overwhelmed.

5. The Peter Principle by Laurence J. Peter and Raymond Hull

Things go wrong sooner or later. But why? This book addresses the issue of incompetence and how staffing can make or break a business. This topic is relevant for all business owners across industries, levels of experience and maturity.

6. Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss and Tahl Raz

The author’s remarkable career as a hostage negotiator and later as an award-winning teacher in the world’s most prestigious business schools is, most definitely a huge sell for this book. It approaches the negotiation process as a set of irrational and emotional responses. This book takes emotional intelligence and intuition to the next level.

7. Zero to One by Peter Thiel

This book is for people that are starting a business and want to create something truly innovative and disruptive, rather than an incremental innovation or improved version of something already out there. It helps in learning the right questions to ask in order to create new offerings.

8. Grit by Angela Duckworth

This book explores the qualities leading to success and point out that genius plays a very small role in outstanding achievements. It is an extremely personal and insightful read on what people think during the process of failure. Grit, a combination of passion and perseverance, not talent or luck, fuels success.

9. Start with Why by Simon Sinek

This book is based on the famous TED Talk by Simon Sinek. It shows that the most influential leaders of the world think, communicate and act in the same way. Interestingly enough, it is the exact opposite way in which most people do. The Golden Circle is the framework provided upon which leaders can inspire, lead and build organization.

10. Side Hustle by Chris Guillebeau

What if you could easily create new income without giving up the security of a full-time job? This book shows you how to launch a side business in less than a month. The so-called side hustle. I particularly like this book because it is exactly how I ended up following a career in innovation. It all started as a side hustle (I actually called my first company Hack & Hustle).

The post 10 lesser-known (or not) books you must read before starting a business appeared first on Brussels Express.

The European Union is an amazing project which all European should be proud of. But it is not unshakable and recent developments have shown us that some voices do actively speak against it. Diversity, when unchecked, can easily turn into division, and democracy becomes fragile without active participation from citizens.

The European Parliament (EP) represents about 500 million European citizens and over 360 million people have the right to vote. In 2014, we witnessed the largest transnational elections ever held. It was a mind-blowing moment; however, turnout was the lowest ever. The stakes are high. We must all get involved and vote in the next European elections.

The EP decides on almost all EU laws and defines the EU budget. Not only do Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) shape new legislation, but they also make other EU institutions accountable for their actions.

All MEPs are elected by ballot. Voting is the only way a European citizen can impact who will be elected to the EP. It is the best way to have a say on the direction of the EU for the next five years. Casting your ballot is the moment when you impact the EU most. International trade, consumer protection, fighting climate change, economic growth, and so on, are all areas in which you can have a say. Because MEPs represent you. They represent us. They represent all Europeans.

A MEP has a lot of influence. They represent citizens of their own countries. MEPs meet with relevant stakeholders to protect your interests and vote in your behalf to approve laws.

By voting in the European Election in 2019 you will be choosing the 705 MEPs (formerly 751, which is the maximum number allows by existing European treaties) representing us until 2024.

It is really important to encourage a higher voter turnout. People should vote. Let’s promote the act of voting itself. We must engage in the democratic process. Let’s do it in an informed and conscious way. We must take accountability for the future of Europe. Let’s decide, together, the kind of Europe we want to live in.

So, are you voting?

Yes, I am voting in the 2019 European Elections!

Great. You are truly living up to the expectations. You are a part of the democratic process and your actions are shaping the future of Europe. Rock on!

I don’t know how to vote.

Not a problem. The European Elections are being held between the 23rd and the 26th May 2019. To know where you should vote and the exact date for voting in your own country check out this link. By default, it will be in English. After you change it to your native language all relevant information will show up. Procedures vary slightly from country to country, so don’t forget to check the specificities of your home country.

I can’t vote. I live abroad.

Well, that is actually not a problem. Typically, there are procedures for people living abroad. Check out this link. Don’t forget to change to your native language and check the section for people living abroad. Quite often it is simple to vote, even when abroad.

Sorry, I don’t have the time to vote.

Listen, I understand. Your schedule is hectic, and it is a constant struggle to find time to get stuff done, and little time is left to do the things you love. Look at it this way, voting only takes 5 minutes, but it will affect the next five years of your life. It’s a big thing!

I don’t know who to vote for

Great argument. Voting is important and participating is key. But being well informed as well. There is no silver bullet to it. Just take some time and check out the work of your representatives in the parliament. Get involved and participate in events where candidates speak and present their vision for Europe. No one can tell you who to vote for. It is really up to you and your own values/beliefs. Learn more about the issues being brought forward here.

Do you want to do more?

If, like me, you also feel that this is an important issue that cannot be ignored, get involved. Make sure your family, friends and colleagues are aware of the importance of their participation. You can share this article with them, have a quick chat over dinner, bring up the topic between meetings, while waiting for a lecture to start, on the way to the theater, etc. Get involved. Help people understand why they should vote. Do something.

There are a bunch of tools available out there to promote the topic. If you are really serious about it, register to the This Time I’m Voting platform and help persuading others into voting. There you can even take it one step further and participate in the 12-star challenge.

The post This is why I am voting at the European Elections. What about you? appeared first on Brussels Express.

The business environment we currently live in is extremely fast-paced and innovation is key for business survival and creation. Typically, entrepreneurs are deploying (or trying to) most innovations. However, corporates are increasingly getting some skin in the game.

However, most of the time innovation fails. It’s just part of the game. According to Robert Cooper (father of the stage gate model), for every seven innovation projects only one succeeds. In his research, Andrew Kusiak actually refers to a 90% chance of failure. No matter what the true value is, the conclusion is that innovation is hard to master. Looking at the most innovative companies out there, a trend arises. All of them have had many more failures than successes.

Thomas Edison’s quote is a perfect example of the value of failure. Failing as a learning experience can add tremendous value in the long run and even though it is generally accepted, encouraging failure is easier said than done. It is impossible to know in advance what will and will not work. Companies need to expose themselves to new ideas and solutions. The most innovative companies have a culture where they learn from failure, not only celebrate it. However, making the same mistake over and over again has no value.

It is impossible to pinpoint a single root cause for innovation failure. Often, there is a compound effect of several factors. Innovation is uncertain and risky. Identifying the most common factors and developing innovation practices sheds light on how corporations can gradually build innovation capabilities and legacy. Not necessarily to prevent failure, but to create value with failure and learn.

Have an innovation strategy

Industries are changing quickly and even established market leaders are being disrupted by digitalisation. Companies must devise an innovation strategy. An incomplete, poorly defined or misaligned strategy is often the reason why innovation fails to prevail. It is essential that the innovation strategy goes hand in hand with the overall corporate strategy and, hopefully, creates and leverages synergies.

A well defined and aligned innovation strategy allows for companies to further develop balanced innovation portfolios. Often, innovation initiatives are scattered. Individuals within the organisation become enthusiastic about the hype around innovation, entrepreneurship and startups and start proposing ad hoc activities. The innovation strategy will help focusing on those activities that have the most impact on the business.

A well thought out innovation strategy helps create momentum for projects and prioritising them, as well as designing a clear and concrete assignment for each. Additionally, only by having innovation well embedded into the corporate strategy can it justify significant resource allocation to its deployment. Only if failing is accepted to be part of the innovation strategy, will disruptive opportunities arise.

Promote a growth and innovation culture

The institutional value of failure is closely tied to the corporate culture. Historically, organisations are terrible at supporting people who have failed. Often, the reaction towards failure is to appoint a different set of individuals to the next innovation assignment. Or worse, killing innovation initiatives altogether.

Learning opportunities can only arise if failures are treated with respect and a neutral and non-judgmental environment is nurtured. Evaluating why initiatives fail and disseminating this information allows for the knowledge to become institutional. In this context, the individuals responsible for failure are respected, since they are now wiser and better prepared to explore future opportunities.

A culture supporting growth and innovation helps prepare the workforce to go outside the box and motivates managers to explore the fast-changing business environment. In a nutshell, a culture focusing on innovation empowers people (from different hierarchical levels) to source for opportunities and work together towards significant innovation.

Ensure adequate leadership throughout the company

Leadership is about inspiring people. Good leaders are capable of leveraging problems as opportunities. Having the leaders committed to innovation promotes learning from failure, rather than punishing individuals who have failed, and can create the urgency for innovation.

Having employees, leaders and top managers participating in the innovation team can add significant value. Effective innovation deployment requires creativity, knowledge and experience. The top management can help the team to be concrete, from the start, to focus on the target market and define criteria for the new concepts.

Simply put, innovation leadership inspires employees to create and implement new products, services and technologies. Innovation generated by leadership is applicable for several purposes and can be translated across sectors. Some great examples are 3M, Google or Zappos.

Get the right people to deploy innovation

Innovation is mostly about execution. If not, it is only a creativity exercise, with little practical relevance. Making a corporation innovative requires a team of people who can influence and tap into various areas of the company. All departments will be impacted and having members of these departments in the innovation team provides an excellent advantage. A team approach can get you better innovation results and internal supporters.

In order to foster collaboration, it is important to identify people across the organisation that share some traits; such as being able to think outside the box and challenge the status quo. It is also key to involve individuals for whom innovation is personally relevant. Diversity (gender, age, professional competences, etc.) also plays an important role in fostering innovation.

Create partnerships between internal and external innovation sources

Co-creating value with both internal and external stakeholders solves customer needs and problems faster. Bringing together different teams and clients can create real results with business impact.

Discussing challenges with people from different teams, backgrounds and industries gives a fresh perspective. This can be particularly valuable when the internal innovation team is not able to build the product as desired. Often, breakthroughs are a result of co-creating and merging together ideas and concepts. Sometimes, it is also useful to put development on hold and let different people take the initiative. History has shown that ideas that did not work at a particular time were later deployed with a different set of people.

A great example the digital camera. Kodak invented it in 1975. The timing was not right. There was no infrastructure to support digital cameras nor were there personal computers. The photos from these new cameras could not be stored anywhere. It was a huge fail. Fast forward a few years, and in 1990 the first Dycam Model 1 is the first digital camera going on sale to the market. As I said, history is full of great ideas that were simply at the wrong time.

Building a strong network of innovation partners is an effective strategy in co-creating solutions and exploring new opportunities. Sometimes, relying on external service providers, who are often, specialised in a specific tools or process can be of value.

Assimilate innovation into the core business

Innovation is sometimes perceived as an independent function of the business. Even though this is often the easiest way to start innovation endeavours, it can also hinder any business impact.

To strengthen the buy-in by top management, incorporating innovation projects into the core business can bring further commitment to the innovation strategy. This relates closely to the innovation portfolio referred above.

Innovation cannot focus solely on long-term or short-term outcomes. A balanced portfolio brings together short-, mid- and long-term initiatives, tackling problems and opportunities at different levels of proximity to the companies business (i.e. core, adjacent, disruptive).

In essence venturing on innovation strategy is an endeavour demanding a real strategic commitment, time, appropriate conditions, a dedicated and capable team possible as well as a dynamic and flexible learning environment.

Embrace failure. Failure is an important part of the innovation process, so let it happen. But be smart about it. Learn from failure as much and as quick as possible. I have shared some key areas to help you reduce the failure rate of innovation. But at the end of the day it comes down to how nimble you are as an organization and if you are capable of adapting constantly to the learning failure can bring. Remember, be brave. It will pay off.

The post Can you reduce innovation failure? appeared first on Brussels Express.

Due to the high risks, innovations are usually commercialised via startups. The increasing number of startups being launched every day all over the world that are successful and impactful attests such statement. Nevertheless, even though stories of success, fame and wealth are highly publicised, many startups fail.

This should not come as a surprise. The risk/reward ratio is extensively used to compare the expected returns of an investment with the amount of risk undertaken to capture these returns. Simply put, in order to reap higher rewards, one must undertake more risk. Thus, not surprisingly, for every startup success story, there are several others of failure.

However, in the business world, there is a risk threshold any capable person is willing to take. Sure, there will always be unknown variables over which we have no control or knowledge, but, similarly, by preparing, analysing and assessing in advance several uncertainties can be mitigated or, at least, minimised.

For this reason, among other, not only entrepreneurs, but also corporates, investors, economic development folks, academics and journalists want insights on what the reasons startups fail are and, more importantly, how to avoid them.

Not-so-great team

One of the success factors most commonly mentioned as being critical to the success of a startup is having a good and diverse team. In fact, 23% of failed startups referred wrongly choosing the team members to run the business as the main reason for startup death. The team is the driving force making the founder’s vision a reality.

In these cases, founders and the team initially recruited to develop the venture do not have the skills, experience, culture fit or vision/purpose required. Wishing one of the founders had a specific skill-set they do not currently posses, identifying that the founding team was not able to, independently, or with a small amount of external help, build an MVP (Minimum Viable Product), and recognising that another founding partner should have been engaged in order to balance people out are only a couple of the factors leading to failed entrepreneurial teams.

Some effective tactics in avoiding this mistake are to thoroughly identify the requirements and expectations for each position within the startup, use a good recruitment agency, recruit people matching the requirements listed, provide appropriate training, develop an effective compensation and a benefits scheme, and build an inspiring company culture, among others.

A curious and somewhat worrisome trend, even though still not very significant, are cases where it is uncovered that the team is responsible for financial discrepancies or other activities or operations on the fringes of the law.

Running out of money

Roughly 29% of startup deaths are due to running out of money. To be clear, this does not necessarily mean a lack of capital invested in the project. A startup can run out of cash due to several reasons, such as lack of planning or underestimated assumptions about the projected cash flow, both the short and the long term.

A steady and healthy cash flow is key for the proper functioning of a business. In order to avoid this, founders should develop a pessimistic financial statement and assume it to be true, calculate the initial capital required carefully, seek support from appropriate professional (accountants, consultants, angel investors, etc), and plan exit scenarios and thresholds, among others.

Building stuff no one wants

Entrepreneurs tend to focus on interesting problems to solve or on their own interests. Even though this is an interesting technique to boost passion and dedication to the new venture, 42% of startup deaths are due to focusing on these issues rather than serving a market need. Entrepreneurship is all about finding a way to solve a pain point in a scalable way.

Offering products or services that the market is not interested in buying at scale and/or repeatedly leads several startups to death. Additionally, often the market is not convinced about the value of the offering or is already buying it from a competitor with a better offer.

To avoid this common drawback, entrepreneurs must prepare a thorough business plan from day one, identify the weakest assumptions and prepare prevention and contingency plans accordingly. Similarly to what I previously argued, hiring appropriate professionals (consultants, accountants, etc) is also an effective tactic in avoiding this pitfall.

Key take away

These three factors are, undoubtedly, those contributing the most to startup failure. Nevertheless, these are not independent and are often tied to other reasons for failure.

Curiously several other start-up failure drivers are directly related to those mentioned above. For example, having a user un-friendly product and ignoring customers — factors leading to startup failure in 17% and 14% of cases — are directly related to offering products the market is not interested in.

In fact, most entrepreneurs fail on their own fault. From the top 20 factors leading to startup failure, less than 3 are due to external factors. In order to help entrepreneurs be more successful it is important to focus on the development of their own skills, specially concerning the factors that, historically, have led most of them to failure.

Next time an aspiring entrepreneur tells you that there is no money available for entrepreneurs out there, come back to this data. It is really important to clear up some misconception and focus on the most essential.

Entrepreneurship is a well recognised driver of economies and, for that reason, experts, business and political leaders as well as scholars argue it is a priority to foster an entrepreneurial culture. Concurrently, entrepreneurship education, which is a life long process, is key to prepare youth and adults for an entrepreneurial economy. Therefore, a significant investment in entrepreneurship education must be made and the proactive participation of the whole community, education system, government and businesses is required.

From my end, I have taken this seriously and invested a big amount of my time in giving visibility to entrepreneurship education, mentoring first-time entrepreneurs and producing content (hopefully engaging) about it. Through my consulting practice and mentoring activities, my collaboration with universities in providing entrepreneurship education together with more traditional curricula and my blog, I intend to help build this culture in Europe.

What about you?

The post Three deadly sins of startups and why they fail appeared first on Brussels Express.

An entrepreneur must be able to clearly identify the nature of his/her own venture, before going into execution mode. Otherwise chances of survival are slim. Not all startups are the same, and not all entrepreneurs are building startups. Moreover, a startup is different from an SME. For simplicity, let’s use the term new venture interchangeably.

Create something new and exciting

Often new ventures are segmented according to their industry, target customer or technical domain. Even though this provides some insights, more information is needed to better assess these ventures.

All people behind a new venture are trying to create something new and exciting (at least from their point of view). However, new ventures can differ greatly. There are three distinct types of new ventures: Innovative, Traditional or Social New Ventures.

Innovative New Ventures

Innovation is implementing a new solution to a problem and creating value. Innovative new ventures bring new solutions (services or products) to market by creating or seizing opportunities.

After recognizing or creating this opportunity, innovative new ventures offer new solutions that have significant value to their customers and a usefulness that they would not otherwise have. These ventures aren’t necessary started with an exit in mind.

Nevertheless, Innovative New Ventures can come in several different shapes.

Foundation New Ventures

A Foundation New Venture is formed from R&D and may launch a new business area. These companies can grow a lot in the first 10 years of existence but may also go bankrupt relatively quick. It is very uncommon to see Foundation Companies go public. Furthermore, they tend to attract very little investor interest.

Foundation New Ventures are focused on creating new opportunities. Therefore, typically, they are trying to create a new solution, to solve a known or unknown need for new or existing customers.

Example: Prevail Therapeutics

High Growth Startups

These ventures are focused on maximising profit and growth through innovation. This type of venture receives most investor interest.

Also called Gazelles, these firms are extremely important for the economic development of a specific geographic area. Interestingly enough, High Growth Startups may start, originally, as a Foundation Company.

High Growth Startups are focused on seizing opportunities. Therefore, typically, they are seizing an existing solution, to solve a known or unknown need for new or existing customers.

Example: AngelList

Scalable Startups

Despite having very humble beginnings, Scalable Startups aim high. Founders typically believe that their vision can change the world. Their focus is on searching for a scalable and repeatable business model.

Although extremely famous, Scalable Startups make up a very small percentage of the different types of new ventures. However, because of their scalability, they attract a lot of (risk) capital and press. They focus on a simple but powerful concept and are recurrently looking for financial investors to raise capital and fund their search for a scalable business model.

Also called Silicon Valley-type Startups, these ventures tend to group in innovation clusters.

 Personally I am extremely interested in Scalable Startups since many build these startups inefficiently. Scalable Startups are not smaller versions of large companies.

Scalable Startups are temporary organisations designed to search for a scalable and repeatable business model.

Once they find a scalable and repeatable business model, their focus shifts to rapid expansion (see High Growth Ventures above), which requires even more capital.

Scalable Startups are focused on creating news opportunities. Therefore, typically, they are trying to create new solutions, to solve a known or unknown need for new or existing customers.

Example: Facebook.

Buyable Startups

Buyable Startups are designed to be quickly sold for large sums of money

It is not uncommon for these ventures to avoid traditional venture capitalists and to search for other funding routes (crowdfunding being an example).

Unlike Scalable Startups, Buyable Ventures don’t necessarily search for a scalable and repeatable business model.

Buyable Ventures are focused on seizing opportunities. Therefore, typically, they are seizing an existing solution, to solve a known or unknown need for new or existing customers.

Example: WhatsApp.

Large Company Startups

Large Company Startups are born from the need of large companies to be more disruptive in order to deal with changes in customer tastes, new technologies, legislation, new competitors, etc.

Traditionally, large companies grow through sustaining innovation where offering updated variants of existing solutions ensures growth. However, more and more, in order to ensure sustainable business growth, disruptive innovation is becoming a driver of success.

 Existing businesses can do this by acquiring companies (see Buyable Ventures above) or attempt to build disruptive innovation differently (either by developing other Innovative New Ventures internally or by using other Corporate Innovation Tools). Large companies have an extremely hard time in making disruptive innovation due to their size and culture.

Large Company Startups are focused on creating or seizing new opportunities.

Examples: BCG Digital Ventures portfolio

Other New Ventures

For more information on other new ventures, such as Traditional New Ventures and Social New Ventures, check this extended article on types of startups.

The post Are all startups born the same? appeared first on Brussels Express.

Being an entrepreneur is about having a learning mindset. At the end of the day you want to solve a problem for people who are willing to pay for it and to find a repeatable and scalable business model. Make the right decisions and you will be able to build a profitable company later.

Validate First, Build it Later.

If you are going to start building your dream, you must be aware that it will be extremely challenging. You will need more drive, motivation and resilience than you ever thought you had. Start by doing an introspection exercise.

Some people are not entrepreneurs

And that is fine. If you are not an entrepreneur, you can still do amazing stuff. Innovation within a corporate, intrapreneurship, (new) business development, the list goes on and on…

You must be prepared to face adversity. Typically people either feel intimidated or are resilient and keep on going. Look back at your life and identify moments of adversity, how did you react? If resilience is a characteristic of your personality, you probably view adversity as a temporary setback.

How do you deal with pressure? As an entrepreneur you will be subject to a lot of stress. You will be the focal point for many people that are relevant to your business; be ready for it.

You’ll have to deal with a level of accountability you may not be used to. There is no boss to rely upon or to get advice from. You should develop a network of like-minded individuals and resort to advisors and coaches. But at the end of the day, you are accountable for all decisions shall anything go wrong.

You may also feel quite lonely. You are the one in charge and you must always seem to be in control and be a leader. The long working hours, high level of accountability and lack of free time demand that you are able to handle some degree of loneliness. Anything that is worth fighting for comes at the cost of something else. It is quite common for entrepreneurs to struggle with the loss of friendships and relationships, coping with the effects. It is really important that you learn how to identify the effects of loneliness to take some personal time when needed and that you stick to your business decisions even when misunderstood or criticised by others.

Be sure you have a safety net

You must have a plan on how to survive if you are not making money for some time. In Brussels there are lot of subsidies, grants, etc, available for you to apply for. However, you are still over-dependent on third parties. Remember, “hope for the best but prepare for the worst”. Prepare your personal finances. I would generally recommend having enough for 24 months without a steady income. Don’t forget that this also includes the money needed to start the business.

It is really important you realise that the performance of your venture will strongly determine the amount of money you make and the kind of future you can build for yourself and your family. Having said this, it actually depends on what type of entrepreneur you are/want to be, and on the business you dream of building.

Nevertheless, if you are striving for a less risky venture, it’s always good to have a safety net. Simply put, find the right balance for yourself, your lifestyle, your family and your dream venture.

Having a safety net can also help you avoid seeking external investment too soon. This protects you from not being selective about who you want investing in your business, choosing the wrong angel route, not getting familiar with timing and objectives of investors, not having your data ready, signaling that you only care about the money, and so on.

Define your goals

It doesn’t really matter whether these are personal growth, income, self-improvement, lifestyle, ego gratification or company growth. Just make sure that they are SMART and balanced: long and short term. Keeping track of your progress will help you stay motivated when times get rough. It is also a great way to have an overview of where you started, where you are and where you are headed.

You need all the support you can get

Finally, get support from your friends and, specially, family. This will definitely help in staying motivated and having self-confidence. It is also very important that they understand this journey you are about to embark on. Take your time explaining to your loved ones what you are going to do and why. When times get tough, they will be there for you and know what to say.

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