Paul van der Boor

UPD: What’s going on with Enji right now? https://enji.ai/ Enji.ai is now involved in three accelerators that are running parallel to each other, and enough time has passed for me to understand the differences between them. 1️⃣ EBRD Star Venture: It’s clear, structured, and, I would say, measured and well-rounded. There’s quite a bit of paperwork that gives a startup what it wants, but it’s clear and necessary bureaucracy for EBRD. We’ve only had one mentor so far, Nick from Cambridge IFM, who shared his framework with us. 2️⃣ Better Future AI by DOMiNO Ventures: Here, the main themes are impressions, insights, connections, and support. There aren’t any mentors, and they don’t track you or kick you around. We meet twice a week on a call with the founders of the other startups in our batch, and each time there’s a new guest who shares about their world, experience, and thoughts. They’ve talked about how they built their businesses, brought them into the world, and about the current investment market, and have just been cool people! :) You always have to tell the guests about yourself and your project, which is quite interesting because we regularly describe ourselves and our projects in different ways. The atmosphere at these meetings is cozy and energizing, rejuvenating me after fights, crises, and other challenges in Enji’s development. 3️⃣ UniCorner by Accelerate Prosperity - An AKDN Initiative: Here, it’s all about specific goals. There were lectures during the first week (I didn’t attend any), but each Friday, everyone comes together for a roasting by Andrei Kryukov. It’s pretty cool. First, you have to commit in front of everyone to your goals and results for the following week. Second, because you see how others think, get blocked, where they succeed, and the struggles of the other startup founders in your group. It’s been an invaluable experience. Where else can you participate in a group roast for 8 weeks and look at others to evaluate yourself? Only here. UniCorner is a small affiliate of the SilkWay Google for Startups accelerator, which is also all about traction and weeks of lectures (if I correctly understood the adepts who participated). About our traction:  🔺 We now have 5 paying clients (one of which is thinking about making a big upsale, but we need to develop a bunch of features first) and I will uncover their brands later 🔺 Another 3 companies are deploying our product, but we haven’t signed any contracts yet Overall, it’s a busy project. We don’t have enough people to do proper onboarding, our whole team supports our clients, and we argue over priorities and quality. But that’s all nothing compared to the fact that the whole team has felt interest in our product from other people and teams. Of course, some of our clients cringe at bugs in the features, but we will polish them, help our clients, and keep moving forward. The startup life.

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A longitudinal endeavour is required to search for a suitable pathway from satisfaction to loyalty. In 2021, research was conducted and published in the Journal of Relationship Marketing to establish the basic grounding elements that direct this pathway in an emerging African market context (refer to https://lnkd.in/gnXAHh_c). To build on this foundational research, I investigated this phenomenon further with Prof Danie Petzer from the Henley Business School Africa. This scholarly endeavour between academics from the Department of Management at UWC and Henley Business School Africa now established a new directional pathway between satisfaction and loyalty in the context of retail banking in South Africa. As such, this research now adds significant value to the debate on why the satisfaction-loyalty link remain brittle and what is required to strengthen this link in an emergent market context. The paper was published in the Journal of Economic and Financial Management, reflecting on the ground breaking work done in the services marketing field in South Africa. The article makes for an interesting read and provides insights that could be of benefit to the retail banking industry in South Africa, considering the enhanced competitive nature of this sector of the South African economy over the past decade.

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🐠 NEW WORKING PAPER IN #SUSTAINABLEFINANCE: Combining #AI and Domain Expertise to Assess #Corporate #Climate #Transition #Disclosures 🐠 📢 Together with Chiara Colesanti Senni, Julia Bingler, Jingwei Ni, and Tobias Schimanski, we've developed an innovative AI tool that automates analyzing companies' transition activities towards net zero. It's a natural extension of our #cheaptalk index. 🔗 Read the full paper here: https://lnkd.in/ec4QZ9iD 🍻 Good news: #Code will be #opensource! 📜 Highlights of Our Research: A. Methodology: 1) Building Common Ground: We synthesized 28 transition plan frameworks, collaborated with over 50 experts, and identified 64 key indicators for assessing corporate transition strategies. 2) NLP Tool Development: We created and validated an NLP-based tool with feedback from 26 institutions, including regulators, supervisors, and investors, to automate the assessment of corporate disclosures. 3) Application on CA100+ Companies: Our tool analyzed disclosures from 143 of the world's largest emitters, revealing a tendency to disclose more on transition "talk" rather than "walk." B. Key Findings: Our study confirms that companies often emphasize climate transition intentions rather than concrete actions. This detailed analysis across 64 dimensions, validated by experts, highlights critical areas needing more transparency and action. Acknowledgments: A big thank you to everyone who contributed to this extensive effort. This project is not just about advancing sustainable finance; it also serves as a model for integrating expert insights into AI tool development. Our tool enhances stakeholder engagement and provides scalable insights into corporate sustainability efforts. University of Zurich - Department of Finance | Oxford Sustainable Finance Group | ETH Zürich WWF #Sustainability #AI #Greenwashing #ClimateChange #GreenFinance #Research #Innovation

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Do VCs Deter Startups From Doing Good? New Study Investigates An interesting new study published in the Journal of Business Venturing explores how venture capital (VC) funding affects the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices of startups as they scale. - The study examined how venture capital (VC) funding affects corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices of companies. - VC-backed companies tend to have poorer CSR records compared to non-VC-backed firms. - VC imprinting in early stages results in focus on short-term goals rather than CSR. - Over time, CSR practices improve but slower for VC-backed firms than others. - If VCs have a responsible investment orientation, their portfolio companies have better CSR. - So the specific VC imprint influences CSR engagement of companies. - Findings show investor imprints during developmental stages deeply shape CSR practices. - CSR adoption is constrained by imprints of early backers like VCs. - The imprinting effects on CSR weaken but persist over longer periods. - Results highlight the boundaries and consequences of VC imprinting on stakeholder management. In summary, the study demonstrates VC funding imprints often limit CSR engagement of companies due to focus on short-term goals. But certain VC investment philosophies can mitigate this effect. You can read the full paper here: https://lnkd.in/dzE782t6 What are your thoughts on how VC funding philosophies shape startup cultures and social practices? Share your perspectives below! #VC #startups #ESG #csr #impactinvesting #startupfunding --------------------------------------- ♻️ Repost to inspire knowledge in your circle! Join over 115,000 entrepreneurs on our Startup Istanbul newsletter for insights shaping industries. Subscribe now: https://lnkd.in/dvj3pkNC

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“You can have a great product, but a compelling story puts the company in motion” - Ben Horowitz Understanding your company’s narrative is crucial when looking for investment. 🚀🚀🚀 Particularly in DeepTech where a good narrative makes complex ideas easy to grasp and compelling to hear. It involves more than throwing together some facts and figures; it’s about finding a message that resonates with your audience on a deeper level. It should never be a one-off effort. It should always be a continuous process of refinement through iteration, collaboration, and honest feedback. 🔁 What problem are you trying to solve? Have you asked your customers? Have you solicited honest feedback? In the end, it's about answering the all-important question… Why should they care? 🤘 #narrative #venturebuilder #deeptech Cambridge Future Tech

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Venture capital is exciting, but for newcomers, it can be scary. Here are some useful recommendations from Ertan Can. To help you hit the ground running. 1/ Target the right LPs. Don't waste time with a shotgun approach. Identify LPs who align with your investment thesis and stage. How? Network. Use existing connections. Connect with other angel investors. Connect with smaller family offices. Connect with founders who invest. Strategic partners. Don't underestimate the power of CVCs. Strategic partnerships can be a game changer. 2/ Go for warm intros. Aim to get yourself introduced to people who are already active. It will open doors and grab LPs' attention. More effective than a cold email. 3/ Stay consistent. Emerging managers often feel pressure to constantly adapt. Remember to stay true to your core investment strategy. It builds trust and connection with your LPs. What other pieces of advice will you offer to emerging investors? Join the conversation in the comments section. 🔽 #venturecapital #angelinvesting #startupfunding #europe

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🔜 Coming soon! "Handbook of Research on Strategic Leadership in the Fourth Industrial Revolution" edited by Zeki Simsek, Ciaran Heavey, Brian C. Fox (Link: https://lnkd.in/dgKynSdT) 📖 TABLE OF CONTENTS: Introduction to the #Handbook of #Research on #Strategic #Leadership in the #Fourth #Industrial #Revolution What is strategic leadership? Craig Crossland, Joanna Campbell, Aaron Hill The Fourth Industrial Revolution: what it means, how to respond Klaus Schwab Enabling technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution John G. Mooney, Michael L. Williams The Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies and strategic leadership: new research directions and a clarion call for creating shared understanding Ciaran Heavey, Zeki Simsek, Brian C. Fox The impact of artificial intelligence on strategic leadership David M. Huber, Oliver Alexy Big data analytics and human decision-making in the context of artificial intelligence: emerging possibilities Michael Moesgaard Andersen, Torben Pedersen Blockchain technology and strategic leadership Marten Risius, Gayan Benedict Strategic leadership of decentralized cryptocurrency and Web3 communities Paul Dylan-Ennis, Donncha Kavanagh Social media and strategic leadership Christina Kyprianou A foundational perspective of digital business strategy for strategic leaders Varun Grover, Gabriele Piccoli Business ecosystems and strategic leadership: a stakeholder approach Josh Goodrich, Elizabeth J. Altman Digital platforms, ecosystems and strategic leadership Anastasiya Shylina, Andreas König, Lorenz Graf-Vlachy The future of work and strategic leadership Mónica Santana, Mar Bornay-Barrachina Data privacy, ethics and strategic leadership Jill A. Brown, Andrew Ward, Dr. Ja-Nae Duane Digital globalization and strategic leadership: a framework and research agenda for digital global leadership Annabel Christie, Esther Tippmann Open strategy – the role of strategic leadership Kristina Stoiber, Julia Hautz, Kurt Matzler, Christian Stadler, Stephan Friedrich von den Eichen The Fourth Industrial Revolution and corporate entrepreneurship: the role of strategic leadership Shaker A. Zahra Strategic leadership and ubiquitous ambient intelligence [...] Mariano (Pitòsh) Heyden, Zenlin Kwee, Henk W. Volberda, Simon Wilkie Chief digital officers: a framework for guiding research on a new strategic leader Markus Menz, Sven Kunisch, Rob Langan, MBA, PhD Executive digital savviness Ann Mooney, Sibel Ozgen Corporate governance and the Fourth Industrial Revolution: promises and challenges Maria Goranova, Yanqiu Ren, Martí Sagarra, Sarthak S., Cynthia E. Clark, PhD Implications [...] for business schools Wendy York Implications [...] for executive education and development Patrick Gibbons, Karan Sonpar, Helen Brophy Implications [...] for strategic leadership research and practice Brian C. Fox, Zeki Simsek, Ciaran Heavey #strategicleadership #fourthindustrialrevolution #digitalage #digitaltechnologies #AI

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A higher % of sub $100M funds achieve a minimum 3X net TVPI compared to $200M+ funds, reveals data from Cambridge Associates and Prequin. The higher success rate of these emerging manager funds points to their uncanny ability to spot outliers early, often because of their sector specialization and deep industry knowledge. What does that mean for family offices, wealth managers and other LPs looking to invest in the outliers of the current AI-driven Innovation Supercycle? Find the early birds that have already caught the worms. Join our next webinar to learn more about accessing outliers through emerging manager funds. Register to secure your spot! #FundManagers #Outliers #EmergingFund

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I finally got around to reading Omri Amirav-Drory’s piece, and it’s fantastic. NFX always brings valuable insights to the VC world, and I can confirm—they’re excellent investors. Omri’s main point is spot on: the daily grind of VC can be emotionally and physically exhausting. Fundraising VCs face constant rejection, ghosting, and endless comparisons to other VCs. It’s tough. (Yes, not as tough as being a founder, but still hard.) This grind can make even the best-intentioned VCs act like assholes. Here are a couple of thoughts on that: First, VCs aren’t simply good or bad. Like everyone else, they operate on a continuum, having good and bad days, good and bad periods. Even great investors can sometimes ghost founders, give bad advice, apply unnecessary pressure, and take too long to decide. They just do it less often than what Omri calls jerk investors. Some VCs are awful most of the time, but many, like myself, strive to be better. It pains me when I realize I’ve been bad to my teams. With age and self-awareness, I’ve learned to keep that side of me in check. Second, being a jerk is often within a VC’s control. Some investors can hide their jerk side surprisingly well, acting based on the perceived power dynamics. The more powerful you seem, the more they’ll keep their bad side in check. Unfortunately, foreign teams, women, non-elite university grads, and non-native English speakers often get worse treatment. I’m fortunate to work alongside an incredible investor who’s rarely a jerk. It has helped me grow into the investor I want to be. Jimena Pardo was once a founder dealing with bad investors—often including me, Hi Ventures (formerly ALLVP) was her lead VC. Thankfully, she’s forgiven me :) At the end of the day, we’re all works in progress, aren’t we? So, if you encounter a VC being a jerk, cut them some slack—it might just be a bad week. But if it happens again, move on and call them out. Life’s too short to partner with VCs who can’t control their inner jerk.

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Excellent white paper commissioned by the Bipartisan Policy Center & Boston Consulting Group (BCG) outlines the key stages of commercialization and the lessons learned moving from lab to market, featuring Sila Nanotechnologies, Inc. (Georgia Institute of Technology #startup) and Monolith. Key lessons for public sector support of clean energy startups: • The commercialization journey is long and capital intensive. The transition from an R&D organization to a deployment organization with a large-scale facility can cost $ billions and take 10+ years. • Early-stage federal programs (e.g., by U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), ARPA-E) provide startups essential financial and technical support and help attract private investors. • Access to mid- to late-stage federal support is critically important. • Federal programs like the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Loan Program Office provide companies with deep expertise and comprehensive due diligence that help to establish technical credibility to private investors. • Key barriers remain to revitalize U.S. #manufacturing, including procuring enough clean power and accessing skilled labor. Many thanks to Tanya Das, Ph.D., Natalie T., Henning Streubel, PhD, John P., Jamie Manley, Jing Z., Cody Storm for their excellent work! #batterymaterials #lithiumionbatteries #electricvehicles #cleanenergy Link to the paper:

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🚨 The Big Book of Venture Capital - Q2 2024 just got released. 5 Key Insights: 🆙 Startup fundraising has seen growth for two consecutive quarters, a first since 2021. ↕️ Valuations and deal sizes are up for most stages in the U.S. and Europe, but the number of deals is down. ✅ AI investments are on the rise, reaching new highs and leading the startup scene with higher valuations and larger rounds. 💡 Secondary markets are booming. Most funded startups trade at a median discount of 30%, with a quarter trading at a premium. New secondary VC funds are emerging to capture this opportunity. 🆙 Corporations are increasingly involved in the startup space, with many establishing CVCs to invest in trending areas like AI. 🙌 Credit to Rohit Yadav for publishing the report! Make sure to follow him. Also credit to the contributors Nicolas Sauvage, Bhargavi V. ,Dan G., Eric Woo, CFA, Frank Tanner, Jeremy Tan, Joel Sandhu, Simon Lancaster 🇺🇸🇨🇦🇵🇹, Utpal Doshi #venturecapital #funding #startups #entrepreneurship #CVC #VC #corporateventurecapital #fundraising #valuation #AI #artificialintelligence

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#technology helping adapt to climate change - an interesting market for growth capital? Yes - the latest [HEAT] research by PT1 offers some compelling insights on this topic. Here are a few findings that caught my attention: 95% of #climatetech VC investments are currently directed towards climate mitigation startups, rather than climate adaptation (Reducing emissions > dealing with the consequences of climate change?) Actual annual investments in climate change adaptation are 17 times smaller than the levels determined in the Paris Climate Agreement, leading to a global #funding gap of $1 trillion per year. Given this funding gap, even a small percentage allocated to venture capital creates an underserved market opportunity for VC and PE investors, further accelerated by the long-term demand for climate adaptation solutions. Credits to DWR eco & PT1.

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My newest column in Quote Magazine: Dutch Dynamism 🇳🇱 💡 Inspired by Andreessen Horowitz’ “American Dynamism” and the Not Boring newsletters of Packy McCormick about why tech is going to be much bigger, I realized there is a momentum in the Netherlands to become one of the European leaders to lead this new industrial revolution - if we double down. 💻 Historically, the Netherlands was strong in trade and banking. However, the country now leads in technology with companies like ASML, Adyen, and NXP Semiconductors as the top 10 most valuable companies, replacing former giants like Shell, Unilever, ING and ABN AMRO Bank N.V 💶 Fueled by capital, according to the latest report of Techleap; 48% Venture Capital investments in 2023 the Netherlands went to deeptech companies. 🤖 While the latest AI innovations have enhanced office jobs, the fusion of software and hardware, like physical robots, is set to revolutionize all types of labor, making tasks scalable and more manageable and cheaper. Two great examples of Dutch robotics companies are Monumental and family business Lely, that are automating less attractive jobs, like bricklaying and milking cows. ⚡ The insight is that the world's largest tech companies of the next decade will likely surpass today’s giants, and for the first time in a long time, tech companies have the opportunity to rebuild the world’s industrial base and tap into huge, existing pools of revenue at higher margins than incumbents can. Assuming the same revenue but structurally higher margins will create more valuable companies than the incumbent comps. 🇳🇱 In the Netherlands, we have access to incredible research institutes, top technical universities like Delft University of Technology, Eindhoven University of Technology, Wageningen University & Research & University of Twente, (which has its own Robotics Centre University of Twente) - incredible talent and more and more hardware friendly VC funds, (incl the support of Invest-NL) and recently the NATO Innovation Fund (NIF) with an office in NL, so I don’t see why we can’t punch above our weight and become one of the leaders to reshape the industrial foundation in Europe. Curious to hear your thoughts, what's needed to make this happen? Dutch Dynamism 🇳🇱 , het bekt toch lekker (Thanks Salar :-)). Link to article (for translation) in the comments. #HardTech #AI #Robotics #Innovation #DutchDynamism #AIRevolution #DeepTech #FutureOfWork #Netherlands #Technology

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The best founders are like decathletes, with working knowledge of everything that's needed to start and run a company, but they also need that deeper purpose that drives them to keep pushing and growing — despite the setbacks they are bound to face. In my Stanford GSB course I welcomed Eren Bali, co-founder of Udemy, to help us debut our published Stanford business case study on the edtech giant's founding story. Over the course of our class, Eren helped us distill and illustrate his own "decathlon": ✏ Udemy took over a decade to IPO, with several fits and starts and multiple CEOs. This is not uncommon; most successful startups are not overnight successes. ✏ A founder’s dedication to building the right culture as well as a high-performing team means that there may come a time when they need to part ways with key people. Many times, founders must break up for the good of the company. ✏ Founders need to be very thoughtful around how they construct and run their board of directors. This is an area which is often ignored or neglected during the earliest stages of fundraising. To that last point, next Monday we'll be holding a fireside chat to dig into how founders should be thinking about the composition and culture of their board of directors, from seed to IPO. If you want a taste of the types of talks I have with founders like Eren, we hope you'll join us.

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I am delighted to announce the publication of our latest research article, “Design-driven external analysis: A framework for adaptation and innovation in digitally native enterprises,” in the Journal of Infrastructure, Policy, and Development. My heartfelt thanks to the editors and fellow authors Pablo Lara-Navarra, PhD, Enric Serradell López, PhD and Alessandro Manetti, PhD for their invaluable contributions, also as my Phd Tutors. Special thanks to the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC)for backing my Industrial Phd and INCAPTO. This paper introduces the ASPECT framework, which integrates design-thinking principles with future scenarios to enhance external analysis for digitally native vertical brands (DNVBs). By employing a mixed-methods approach, our study provides a comprehensive tool to identify opportunities and mitigate risks in dynamic market environments, contrasting with traditional frameworks like PESTEL and SWOT. Our findings highlight the importance of a holistic approach in strategic decision-making, particularly for digital enterprises aiming to innovate and adapt in uncertain contexts. We hope our work will contribute to the literature and support businesses in navigating the complexities of the digital age. For more details, you can access the article linked. #Research #Innovation #DigitalTransformation #StrategicAnalysis #DesignThinking https://lnkd.in/dcduJENn

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New publication in JBR (ABDC A, ABS 3).  Have you ever wondered how we could enhance trust in online grocery shopping through generative AI chatbots? In this article, we propose the Unified Framework for Trust on Technology Platforms for addressing this. Grateful to the reviewers and editors who helped us shape this article to its current form.  https://lnkd.in/g42K8SB3

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We're excited to announce the launch of BCG X's Social Impact Accelerator!🚀 This is a platform that elevates innovators and change-makers, by providing them with the resources and support they need for expansion and impact generation. Open to startups, NGOs, and social innovators based in Europe, the accelerator program aims at facilitating the execution of their remarkable ideas that intend to create measurable social impact. These can range across various fields such as sustainability, social equality, education, and more.🌍🪴👫📚 We are accepting applications for our program until May 13th. The chosen innovators will get the chance to leverage the extensive BCG X network, gain access to valuable resources and mentorship, and the opportunity to capitalize on transformational thinking that will drive societal change. At BCG X, it’s our firm belief that social innovators can transform the world we live in. We are committed to driving positive change, and we know that the journey is just as important as the final destination.💡🚀 Whether you're an established organization looking to scale further or a startup striving to make your mark, this opportunity could be the catalyst for your ideas to evolve and thrive. This is a chance to join a community of like-minded innovators and become part of a growing movement that is not just about solving problems, but also about finding new ways of doing things that create positive impact. Take the plunge and seize this opportunity!🏊 The procedure to register for the BCG X Social Impact Accelerator is quite straightforward - all you need to do is fill in the online application form. With the clock ticking, we encourage you to apply at the earliest and get set to leverage this platform that harbors great potential.⏱️ We look forward to reading all of your innovative ideas and the potential impacts they might have. Together, we can build a more sustainable and inclusive future!🤝 Let’s make a difference together, and let’s start today!🌟

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It’s encore time in our “Vision 2035: The Emergent Singularity” series! In the fast-paced world of early-stage venture investment, anticipating and mitigating risks are paramount for fostering sustainable growth and societal impact. At Machine Ventures, we're not merely preparing for the near future; our foresight extends over the next decade and beyond. The 2024 Global Risk Report from the World Economic Forum delivers a sobering message, indicating a "negative outlook" for the next few years, with potential challenges intensifying over the decade. Key concerns highlighted include climate change, ideological divisions, rapid technological progress, and demographic shifts in developed economies, all of which are poised to significantly influence macro-economic and political landscapes, profoundly shaping markets and startup ecosystems alike. Economically, we anticipate a global slowdown, with The World Bank projecting a deceleration in growth for the third consecutive year. Developed economies could experience sluggish activity due to persistent high interest rates, exacerbated by geopolitical tensions and disruptions in global supply chains, such as ongoing chip shortages. This scarcity underscores vulnerabilities that are critical for advancements in AI and machine intelligence, potentially delaying product launches, hindering research and development efforts, and impeding its impact on economic growth. On the political front, evolving regulatory frameworks surrounding AI in the EU and US aim to mitigate risks associated with technological progress, and possibly compounded by geo-political tensions. Furthermore, the rapid pace of AI development will certainly continue to outpace regulatory efforts for the foreseeable future. Despite these multifaceted challenges, we believe our strategic approach remains resilient. Embracing an 'open-stack' philosophy and diversifying our commitments across the US and Europe, as well as across sectors – where machine intelligence will have force multiplying impact – allows us to adapt flexibly to emerging risks. Our mission is steadfast: to support startups that not only generate economic value but also contribute positively to society. We look forward to building that future with many of you! Patrick & Sri #singularity #machineintelligence #ai

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