Impactful Investment Workshop Meets with Enthusiastic Response
Thirty D-MTEC students and alumni attended an MAS+ workshop on “Building a Business with Impact” on 2 and 3 July. The workshop, held on the ETH campus and at the Trust Square co-working space, was organised by MAS student Christine Szczepanski and Morgan Altman of Programme Operations. The workshop provided practical insight into “Driving Transformation Through Technology and Finance”.
First session: online and in person
The workshop was kicked off by Professor Bart Clarysse of the Chair of Entrepreneurship at D-MTEC. Professor Clarysse described the goals behind impact entrepreneurship, which aims to alleviate societal problems, increase business efficiency, or provide needed goods or services to consumers. He also provided data on the growth of valuation of unicorns - startup companies with a value of over $1 billion - and stressed the importance of becoming well acquainted with local markets before expanding. Cyril Kuber then acquainted participants with the landscape of support opportunites for start-up founders, both in and around ETH and in Switzerland overall. Finally, D-MTEC alumnus Tillman Lang, co-founder of Inyova, provided an overview of his company’s business model, and described Inyova’s use of automation in portfolio management. This first session of the workshop could be attended in person or online.
The Trust Square Hub on Rennweg
In-person participants then took a leisurely stroll to Trust Square, a co-working space and business incubator, where they were greeted by serial entrepreneurs Marc Degen and Anand Pareek. Degen described his approach to gaining financing for ideas even before developing a minimal viable product (MVP), while Pareek recommended speaking to as many potential customers as possible to hear about their pains, then building an MVP based on this information. Both encouraged participants not to be afraid of financing; given a viable product and enough drive, the necessary funds are sure to follow.
The next talk, still at Trust Square, was by Philip Morger and MAS student Dr Michael Zehnder, both of Switzerland Global Enterprise (S-GE). They described how S-GE supports both large and small companies through its extensive global network and profound knowledge of international markets. Participants then had the opportunity to relax and network at an apéro offered at the Trust Square bar.
The second day: investors’ perspectives and parallel play
The second day of the workshop began with a presentation by D-MTEC alumna Dr Aino Hacklin titled “Insights From the Investors’ Perspective”. Dr Hacklin’s experience as an investor and board member provided the basis for her take on what various investing parties – from seed-funding providers to business angels, banks and venture capitalists – really want to see in a start-up and its management team, its technology, and its traction.
The last part of the workshop consisted of a group-work session led by Dr Laurens Vandeweghe and Steven Everaert, postdoctoral researcher and teaching assistant at the Chair of Entrepreneurship, respectively. Teams of participants utililised the concept of parallel play to work out business models for their ideas. The workshop then wrapped up with a second networking apéro.
Enthusistic reception
The participants were impressed with the workshop, and expressed the wish for more talks and workshops on related subjects. D-MTEC students and alumni are encouraged to contact of Programme Operations with any ideas they may have for MAS+ events in the future.
MAS+
MAS+ workshops and talks are student-alumni events that facilitate knowledge transfer between D-MTEC and its alumni in industry. They integrate perspectives on various topics related to the MAS MTEC programme. They range from workshops that assess and evaluate programme content, to talks by industry professionals, to career and networking events.