This document outlines Idealabs' plans to boost innovation in large companies and build an entrepreneurial ecosystem in Antwerp, Belgium. It discusses running an accelerator program to select and support early-stage startups, converting a building into an innovation hub for collaboration, and blending large companies and startups through classes, workshops, and an on-site prototyping lab to encourage innovation. The goal is for large companies to act more like startups and accelerate innovation, while supporting startups and building an entrepreneurial community.

1. CONFIDENTIAL
Boosting Innovation in Large Companies by Acting like Startups
Nicolas Verellen
Idealabs
nicolas.verellen@idealabs.be
Cédric Deweeck
Idealabs
Cedric.deweeck@idealabs.be
October 26th 2012

2. Shape, build, and launch to
market in three months
#stoptalkingstartbuilding

3. With idealabs we
have the ambition
to build a strong
and sustainable
entrepreneurial
community in
Antwerp

4. Why
Antwerp?

5. Principles of a
Entrepreneurial
ecosystem
1.
Entrepreneurs must lead the
startup community
2.
The leaders must have a
long-term commitment
3.
The start up community must
be inclusive of anyone who
wants to participate in it
4.
The startup community must
have continual activities that
engage the entire
entrepreneurial stack

6. Participants of a
Entrepreneurial
ecosystem
Entrepreneurs
Government
Universities
Investors
Mentors
Service providers
Large companies

7. Successful
Entrepreneurial
ecosystems
Boulder
Chile
San Fransisco
New York
Dublin
Amsterdam
Berlin
Helsinki
Eindhoven
Moscow
Paris
Stockholm
vs

8. First step: start a
start up accelerator

9. Stripped building
Private fund
Core team
Strong Backers
3 month set up
validation of need
validation of interest
validation of ideas?
MVP

10. shape build launch
MONTH 1
MONTH 2
MONTH 3

11. philosophy what
we believe in
Be more innovative.
Stop wasting people's
time.
Be more successful.
eric ries
the lean startup
movement

12. philosophy MVP
Minimum set of features
Learn from early
adopters
Avoid building a
product nobody wants
Learn from testing
eric ries
the lean startup
movement

13. philosophy what
we believe in

14. no technical development
validate assumptions
3 min introduction video
Sign Up Button

15. idea
business
selection program
procedure kick-off
MONTH
1
seed funding
MONTH
MONTH
3
2
office space mentoring
central services
education
product
and IT lab
demo
day
follow-up support
investment for growth
6-9
M O NTH
S

16. From 70 applications
we chose 3 startups

17. They are working very
hard!

18. Second step: Turn
that stripped building
in to a entrepreneurial
HUB

19. THE SPACE
CAMPUS
HUB
EVENTS
COFFEELABS

20. A space where people, technology,
materials, philosophies and ideas mix,
collide and collaborate to produce
ground breaking innovations

21. Center of Antwerp / 2000 sqm /
Workshops/ Speaker Series / Networking
Events / Building prototypes / Breakout
office / Private meetings

22. Third Step: Blending
Companies and Startups at
idealabs

23. Stodgy. Slow. Bureaucratic.
Big companies get a bad rap
when it comes to innovation.

24. Big companies are applying startup
strategies and tools to jump-start
innovation. It’s not about pontificating
on the innovation process. It’s about
being lean, focused, and maniacally

25. Intuit organizes multi-day
“lean start-ins” that gather
“intrapreneurs” together
from across the company
to teach them how to apply
rapid experimentation to
create new products,
services, and business
models.
Kimberly-Clark promotes oneday “expert acceleration
sessions” that bring handpicked outside “thought
leaders” face to face with
business teams to bust mental
models and create gamechanging strategies.
Whirlpool uses a network of innovation
mentors (also called i-mentors), who are
loaded with innovation tools and
guidance to help business teams
focused on challenging market
“orthodoxies.”
FIRST STEPS

26. BIG STEPS
BBC Worldwide officially launched
BBC Worldwide Labs. The initiative is
aimed at supporting the creative and
digital industries in the UK by
offering them insight and expertise
into the industry.
Pepsi Co wants to get in on the
ground level with companies that
could become the next Twitter via its
Digital Labs program.
Volkswagen Group of America
Electronics Research Laboratory
(ERL) has teamed up withPlug
and Play to accelerate and
collaborate with startups to
transfer technology from many
industries into the automotive
domain.

27. Big companies that behave like small startups
focus on two things:
First, they
accelerate the
speed of
innovation,
just like a
Silicon Valley
incubator.
Second, they give
internal businesses
and teams an
outside-in
perspective, similar
to the type of
reality-checking that
comes from
advisory boards or
venture capitalists.

28. LBi improves collaboration
with clients after Hyper
Island experience

29. General Assembly partners
with General Electric

30. We are blending
companies and
startups at idealabs
1. Business model
innovation classes:
challenge the status-quo
and identify the business
and revenue models of
the future
3. ‘Lean Startup’
methodology applied to
corportations. Shape,
build, launch approach
workshop:
2. Classes for
intrapreneurs: rapid
experimentation
techniques to create new
products, services and
business models.
intrapreneurs/
corporate venturing
•Incubation of
•Corporate innovation
labs

31. Last Step: Experimenting
ourselves, and opening a mini
Product Lab

32. Product Lab: offer people the
opportunity to do some rapid
prototyping right behind the
coffeebar

33. Thanks for listening!
Got any questions?
www.idealabs.be
@idealabs_be
Nicolas Verellen
nicolas.verellen@idealabs.be

34. CONFIDENTIAL
VERHAERT MASTERS IN INNOVATION®
Headquarters
Hogenakkerhoekstraat 21
9150 Kruibeke (B)
tel +32 (0)3 250 19 00
fax +32 (0)3 254 10 08
ezine@verhaert.com
More at www.verhaert.com
VERHAERT MASTERS IN INNOVATION®
VERHAERT MASTERS IN INNOVATION® helps companies and governments to innovate.
We design products and systems for organizations looking for new ways to provide value
for their customers.
We are a leading integrated product innovation center; creating technology platforms,
developing new products and business in parallel, hence facilitating new-growth strategies
for our clients.
October 26th 2012
Netherlands
European Space Innovation Centre
Kapteynstraat 1
2201 BB Noordwijk (NL)
Tel: +31 (0)633 666 828
willard.vanderheijden@verhaert.com
More at www.verhaert.com