Design Thinking

Are you sitting on a great innovative idea, but not sure how to make it relevant for end users? Do you need to convince potential stakeholders with a powerful pitch to get them on board? Or do you need to validate your idea to make sure it will succeed? The principles of Design Thinking might just be what you need!

Why design thinking?

Design Thinking methods are incredibly useful if you need to transform ideas and technological innovations into relevant and practical solutions. In the past, we’ve had inspiring sessions with Bassam Jabry from Chemistry, a company that evolved from a classic product and graphic design studio to the experienced Design thinktank it is today. Be sure to keep an eye on our upcoming events for future sessions on Design Thinking!

If you would like some information on how Design Thinking could help you with your business, feel free to schedule a one-on-one meeting with us to discuss the possibilities.

Building Teams

One vital aspect of running a successful business is having the right founding team. The vast majority of start-ups fails, and studies have shown that many of these failures occur due to a lack of a co-founder or team. Starting a business puts you in an uncertain and complex situation and requires a broad spectrum of knowledge, experiences and skills. More often than not, a single founder doesn’t possess all required capabilities.

It is crucial in the start-up phase to have the right people on board. But building complementary and successful teams is important for every business, no matter their stage of maturity. So, how do you find the right people? Contact us or register for one of our workshops to find out more!

Business Development

Start-ups, scale ups and grownups encounter many challenges in their road to successful growth and business development. Briskr supports entrepreneurs – from start-ups to grown-ups – to face these challenges. We offer personal advice, business consultations, workshops and lectures, covering all aspects of business development. We also offer professional support on various subjects like intellectual property, patents, developing your business case and access to funding.

Market Readiness Program (MRP)

Do you know who your early adopters are? Do you know if your solution is the best solution for the problem they are experiencing? These are the questions we work with in the Market Readiness Program, with the goal of finding your early adopters within a specific customer segment, to whom you can sell your product at the same price and through the same sales channel.

There will be a practical workshop each week during ten weeks. In these workshops you will work independently on activities focused on customer meetings, coached by a business developer. During the program you will have in-depth discussions with potential customers to test and optimize your solution. You will follow the program together with a maximum of eleven other entrepreneurs. By regularly sharing your progress and providing feedback, you will learn from each other’s mistakes and successes. These will be intense, but also very instructive weeks.

Do you want to enroll in the (free) Market Readiness Program? Check this page. For all other questions about business development or expanding your business, please contact us.

Networking Skills

Whether you love it or hate it, networking comes with the territory. When meeting new potential business partners, ambassadors or clients, it is crucial that you share your story with confidence. You want your audience to feel engaged and consider your proposition.

Of course, different situations require various types of networking skills. At Briskr, we can help you develop these skills by bringing you into contact with the right people. And we have several interesting workshops in this area!

Networking requires both listening and storytelling skills. Pitch coach Frank Smallegange helps (technical) start-ups to learn networking skills in his workshops. He’ll show you how to find the right people to talk to in a networking setting, how to get into a conversation with them and perhaps even more importantly: how to get out if they turn out not to be the right people after all.

You can find his workshops and more at our upcoming events. You can also get in touch with us for a one-on-one meeting to discuss your specific needs, so we can help you find the right people to help you along.

Also interested in pitching? Have a look at this workshop by international pitch coach David Beckett.

Pitching

Never underestimate the impact of a strong pitch. Being able to convincingly and effectively tell your story helps you in all kinds of ways. Most importantly: it helps you show the relevance and potential of your company to people that matter. Convincing investors (like BANN) to fund your business, stand out at an innovation fair or get that one perfect organisation to partner up with you: if you get your story straight, you can make it happen.

Briskr is the ideal platform to learn how to pitch and quickly improve your skills. Since bringing together organisations in Health and High Tech is one of our main purposes, we create many opportunities for companies where a strong pitch can come in handy. In a sense, everyone in our network is constantly pitching each other ideas.

Are you still working on your pitch?

We offer workshops on pitching! For several years now, international pitch coach David Beckett has graced us with his visits, his workshops are a great success every single time. He gives guidance on how to creatively build your storyline, how to make your message understandable and memorable, and how to open and close powerfully. Afterwards, you’ll receive a selection of materials and access to an app that will help you deliver your winning pitch.

You might also be interested in our workshops on networking skills by pitch coach Frank Smallegange.

Free consult on Patents & Intellectual Property

Do you have a great idea and are you looking for ways to protect it? Do you want to learn how to prevent others from taking off with your inventions, knowledge and creativity? Or are you interested in how to avoid infringing other people’s Intellectual Property (IP)?

Every first Tuesday of the month, Briskr invites the Netherlands Patent Office (part of RVO) to the Novio Tech Campus, where they give free consultations on patents and intellectual property to companies.

The Netherlands Patent Office helps you make informed decisions to align your IP with your business strategy. They specialize in patents and patent databases to share state-of-the-art technology. And they will inspire you to think about other ways of protection ideas, such as copyrights, trademarks, designs and trade secrets. So even if you’re not looking to file a patent, their IP services could still be relevant to your company.

Subsidy Consult

If you want to let your health or high tech company grow, you almost always need external financing for your start-up. One way to achieve this is with external investors. You can also apply for numerous grants and subsidies, ranging from local grants to large European grants. Most programs are intended to support small and medium-sized enterprises in their research, development or operations.

What considerations will help you select the right grant for your company? How do you increase your chances of a successful application? And how can you secure and manage the grant once you get it? How to make the application as successful as possible? For what kind of costs can you use the money from subsidies, and what kind of research is likely to gain funding for a start-up? Are your research and development processes suitable for certain government subsidies? Briskr knows how to identify the right opportunity for your start-up, and how this could strategically fit in your financing mix.

Do you want to know more about financing your start-up company, subsidies and grants? Plan a free consult with one of our experts. Please fill-in the contactform.

Growth acceleration support

The Province of Gelderland has a dedicated program to support small and medium-sized enterprises with growth ambitions. Is your company located in Gelderland, do you have clear growth potential and does your product or service demonstrably contribute to societal challenges? Then you can apply for funding, for start-ups, scale-ups and grown-ups. Find out below whether your company might be eligible for this program!

Support and innovation voucher

Besides receiving professional advice from OostNL, you might be eligible for a €10.000 voucher (maximum) from the Province of Gelderland. This is how it works: Does the budget for your specific growth plan amount to up to €20.000? Then you can get a voucher covering 50% of those costs, provided that you invest the other 50% yourself.

How to apply

Get in touch with OostNL, and share your business growth plan. A business developer at OostNL will assess whether your company meets the requirements for support and funding.

Business Valuation

Business valuation of a company is always hard. There are many ways to assess the value of a company. This is of course even more true for start-ups, as the past offers little foundation to determine future performance and worth. But even for start-ups – as for all growth stages – valuation is important. Why? Because in most cases, external financing is the only way to really grow.

If you want external financing, the investor needs to know how much you’re worth. But how does valuation work? It’s important that you know not only that, but also how you can prepare for negotiations and how to determine the conditions.

Do you want to know everything about business valuation? Take a look at our free workshop Company valuation. This workshop is meant for investment seeking start-ups and scale-ups, and helps create a better understanding of company valuation and investment terms as well as the process to reach an investment deal.

Venture Capital

Great ideas are essential for a great start, as are strong efforts and dedication from your start-up team. But you need more to create a sustainable business. Sooner or later, you’re going to need external money in order to attract the right people and seriously grow your company.

As they say: you might start with the help from friends, family and fools. After that, early-stage investors will help you get serious. And at some point, you will find yourself looking at larger investments by venture capital.

Briskr has the network and the knowledge to connect Health and High Tech businesses with investors. Whether you’re fully set to apply for series A capital, or only recently started wondering how to get there: we can offer professional support and extensive information.

Amongst our partners, you’ll find both early-stage investors (like INKEF Capital) and companies specialized in investment readiness. Furthermore, we regularly organize meetings and workshops about venture capital and everything that comes with it.

Stay up to date by checking out our upcoming events!