NEOMA MSc Entrepreneurship & Innovation

In our last E&I talk of the academic year, we were pleased to have Gaëlle Giard, the founder of Lili Cabas and a NEOMA Alumna. ✅ Founded in 2004, Lili Cabas is a French leather goods brand that mainly manufactures bags 👜 . Gaëlle said “The story of a bag is the story of a desire. Locate, sublimate an object or a shape, a harmony of colors. The temptation to create a contemporary, useful, practical, and beautiful object.” Given that the products are designed in Paris and made by hand in a workshop in Morocco, the process of producing the bags requires managing an entire supply chain from raw material selection to production and sales across different continents. During her talk, Gaëlle reflected on how this process has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and how they managed to overcome the challenges. Among other things that she discussed: ·      The challenges related to selling accumulated stock due to the closure of the shops during the pandemic ·      How they have utilized different bootstrapping strategies such as cooperating with other enterprises, including competitors, to share logistic costs and how they embrace some of the strategies even post-COVID ·      How they utilized the support from the government to continue operation during the pandemic ·      How enterprises are dealing with the impact of the financing structure provided during the pandemic post COVID ·      How to be agile and create resilience in SMEs during an exogenous shock such as the COVID pandemic Thank you very much Gaëlle for sharing your invaluable insights and experience with our students.  Big shout out for Bisrat Agegnehu Misganaw to organise this E&I talk NEOMA Business School x KPMG France

🌏 How does the EU support SMEs to enhance their productivity and resilience? SMEs account up to 64% of jobs in the private (non-financial) sector, and 52% of EU value added. Thus, in order to enhance the productivity and competitiveness in the EU, devising policy instruments targeting SMEs is crucial. Aiming to gain insights about the strategies and policy instruments in place at the EU level to support entrepreneurship within the European and global context, students and professors in our program have recently visited the European Commission in Brussels. During the visit, we had a chance to listen to different presentations and had a discussion with: ·      Mr Petr Mooz , about the European Commission and its role as well as the priorities of the current commission ·      Ms Lucia Palmegiani , on the EU policy for Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and entrepreneurship ·      Ms Fátima Velez , about Single Market Programme - SME Pillar flagship projects at the EU level, and ·      Mr Pablo Artero Linés , about the Digital Markets Act and its implication to businesses We would like to thank Liesbeth De Buysser for the smooth flow of our visit and the great hospitality. Many thanks, Bisrat Agegnehu Misganaw and Tam T. T. NGUYEN for making this study tour happen, and Mehdi Bagherzadeh for the continuous support! NEOMA Business School x KPMG France

We were at it again…the third time! A Real-World Challenge from a company for our MSc E&I students in the course: Inclusive Innovation and Entrepreneurship. 🌈 Thanks to Romain Vismara from La Poste Groupe for sharing two challenges – one to increase inclusivity and the other to improve environmental sustainability through green eco businesses! La Poste is at the forefront of digital, innovation, and inclusive entrepreneurship and we are delighted to collaborate with them. 👨💼 👩💼 35 students organized into 7 groups - 3 groups chose to work on the #inclusivity challenge while 4 groups chose to tackle the #green challenge. Students spent over a month collecting and analyzing data using various tools/frameworks taught by Rose Bote to propose a variety of creative ideas in front of the jury from the La Poste team and our own Rose and Ravi Shankar Pandey. Kudos to our students who enthusiastically participated in the challenge to simultaneously learn and use various tools, frameworks, and concepts. Students did User Interviews, and stakeholder interviews, applied design thinking methodology, used the system thinking approach, and employed Social Business Canvas (and so on) to propose their innovative ideas. Some of the creative ideas were: - EcoPost App - Sustainability tracker - LaPoste Corner - Reusable Envelop - Collapsable-Reusable packaging - Laposte Senior Mobility program - Virtual Sustainability tour and many more. Thanks to Sophie Duché from Neoma for making the connection with Romain and La Poste happen. Thanks to Mehdi Bagherzadeh and Bisrat Agegnehu Misganaw for always encouraging and supporting the initiative. NEOMA Business School x KPMG France #SocialBusinessCanvas #UserInterviews, #stakeholderinterviews #designthinking #inclusivity #environmental #sustainability #green #eco #LaPoste #digital, #innovation #inclusive #entrepreneurship #MscEI #neoma #neomabs #neomaalumni

🔔 In a market characterized by constantly changing customer needs and demands, companies need to continuously innovate by putting customers at the heart of the innovation process. Companies need to take proactive measures as it might not be enough to only react to what the customers ask for. In our E&I talk series, Boris Placzek, EU head of Amazon Vendor Services, and Albane Gréaume, Strategic Supply Chain Manager at Amazon discussed with us how Amazon embraces customer centricity and the processes in place to ensure customer-centricity. Among other things, they discussed and explained how Amazon: ✔  Innovates for and from the customers – using the “Working Backwards” process ✔  Builds a strong culture to achieve customer centricity by implementing its “leadership principles” ✔  Uses leadership principles as a tool to create a common language within and across different units in Amazon. During the session, our students have also a chance to work on a case study and present their solutions using the “working backward” process. Thank you very much @Boris and @albane for delivering and managing the workshop. We really enjoyed the session. Thank you very much Sophie Duché for your support! Last but not least, thanks Bisrat Agegnehu Misganaw for organizing this E1I Talk! NEOMA Business School x KPMG France

🔊 In our E&I talk series, we were pleased to have Adam Ejsmont, a serial entrepreneur and co-founder of Echo Analytics. Founded in 2021 with a mission to “enable companies to innovate faster by making the world easy to understand”, Echo Analytics aspires to achieve its mission by “converting raw, unprocessed data to reliable, secure, and scalable geospatial datasets.” During the talk, Adam shared his entrepreneurial journey before and with Echo Analytics. Among other things, he discussed:  📌 How the cycles are similar for a sales person and an entrepreneur. He stated “The cycle one faces as a sales person and an entrepreneur is similar, except that the cycle is shorter and extreme in the latter”. 📌 How a company can successfully bootstrap by identifying the right strategies. 📌  How revenue from own sales is the best strategy to finance a project expansion. With its own resources, Echo Analytics acquired another startup. 📌  How important it is for employees working in a startup needs to develop a sense of ownership in the business. “If you act as an owner in a startup you could become. If you take it as a job, then the opportunity will not be there”. 📌  What students of entrepreneurship could learn in the classroom. Adam said “You can learn at least three things: how to take feedback, mindfulness, and how to be comfortable with being uncomfortable:” 🌺 Thank you very much Adam for sharing your invaluable insights and experience with our students. A big thanks to Bisrat Agegnehu Misganaw for organizing this amazing E&I Talk. NEOMA Business School x KPMG France #neoma #neomabs #mindfulness #entrepreneur #entrepreneurship #data #business #innovation #startup #entrepreneurtalk #bootstrap #sales

🌎 In our E&I talk series, we had a pleasure of having Laure Favre, a proud NEOMA Alumna, and co-founder of SPRiNG With the aim of “inspiring positive, informed consumer choices for all those who want to take action by reconciling efficiency, ecology and joy at home”, SPRiNG provides an innovative and responsible alternative to conventional cleaning products. Laure shared her entrepreneurial journey that dates back to her time in the corporate world. Among other things, she reflected on:  ·      How one can be entrepreneurial in a corporate setting. The logic is fairly the same as “the process involves resource mobilization, convincing stakeholders, taking ownership in project”. “You need to create your own opportunity even in a corporate setting”, @Laure said. ·      Finding the right partners: “I wouldn’t have ever done it alone”, she emphasized. ·      The need to be multi-tasking to succeed as a founder ·      The importance of being open as an entrepreneur and a startup: “corporate culture may train us to be ‘closed’ because most of the information you would need could be available in house. It is a different story in startups” Thank you very much Laure for sharing your entrepreneurial journey and invaluable insights with our students. We are inspired by what you are achieving with SPRiNG and the impact you are making towards the transition to sustainable consumption of cleaning products. We also thank Bisrat Agegnehu Misganaw as the organizer of this great E&I talk 😊 NEOMA Business School x KPMG France

🤩 In our E&I talk series, we had a pleasure of having professor Mehdi Bagherzadeh, who was the founding director of the NEOMA MSc Entrepreneurship & Innovation, and who was voted by the students as the best professor of the program last academic year. Although he is not teaching in the program this year due to other commitments, as a recipient of the award, we were very excited to have him in the E&I talk to share his knowledge and expertise with our students. ⚡ Drawing on his research on Open Innovation and crowd-sourcing, Mehdi shared some interesting insights and led a great discussion. Among other things, Mehdi discussed: 🔥 How openness helps companies to stay at the forefront of technological advancements and market trends 🔥 How companies could cultivate the culture of openness and collaboration within the organization 🔥 When should companies use crowdsourcing as a tool for innovation? “It is useful particularly when you do not know who can help you in solving the problem at hand”, he stressed. 🔥 How designing the right incentive mechanisms is crucial for crowdsourcing's success as it affects people's motivation to participate in the campaign. “Incentive mechanisms not only affect the level of engagement but also the quality of solutions”, he stated. Thank you very much, Mehdi for sharing your great insights with our students! We really appreciate it! NEOMA Business School x KPMG France

🎉 New podcast episode of Charlotte Courtois, Founder of Konstelacio! In this episode, Charlotte dives deep into the world of social project funding, sharing invaluable advice on taking risks, staying flexible, and exploring diverse funding sources. 💡 Whether you're a seasoned social entrepreneur or just starting out, Charlotte's expertise is sure to inspire and empower you on your journey. Tune in now to discover the secrets to success in funding social projects and learn how to navigate the challenges with confidence. Don't miss out on this opportunity to gain valuable insights from one of the industry's leading experts! 🔊 Listen to the episode here: https://lnkd.in/gbyEbuBU Like post and follow our page to stay updated on future episodes filled with more inspiring stories and practical tips from Charlotte Courtois and other changemakers in the field of social entrepreneurship! 🚀 Many thanks to NEOMA Alumni for helping us launch our #podcast series.       NEOMA Business School x KPMG France   Bisrat Agegnehu Misganaw   Mehdi Bagherzadeh    🌟 #NonprofitJourney #PassionProject #SocialImpact #PodcastAlert #NonprofitNarratives #PassionAndPurpose #SustainableVentures #PodcastDiscovery #ChangeMakers #InspiringJourneys #EntrepreneurialVisions #MScPodcast #InnovationJourney  #StartupSuccess #FounderStories  #EntrepreneurshipTalks  #neoma #neomabs #kpmg #EntrepreneurshipJourney #PodcastEpisode #Inspiration #KonstelacioFounder #EntrepreneurialInsights #SocialEntrepreneurship #Podcast #FundingStrategies #Inspiration #Konstelacio #CharlotteCourtois #Changemakers #SocialImpact   

🌟 In our E&I talk series, we had the pleasure of having Tim Dumain, co-founder of Bigblue, a company aimed at “building smarter and greener logistics for customer-centric brands”. Tim reflected on his entrepreneurial journey with BigBlue. Based on his experience, he discussed some crucial questions entrepreneurs face in executing their projects. Among other things, Tim emphasized that: · Finding a niche is crucial for startups to establish themselves in the market · Customer acquisition is a process that requires attention to detail, and acquiring the first customer(s) is pivotal. “Building a relationship first is key before attempting to make the sales”, said Tim. · Choosing the best way of financing a project at a given time is not an easy task. “Financing through revenue from sales is always the best way to finance an entrepreneurial project” reflected Tim. · Team composition and finding the right partner(s) is vital – “being three in a team is great for decision making – it will ensure that you will not get stuck in the decision-making process” Tim also gave great advice for young student entrepreneurs! “Whatever you do, do it 100%” concluded Tim. 🧡 Thank you very much Tim, for sharing your experience and invaluable insights with our students. We really enjoyed the energy and passion that you have shown throughout the talk!  We also extend our heartfelt thanks to Bisrat Agegnehu Misganaw for orchestrating such a well-organized talk. NEOMA Business School x KPMG France

🌟 Exciting Opportunity Alert! 🌟 Are you ready to take your career to the next level in innovation? 🚀 KPMG France is thrilled to announce a new position opening in the KPMG Innovation Lab focused on Intrapreneurship and Open Innovation! As part of a dynamic team, you'll have the chance to work on cutting-edge projects, collaborate with industry experts, and shape the future of business. If you are our MSc alumni profile with 2-4 years of experience related to entrepreneurship and/or innovation, we strongly encourage you to apply and make an impact in driving forward-thinking initiatives that create value and drive growth. 🔍 Learn more and apply now: https://lnkd.in/eM4xsbXn Don't miss out on this incredible opportunity to be part of one of the leading innovation teams in the industry. NEOMA Business School x KPMG France Raphaël DEMPURE Bisrat Agegnehu Misganaw Mehdi Bagherzadeh #Innovation #Intrapreneurship #OpenInnovation #CareerOpportunity #KPMGFrance