How did your business start?.
It started when I was completing my fourth postdoc in Warsaw, Poland.
It was my ambition to start my first company! To promote collaboration between industry and academia! In short: to set up my own Agile team of employees and introduce Agile project management!
Then, in the summer of 2017, I went to pitch my plan at the Leiden Bioscience Park and met two great people there: Thijs de Kleer, director of Biopartner and Barbara Brunnhuber. Two great community builders and very involved in supporting start-ups in the Leiden Bioscience Park. Barbara, with her great organisational skills and NETWORK, introduced me to a number of C-level people from both established companies and start-ups. This gave me, especially in the early stages, valuable advice and constructive feedback on the concept and mission of Bio-Inspired Think Tank as a start-up. For instance with Dr Jaap Koopman, CEO of Fibriant BV, Dr Hand Peter Mulder, co-founder of Idris Oncology BV and Paula van Rossum, Chief Business Officer of Toxys. I am very grateful to them, but especially to Thijs and Barbara.
So on 17 July 2017, I was able to register my company with the Chamber of Commerce in The Hague and the real work could begin. Before the end of 2017, I had attended around 80 networking meetings. Not only did I learn a lot from these, but my network also expanded greatly.
My main lessons from this time were:
- One size does not fit all
- Network, network, network. Promote your business and make friends too.
- Entrepreneurship is not for everyone. Do not do it because it is trendy, but do it from your passion.
- Have stamina. It is hard work and you do not start your own (start-up) business because it is TRENDY.
What does Bio-inspired Think Tank do?
Bio-inspired Think Tank develops AGILE public-private sector CONSORTIAS for the implementation of R&D projects. We also provide AGILE team building and Shape Your Leadership workshops. In addition, we offer independent consultancy in Life Sciences, including regenerative medicine and tissue engineering.
Bio-inspired Think Tank makes a difference by helping companies become Agile. Running your company as an Agile startup in Life Sciences is certainly still rare in Europe. Indeed, sometimes I feel like I’m pioneering here as a female Agile CEO 😀.
How do you see the future?
It is my ambition as an Agile Life Sciences start-up with my patent-oriented Agile projects and unique Agile workshops to be recognised worldwide.
Why at the Leiden Bio Science Park?
If you look at the map of the LBSP, you will see a great diversity of organisations and companies. There are 215 organisations, including 150 Life Sciences and Health companies, start-ups, academic institutes of Leiden University and Leiden University Medical Centre. There is even the Netherlands Institute for Space Research. You feel the vibes of the international Life Sciences and academic community. The great multinational diversity is incredibly valuable. There are also the many well-organised networking events where not only the companies and organisations of LBSP come, but also external guests are more than welcome!
I would like all businesses on the LBSP to go completely GREEN by 2022, by going paperless as much as possible. Wouldn’t it be great if this became a common goal for the entire LBSP community?
And beyond work?
Beyond work, I like to give something valuable from me from time to time to the LBSP community and other international communities such as the Canadian #hirePhD and the innovative Venture Café from Rotterdam and Boston. Especially offering free mini-workshops on AGILE team building and personal branding.
Furthermore, I turn my excess energy at the Leiden University Sports Centre into positive energy! I love sports: from Zumba to Power Yoga😊, and I love singing and playing my acoustic guitar! That indeed keeps me happy and healthy!
Aneta Maria Schaap-Oziemlak
My full name is Aneta Maria Schaap-Oziemlak. I am the founder and CEO of Bio-inspired Think Tank, an innovative start-up company located at BioPartner 3 in the Leiden Bioscience Park. This is by the way the only company with such a name, it reflects my dynamic and energetic personality, also as seen on the attached picture 😀.
You can read more about the Agile teambuilding workshop on the website.
You can follow Aneta on youtube channel.