Yearly Archives: 2020

STORIES FROM THE ZZZZzzzz – How can sleep make or break a startup?

In these unprecedented times of (using the word unprecedented) uncertainty, many of us are contemplating taking the leap of faith and becoming a fulltime entrepreneur. In 2020’s final edition of the Zymurgist Diaries, let’s aim to understand why founders tend to throw caution to the wind and fall victim to “struggle porn” i.e. the perception/pretence of […]

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Serendipitous Discovery: Interview with Omar Gabr, CEO of Instabug and Professor Julian Birkinshaw

Exciting innovations are often born by accident. Omar Gabr, CEO and Co-Founder of Instabug, experienced this first-hand with the serendipitous development of Instabug. For this reason, his innovation won the Judge’s Choice Award under the Alexander Fleming Serendipity category at the 2020 Real Innovation Awards hosted by the London Business School Institute of Innovation and […]

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5 Top Tips for Taking the Leap into VC

Venture capital is an exciting career option for MBA students. The London start-up scene is fast-growing, and many MBAs contribute to both start-ups and VCs in meaningful ways during their time at London Business School. The school’s Strategy and Entrepreneurship concentration and courses allow us the chance to practice some of the key things we’d […]

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10 Lessons learnt from evaluating 500+ global early-stage startups

Useful and relevant insights for founders and investors  Over the past 5 years, I’ve had the opportunity to evaluate more than 500 startups around the world as part of one of the best global angel investor networks, Keiretsu Forum (as identified by the Pitchbook rankings), and also as a part of one of the largest […]

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STORIES FROM THE DRIFT – How founders drift away from their friends, family, health, hobbies and sleep

In these unprecedented times of (using the word unprecedented) uncertainty, many of us are contemplating taking the leap of faith and becoming a fulltime entrepreneur. In this edition of the Zymurgist Diaries, let’s aim to understand why most Founders (and most humans) often fall prey to the “Future-positive”, “Present-hedonistic” and “Past-pessimistic” time perspectives. And, it is […]

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Blowing the whistle on the founding penalty

New research by Olenka Kacperczyk and Peter Younkin shows that ex-entrepreneurs often struggle to find ‘regular’ employment. Jeff Skinner explains how the ‘founding penalty’ works. The implications of bias against entrepreneurs are problematic for businesses and entrepreneurs alike. Businesses are missing out on a talent pool of highly motivated individuals, and aspiring entrepreneurs may find […]

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Innovation in the Face of Adversity

Innovation rarely keeps to a plan. It evolves at its own pace – guided and fed by entrepreneurs who understand its true value. The Real Innovation Awards is London Business School’s annual celebration of business innovation as it really happens acknowledging not only success, but also persistence, serendipity and reinvention. The following article shares highlights […]

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STORIES FROM THE PFFFFFT: The unlikely likeness between running start-ups and raising children

In these unprecedented times of (using the word unprecedented) uncertainty, many of us are contemplating taking the leap of faith and becoming a fulltime entrepreneur. In this edition of the Zymurgist Diaries, let’s look at the similarities between running startups and parenting. While on the surface, they may seem to be worlds apart – both literally […]

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