Peter Winnink, CEO of ASML, truly captivated the audience at the Monday night BOV trophy ceremony with his three tips for young entrepreneurs.
“Cherish the courage, imagination and determination. These are qualities that will help you progress.”
Wennink’s most important advice:
- Never shy away from uncertainty.
- Look for ways to collaborate.
- Give your employees the mental freedom they need.
With these tips Wennink also looked back over the difficult first years of ASMI/ASML, a time when it was uncertain whether the business would survive, but also a time to which many veterans of the Veldhoven-based company that has since grown to 14,000 employees often long to return.
“Poverty makes creative”, according to Wennink. Uncertainties are opportunities rather than obstacles for a start-up company and they are an incentive for collaboration:
Because this form of collaboration was not born of financial power, but of vision and passion, it was determined from the very beginning that it might exist as a form of remuneration or incentive for all partners, or should I say stakeholders.
A fair share of the profits to which all of the stakeholders have contributed is still a pillar of our open innovation model with ASML as the director. In short, look for ways to collaborate which will offer mutual benefits. Look for partners with the right competence, reliability and especially with the willingness to deal with the risks and potential profits in a transparent manner. The last thing is crucial: determine your self-interest if you are hoping to establish effective and innovative forms of collaboration.
The complete speech by Wennik can be read onthe Brainport weblog. (in Dutch)
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