Folkert Huysinga left Philips after ten years to start his own company on High Tech Campus Eindhoven: Hearttarget. It provides training and workshops that help companies stimulate their personnel to increase work processes. Huysinga dreams of seeing more interaction between companies on campus.
While with Philips, he was in charge of purchases and implemented change in working processes for offices around the world. Now he stands at the top of his own company. Being in charge of no one but himself at Hearttarget. In his work he likes to combine his experience with giant Philips and working as a smaller startup. “I know how business works in big companies like Philips, but I like to bring in a more personal touch to my work.”
With the campus beign an environment where most people think in numbers and ratio, Huysinga tries to change the way people think. “People that enter my training and workshops, are taught to use their intuition and gut feeling rather than trusting solely on calculations.”
I have been asking myself and others the question whether it’s possible for us to reach out to each other more.
Socializing
On campus, socializing can be a challenge. “This might seem odd, but it’s quite possbile to feel lonely and lost in an environment where over 10 thousand people work. Huysinga would like to bring change to that.
“I have been asking myself and others the question whether it’s possible for us to reach out to each other more. Not restricted by the walls of our own companies. If we can do that, the 150 companies that are on campus can grow even more and it will be a more attractive place to start a company.”
Inspiration Center
To help achieve that type of interaction, Huysinga has been working out the idea of creating an Inspiration Center on campus. “It’s like a second mission of mine. I want to create a place that’s playful, like on a boat in the campus pond or at the farm. A spot where people come to connect, motivate and inspire each other.”
Huysinga compares the campus to the Strijp-area in Eindhoven, which he calls a ‘creative hotspot’. “High Tech Campus is it’s intellectual counterpart. I would like to see those two worlds mix on campus. Over there (Strijp) I can already see more interaction between companies.”
It’s clear that Huysinga wants to connect people on campus. It’s a wish that originated out of something he experienced when leaving Philips. “While working for Philips I had no idea what happened next door. When I started Hearttarget I found out there was so much more on campus than what happened between the walls of Philips.”
To start the Inspiration Center, Huysinga pitched the idea at the monthly Drinks & Demos event at HTC 12. “The center can grow best when multiple businesses invest time and effort into it.” The Inspiration Center will make an effort to increase interaction through an idea sprung from the head of one, and realized by many.
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