Philips Museum congratulates the winners of Gerard and Anton Awards. The museum aims to inspire the winners with fine examples of innovation from the past, so they all get free tickets to the museum. “The awards are named appropriately. Gerard and Anton Philips, of course, began their startup here. Here they put the first steps. The link to the present is so clear that we wanted to do something with it. With this gesture we want to give them some extra attention. Because they have earned it”, says Mark Grispen from Philips Museum.
In the time of Gerard and Anton Philips – 125 years ago – the name ‘startup’ wasn’t invented yet, but Gerard and Anton Philips possessed the same qualities that are needed today to build a small idea into a large and successful company, says Grispen. “Gerard always wanted to be one step ahead of the competition, he came up with the most innovative ideas. And Anton had the audacity to think big. He once wrote a letter to the Royal Family when he read a piece in the paper about an accident on an unlit road. When he had been working for Philips for only three weeks, he already used all his former network get sell Philips products in South Africa.”
These characteristics are also required in the turbulent times of today, according Grispen. “A lot is changing, technology is developing at a rapid pace. Then you had the industrial revolution and now you have the digital revolution. Everything goes very fast. In that respect, these times can be compared. These startups also know that they need a business spirit and above all a lot of courage to start a business at this time. You really need to go through walls. We hope the museum inspires them with the examples of Gerard and Anton from the past, because after all, everything started here. ”
The first winner has already responded enthousiastically, Grispen says. Etulipa – with a former Philips man as CEO – feels honoured and will use the museum’s gesture with pleasure.
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