Social Impact
Co-creating values aligned agreements with founders for impact investing
Schwartz, S. H. (2012). An Overview of the Schwartz Theory of Basic Values. Online Readings in Psychology and Culture, 2, 1. 2020 was the year we all became suddenly aware of the interconnectedness of our global challenges. The COVID-19 pandemic revealed how climate change, health disparities, racial discrimination, housing injustice, population displacement, and other factors all act and interact in complex adaptive systems. How might investment and design principles embed value in Read More
Healthy Materials: Waste and Circular Economies at Healthy Materials Symposium
This deeply inspiring group of humans approach circular economies and waste with a combination of no-nonsense Nordic-ness and dreamy design. This is the now of sustainable design: Waste & Circular Economies Kate Daly, Executive Director, Center for the Circular Economy at Closed Loop Partners Lasse Lind, Architect, Partner, Head of Consulting, GXN Seetal Solanki, Founder and Director, Ma-tt-er Moderator: Jen Van Der Meer Assistant Professor, Strategic Design & Management, Parsons Read More
How to Find Your Business Model
Business Modeling, the Game TL;DR Yes, you are living in a simulation How you die = punt on the business model Game progression = vital decisions leading to actions that unlock new business models Your reserves = courageluck:capital How to win the game: see the system levers, to take on the goliaths, to build a world with intended consequences I am in Montréal for StartupFest, one of the best startup Read More
Nobody Wants 2019 Vision
No More Predictions Please: What’s Your Range of Possibility for 2019 It’s time for new year’s predictions. But 2019 is too difficult a year to try to envision in comparison to the year that comes next. 2020 was the even year in our sights for the last 20 years. 2020 represented a horizon line in the future. 20/20 vision. A time when all would become clear. Were we right? Were Read More
2018: The Year Wall Street Became Socially Active
A call to articulate your long-term view We have this story we tell in business: a vicious loop of misaligned expectations and unrealized dreams. Investors, we tell ourselves, want short-term quarterly results. Visionaries have no place in large public companies because all decisions are optimized for the short term win. Unicorns, companies valued at a billion dollars or more, shy away from their IPO and public spotlight. Startup founders aim Read More
Will Your Health Business Model Survive?
Stress-testing your business for a new policy agenda Since the election, US stocks are mostly up. Except hospital stocks. Public hospitals like HCA are worth looking at the stock charts to see how wrong we were about the election – rising high the day before, tanking the day after. Then there are the health insurance companies like Aetna and Cigna are on the rise. United Healthcare is the best-performing stock Read More
Personas, TAM/SAM/TM
Business 101.1 for ITP, Gallatin, Journalism, School of Professional Studies. You’ll find the current team formation topics and people as of today 9/19/2016. Contact Jen or Josh with any team changes – or reflect your changes next week. 6 core teams and recent changes in direction: Fragrances Uber for Yoga Prisons Social Community for Designers Ergonomic Furniture Assistive Tech – Colostomy Bag Assistive Tech, also Mental Health Provider Finder for LGBTQ Fashion Read More
Business Models and Entrepreneurial Strategy at Parsons The New School for Design
Excited to teach a revised and redesigned version of Lean at Parsons The New School for Design’s BBA program. Here’s the syllabus: BUSINESS MODELS AND ENTREPRENEURIAL STRATEGY Course Code: PUDM4322 CRN: 7370 | Section: A Instructor: Jen van der Meer Fall / 2016 Monday / 9:00 AM Location: 6 East 16th Street, Room 1108 Course Description This course prepares students with a hypothesis-driven approach to company formation. Students will work in Read More
Life Hack Tips to Reduce Decision Bias
Jen van der Meer Recommended by you, WeFestival, and 3 others One of us is not like the other We know that unconscious bias happens in all of us. We categorize, we find patterns, and we like to group people. We decide who is in our “in group” — and then we favor our group. This ability to tell who is a friend, and who is a foe, helped early humans survive. Read More
Why Your HealthTech Market Analysis is Probably Wrong
Have you had an eye exam at Warby Parker? If you’re in health tech, or just healthcare, and you wear glasses, I recommend you make your way to a Warby Retail location soon just for the experience. Go to the website – you can make an appointment Apple-Genius-bar-style. (Sorry Bay Area folks – their first eye exam locations are East Coast and Midwest). Why? Because how we look at trying to Read More