Together with All Energy Day, we recently hosted a lunch lecture at TU Delft, for students interested in entrepreneurship and sustainability. The event aimed to offer insights into the journey from being a technical student to founding a sustainable startup. For this purpose, there was no one better suited than the co-founder of one of our own portfolio companies, Peter Paul van Voorst tot Voorst from Skoon Energy.
The lunch lecture was moderated by our own Ole Dorhout Mees, a member of the current student board. Together they discussed the start, highs and lows of Peter Paul’s entrepreneurial journey. Peter Paul founded Skoon Energy after his bachelors in maritime technology at the TU Delft. While he only had the idea for Skoon Energy, he was already called by RTL Z for an interview about his ‘startup’. From this moment on, Peter Paul started to call himself a ‘startup founder’.
Through innovative social media strategies, he captured the attention of his now co-founder, Daan Geldermans, who always aspired to be an entrepreneur. This dynamic duo formed a solid founding team. Peter Paul emphasized the importance of shared ambitious visions among startup founders, describing it as a "common moonshot vision”. However, he pointed out that while one founder might excel in focusing on the space between Earth and the ozone layer, another might find their strength in navigating the space between the ozone layer and the moon.
When Peter Paul was asked about the moment he decided to expand his team beyond the founders, he responded with a notable quote:
“Working at a corporate is like a room on fire: when a fire breaks out, everyone collaborates to extinguish it. Running a startup is like a house on fire: if we want to extinguish the fire, decisions must be made about which room to save and where to allow the fire to burn. Eventually, there comes a point where hiring ‘firemen’ becomes crucial to extinguish the fires and tackle challenges.”
The lunch lecture came to a closing with an entrepreneurial lesson Peter Paul shared with the students:
“Every single one of you is able to start a company, just search for the answer by asking the right questions.”
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