Meet Louisa and Tom: our interns

Please, introduce yourself…

Louisa: Hi! I am Louisa, a 22nd year-old German business student. I came to the Netherlands three years ago for an internship but fell in love with the Netherlands, so decided to pursue my degree here. I started working at Venture IQ as a part-time Technology Analyst in January 2021 and am now contributing to the firm as a full-time intern.

Tom: Hey, my name is Tom and I am a student with an affinity for entrepreneurship, finance and consultancy. In September, I joined Venture IQ as an Innovation Scouting intern. Together with eight other guys, I live in the center of Rotterdam.

Last year, I finished my double bachelor's in Econometrics and Economics at Erasmus University Rotterdam. Some things I enjoy doing in my spare time are running, skiing , music, field hockey, reading and padel.

How does Venture IQ help you in your future career/what did you learn?

Louisa: Having a business background, I was seeking to expand my technical knowledge and ability to deep dive into new industries and topics quickly. Turns out Venture IQ is the perfect opportunity to combine both! I learned how to break down difficult concepts into a logical and tangible taxonomy that not only helps the client to grasp the insights, but first of all ourselves when scouting companies in a completely new domain. So far, I worked on projects ranging from InsurTech to demand response players and food box suppliers. Am I an expert in any of these areas? No, definitely not, but by now I have a way stronger skill set to understand complex concepts faster and determine relevancies within these.

Tom: While my studies challenged and taught me a lot, it was a bit too theoretical for me. This year I am taking a year of my studies to further explore my professional interests and ambitions. At Venture IQ I have the chance to get work experience with leading M&A, innovation and strategy teams in a broad variety of industries. Thereby, we are given the freedom to work on projects that are within your interests.

One thing I have learned up until now is how to break down a project into clear structured steps. This helps me in client interaction and the presentation of our findings, but it also prevents carelessness in my work. Furthermore, we dive into unfamiliar subjects all the time, which taught me how to search and ask the right questions.

What do you do on a daily basis?

Louisa: Lately, I have been working mostly on M&A scouting projects. After discussing the scope with the project lead, a lot of creativity is asked of us to determine approaches to a) find possible in-scope companies and b) determine the data points that will determine the relevancy when ranking the companies against each other. In client meetings, we understand the nuances between the companies from the point of a client better and integrate it into the workflow. Sometimes, I am busy with extensive data analysis to yield the most interesting insights challenging my excel knowledge. Ultimately, I am busy with creating a slide share, compiling the most important insights in a pretty manner - we are consultants after all :) .

Tom: Since I am still at the beginning of my time at Venture IQ, I am still learning the ins and outs of the job. In close contact with one of the consultants, I work on projects from the first client meeting to the delivery of the search results. At the beginning of the project we work on the scope of the search, defining a taxonomy and finding relevant sources, while at the end of the project we focus on structuring, analysing and displaying the results. So every day is different!

What do you need to be successful in your role?

Louisa: As we often work on projects busy in niche markets, knowing how to formulate questions is crucial. What sounds super simple, is at times not that straight forward when facing an iterative project process where constant alignment determines a project’s success.

Tom: To work effectively and efficiently, it is of key importance to know who you are working for and what they are looking for. Before the start of a project I like to read up on the subject and relevant developments. This is necessary as it helps the client and us in setting detailed deliverables and manages expectations.

What do you like most about your job?

Louisa: I really value the degree of freedom in our daily work and how much it is supported by the whole Venture IQ team. Internally, that means that our voices to actively shape our processes are being heard and implemented. When working with clients, the independent working style also refers to market research outcome: if we are not confident in the market or find few pioneers, we also don’t filter our insights to flatter our clients and focus on a realistic depiction of the opportunities.

Tom: The thing I enjoy most is the variety of my job. Every project, I learn about niche markets and technologies I did not know anything about and become an expert on them.