RUG lecturer and student of Management & Organization in the KRO series Dragons’ Den

Bernd Mintjes, Business Studies lecturer at the RUG and self-employed organization consultant, will be working on the new KRO series entitled Dragons’ Den. The series of programmes will be broadcast from Friday 16 March (8.30 p.m.) on Nederland 3. One of Mintjes’s students will also be competing in the programme.

In Dragons’ Den, previously broadcast on the BBC where it enjoyed years of success, budding entrepreneurs go in search of capital to invest in their idea or business venture. The candidates give a short presentation to five prospective investors, who then decide whether or not to invest. Together with other experts, Mintjes is one of the editorial staff charged with selecting the 40 candidates who will be allowed to present their ideas to the potential investors.

‘I am a lecturer for the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Master’s degree programme at the Groningen Faculty of Management & Organization’, explains Mintjes. ‘I teach subjects focusing on innovative start-up businesses. The KRO approached me on the basis of this expertise and because I have been investing money from my own investment fund in emerging, innovative businesses for a number of years. I previously worked on Teleac series featuring various topics including start-up and growing businesses.’

Student

Mintjes is planning to use the programmes during his lectures. ‘It’s a substantial part of the teaching material’, he explains. ‘The Groningen Business Studies student taking part as a candidate will also be giving an account of his experiences. The practical side of my Small Business & Entrepreneurship lectures has always been a prominent part of the course: all the students graduating from my courses have been involved in practical research.’

When the Minor in Entrepreneurship is launched in 2008, students from other programmes at the RUG will also be able to take courses in this subject. Mintjes is co-initiator of this minor.

Mintjes

Bernd W. Mintjes graduated in Business Economics and Business Psychology at the RUG and in the USA. After a career as a business consultant and manager for a national consultancy organization, he started his own consultancy practice: Maxwell Group Strategy & Investment. This company provides advice to businesses and non-profit organizations on taking decisions relating to strategy and investment.