On November 24th, a special edition of The Handshake was held at The Hague Humanity Hub, featuring Alex Gunkel. Alex is the Managing Director of Space4Good – an organisation using space technology for environmental and social impact. Organised in collaboration with PLNT as part of Ready to Explore: Green & Just Futures, the session was a chance for young climate changemakers to connect, reflect on the current state of the sector, and learn from Alex’s inspiring career journey and insights into mission-driven entrepreneurship.
Technology as a means to an ends
“Technology as a tool? Absolutely,” noted Alex, when discussing the value of innovation and emerging tech for impact entrepreneurs. “But I think we have to be careful not to make technology the purpose of our journey.” He urged the audience to focus on the problem they want to solve, using technology as a means to tackle it rather than technology being their final destination.
“One problem can have 99 solutions, but one solution may not have a problem.”
The value of community and a changing sector
Alex also encouraged young changemakers and entrepreneurs to seek out networks and an ecosystem that can support their ventures. Whether at the Humanity Hub, or at startup incubators, he credits much of his success to being able to tap into a community of mission-driven innovators, eager to help each other. “This support ecosystem has grown vastly over the last ten years,” he added.
Having mentored early-stage impact startups for over a decade, Alex also identified several new trends in the new generation of entrepreneurs: they are more conscious of sustainability, diversity, and their ventures’ potential to make positive change. At the same time, “the needs of startups are more understood,” and there is an increasing number of opportunities for young entrepreneurs. “There’s a much larger impact investment scene nowadays than ten years ago,” he stated, especially in Europe.
Nonetheless, Alex cautioned against naively assuming that the road to success will be easy. “I’m not happy about the geopolitical climate. There’s more hate circulating instead of hope, fear instead of support.” He explained that increasing budget cuts, the de-prioritisation of sustainability, and political instability reverberate through the mission-driven sector and particularly affect impact startups.
“Despite this, I’m very hopeful about the next generation of changemakers,” he concluded. “I’m very happy to see how vibrant the ecosystem is.”
Key Takeaways
Startups are becoming more mission-driven, green, and diverse. They are increasingly supported by a greater availability of resources, both in terms of impact investment and collaboration networks.
We are experiencing an unprecedented democratisation of technology, with a larger-than-ever amount of people having access to novel tech, making it easier for entrepreneurs to harness it for impact.
The biggest challenge for entrepreneurs is to know when to pivot away from a venture when it is not impactful, profitable, or viable. In the words of Alex: “Don’t fall in love with the solution, fall in love with the problem.”
Balancing impact and profit is key when establishing a mission-driven startup. Entrepreneurs must establish such checks and balances in the working culture early on.