NEWS & INSIGHT
GROWING PROMINENCE OF ENTREPRENEURIAL ECOSYSTEM IN FUNDING
SCHOOL: Insper COUNTRY: Brazil
Funds raised by companies owned by students and alumni of Insper will represent at least 20 per cent of total funding across Brazil in 2023, up from 10 per cent last year, according to an estimate from the school’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Hub. Central to this total is the R$1 billion (c $200 million) raised by fintech firm QI Tech, where Insper economics graduate Marcelo Bentivoglio is a co-founder and CFO. The amount raised, as part of an investment round led by the private equity manager General Atlantic, is so far the largest achieved by a start-up in Brazil this year. “Insper entrepreneurs have been able to demonstrate the value of their businesses and build companies with solid proposals, which keeps them resilient even in the face of market downturns,” said Innovation and Entrepreneurship Hub co-ordinator Thomaz Martins. Noting that a growing number of ventures emanate from Insper’s engineering and MBA programmes, Martins pointed to the role of the school’s entrepreneurship track in disseminating good start-up practice. Offering more than 20 subjects, it can be taken by any student on any programme. “Insper has the mission of training leaders to be protagonists and transform Brazil,” Martins asserted. Financial aid can also play a role. Bentivoglio received a partial scholarship for his studies and is now a donor himself: “I am very grateful for everything I experienced at the university. I am proud and happy to be able to contribute whatever I can,” he disclosed. The start‑up CFO is also a mentor to an Insper student, as well as a regular guest speaker and teacher of entrepreneurship and fintech classes. Institutional relations manager Ana Carolina Velasco described Bentivoglio as “a testament to the commitment and inspiration of our community and a shining example of the potential that the scholarship programme achieves.” TBD
Whether you’re working in the office or at home, there’s no escaping digital technology. Digital tools have become the norm since Covid, even for office-based employees, who still need to communicate with their remote colleagues as members of a hybrid work organisation. But why is it so difficult to stay focused on video calls? And why do you end up feeling so drained afterwards? Assistant professor of human resources management and organisational behaviour at Neoma Business School Agata Mirowska, together with Rennes School of Business associate professor Tuba Bakici, have provided an answer to these questions, labelling the phenomenon ‘techno isolation’. The authors carried out qualitative interviews with 36 teleworkers in French companies, followed up by interviews with three human resource directors. The interviews shed light on techno isolation, said to be defined by a number of causes. First, digital tools inhibit personal interaction and the transfer of information, making it difficult to get immediate feedback or pick up on what your interlocutor is thinking. What’s more, it is difficult to pull a group together, take decisions or sort out disputes. Video-conferencing facilitators don’t get a ‘feel’ for their audience either, meaning they can’t adapt what they are going to say. In addition, it’s all too easy to get distracted; staying tuned in requires a great deal of effort and concentration. Techno isolation can also be attributed to the growing scarcity of informal interactions, such as coffee breaks, bumping into a colleague in the corridor or chats that veer into less work-related territory. To remedy the situation, the researchers suggest boosting digital training and technical support. You can also give colleagues a break from digital overload by planning days when all employees are on site and cutting back on the length and chain of digital interactions. The authors also recommend managerial training in best practices for moderating virtual teams in order to revive informal interactions. Alternatively, more sophisticated digital tools could be employed, such as immersive virtual worlds and online collaborative software. CD SOLVING THE STRAIN OF VIDEO-CONFERENCING SCHOOL: Neoma Business School COUNTRY: France
Ambition | DECEMBER 2023/JANUARY 2024 | 9
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