Every entrepreneur knows the feeling of FOMO when it comes to staying updated with scientific breakthroughs that could inspire new ideas or improve their business operations. As a founder and entrepreneur, my curiosity radar is always on, and recently, I came across a fascinating collection of science stories on Ars Technica. These weren’t random discoveries but remarkable developments that blend science, technology, and even history in ways that could inspire creativity for any female founder, especially in Europe. Here's a deep dive into the findings that struck a chord with me, together with insights and lessons we can take back to our startups.
The Stories We Almost Missed
-
The Duke Murder Mystery: Lessons from Medieval Forensics
In Hungary, an interdisciplinary team used genetic testing, 3D modeling, and carbon dating to identify the remains of Duke Bela, a figure murdered in 1272. The precision here wasn’t just in identifying the duke but also reconstructing how he was assassinated. The reconstruction revealed anger-fueled attack patterns, teaching us how history and science can combine for clarity.Takeaway for entrepreneurs: Collaboration across fields isn’t a luxury, it’s a necessity. Whether you're running a fintech startup or crafting a new tech tool, integrating perspectives (finance plus behavioral psychology for fintech, for example) can drive breakthroughs.
-
Grunting Woodpeckers and Peak Performance
Woodpeckers grunt as they peck, a discovery debunking the myth of shock-absorbing skulls. Instead, it’s their body mechanics, coupled with exhalation patterns, that help them work efficiently. This study in biomechanics reminds us how each small movement or seemingly insignificant habit has a purpose.Lesson: As a startup founder, revisit physical and mental habits contributing to your efficiency. Are your routines perfectly timed to minimize resource wastage? Pro tip: Use tools like time-blocking apps or Pomodoro techniques tailored to your workflow.
-
Wine Fermentation and Raisins: Upending Old Assumptions
Did ancient winemakers know fermentation relied on yeasts from dried grapes, not fresh ones? Researchers showed that raisins, especially sun-dried ones, have higher ethanol-producing capabilities. This innovation in ancient practices underscores that sometimes the "wrong" ingredient is the magic you need.Entrepreneur’s insight: Experimentation matters, whether it's with MVPs or marketing tools. I sometimes test marketing “ingredients,” like unconventional ads on niche platforms. You might fail, but when it works, it’ll feel like reinventing wine-making.
-
Color-Changing Pigments from Octopuses
San Diego researchers bioengineered microbes to produce cephalopod-inspired pigments. These color-changing qualities are perfect for creating natural dyes or even environmental sensors. What’s notable? A single tweak in their method increased pigment yield 1,000 times.Take it back to your business: Small optimizations in process or product can multiply output drastically. This could be as easy as rethinking email automation workflows or using analytics platforms to decode customer behavior in real-time.
-
Balancing the Elderly with Robotic Body Swaps
A robot-assisted tool showing physical-feedback delays uncovered real insights into why elderly people fall. Researchers corrected mechanical deficiencies by tweaking inertia. The lesson here? Smart assistive technologies aren’t just futuristic, they’re adaptable and driven by listening to unmet needs.Lesson for us: Always be tweaking and refining based on your user's needs. Constantly debugging your products isn’t just good maintenance, it’s also differentiating yourself as a founder who listens. For sole European B2B startups, this might mean letting smaller but active users beta test your features.
-
X Combats Misinformation: Peer Moderation Works
X (formerly Twitter) turned a corner with its Community Notes feature, encouraging crowd-sourced fact-checking. Based on behavior data gathered post-election, notes publicly tagged on misinformation made content 32% likelier to be taken down. The trick was visibility, making consequences obvious.How I see this applying: Founders in any field should recognize transparency’s power. Building tools where accountability isn’t hidden, like platforms that reward customers for reporting bugs or creating user review ecosystems, could encourage self-moderating communities too.
Strategies Inspired by Breakthroughs
We’ve walked through science's highlights, but now let’s shift gears and ask: How can we make these work for us? Running startups, and bootstrapping them like I do, means you're applying lessons in real time. Here’s how to put these stories to work.
1. Foster Technology by Cross-Pollination
The Hungarian murder case stood out to me because it exemplifies the power of bringing in multiple disciplines, genetics, engineering, historical reconstruction, for a single purpose. How can you assemble such a team within a startup? Tap into professional groups or offer internships for niche talent. For my own projects in AI-based IP protection, integrating legal advisors early streamlined later hiccups.
2. Innovation Isn’t about Originality Alone
The researchers who found yeast on raisins didn’t invent fermentation, they just let nature work differently. If you’re developing a product in the saturated SaaS space, ask: Could your standout feature lie in refashioning something existing? This methodology led me to gamifying entrepreneurial education with my startup game.
3. Perfect Your Iterations, Trust Small Wins
The biomechanical efficiencies in woodpeckers remind me of this mantra. When managing a marketing budget, focus on micro-improvements. That’s especially essential if your funding largely comes from grants or angel funds within Europe, as strict overhead limits demand hyper-efficiency.
Common Mistakes We Can Avoid
Here are a few hurdles to steer clear of, inspired by this mix of invention, experimentation, and discipline:
- Anchoring Solutions Without Data: Just like misunderstanding fermentation, you might jump into an assumption about your audience, only to miss root causes. Set up customer discovery sessions before hiring engineers.
- Discouraging Cross-Specialization: Many startups box people into roles: the marketer markets, and the developer codes. Incentivize flexible thinking. You don’t need octopus-inspired science teams, but you do need devs trained to think about users.
- Skipping Transparent Moderation: Transparency wins user trust, whether combating misinformation (like X) or generating feedback. Automate something, yes, but let people participate.
How to Implement These Innovative Lessons Tomorrow
If you’re itching to roll up your sleeves, here’s how to adopt what you’ve learned today into tomorrow's operations:
- Thursday Morning Meeting: Discuss any operational "dead zones" across company departments. How can you bring innovation into lazy workflows?
- Weekend Team Hackathon: Make cross-disciplinary collaboration a practice. Create teams to brainstorm organically, could your customer service people show coders something new?
- Next Quarter Startup Event: Engage smaller experimenters in European hubs like Amsterdam or Tallinn who host focused meetups.
Female-Led European Entrepreneurship: My Takeaway
Science, inspired by collaboration and practice, can energize us as women in the European startup ecosystem. Every business experiment you manage, whether it's digging deep into customers' implicit needs or chasing unlikely partnerships, requires antidotes to perfectionism. Sometimes detours (like raisins over grapes!) will help us see results faster, and more purposefully.
If you’ve been inspired by these seemingly far-off science stories, let me remind you: your startup is a real-world experiment itself. Test, adjust, and grow. Keep that momentum high.
FAQ
1. How were Duke Bela's remains from 1272 identified?
Using genetic analysis, 3D modeling, and radiocarbon dating, researchers confirmed the remains belonged to Duke Bela and reconstructed his assassination. Learn more about the forensic study
2. Why do woodpeckers grunt when they peck?
A study revealed that woodpeckers use grunts to synchronize muscle movements, enhancing their pecking efficiency like power-breathing athletes. Explore the research on woodpecker biomechanics
3. How does yeast in raisins improve fermentation?
Researchers discovered that dried raisins host a higher yeast population, allowing for better fermentation compared to fresh grapes. Check out the study on raisin fermentation
4. What is special about the octopus-inspired xanthommatin pigment?
Bioengineered microbes have significantly increased the production of xanthommatin, a pigment used for eco-friendly dyes and sensors. Learn more about the pigment development
5. How are robots helping elderly people with balance issues?
Body-swap robotic systems simulate delayed neuromuscular feedback, helping researchers design exoskeletons to improve elderly balance. Discover advances in balance robotics
6. Does X's Community Notes feature reduce misinformation?
A study found that posts flagged by X's Community Notes were 32% more likely to be voluntarily deleted, showing the power of community fact-checking. Learn about the impact of X's Community Notes
7. What did the Duke Bela case teach about interdisciplinary research?
The collaboration of geneticists, historians, and forensic experts showed how cross-disciplinary work creates significant breakthroughs. Explore the forensic research
8. How can woodpecker biomechanics inspire humans?
Their efficient pecking mechanics, powered by precise muscle coordination, could inspire innovations in sports science and bioengineering. Read more about the biomechanics study
9. What can startups learn from the fermentation study?
The study emphasizes the importance of experimenting with unconventional resources, like raisins for fermentation, to discover innovative solutions. Check out the research on fermentation
10. How has biotechnology improved pigment production?
Genetic modifications in microbes have scaled up the eco-friendly production of pigments, demonstrating the potential of synthetic biology. Explore the research on xanthommatin pigment
About the Author
Violetta Bonenkamp, also known as MeanCEO, is an experienced startup founder with an impressive educational background including an MBA and four other higher education degrees. She has over 20 years of work experience across multiple countries, including 5 years as a solopreneur and serial entrepreneur. Throughout her startup experience she has applied for multiple startup grants at the EU level, in the Netherlands and Malta, and her startups received quite a few of those. She’s been living, studying and working in many countries around the globe and her extensive multicultural experience has influenced her immensely.
Violetta Bonenkamp's expertise in CAD sector, IP protection and blockchain
Violetta Bonenkamp is recognized as a multidisciplinary expert with significant achievements in the CAD sector, intellectual property (IP) protection, and blockchain technology.
CAD Sector:
- Violetta is the CEO and co-founder of CADChain, a deep tech startup focused on developing IP management software specifically for CAD (Computer-Aided Design) data. CADChain addresses the lack of industry standards for CAD data protection and sharing, using innovative technology to secure and manage design data.
- She has led the company since its inception in 2018, overseeing R&D, PR, and business development, and driving the creation of products for platforms such as Autodesk Inventor, Blender, and SolidWorks.
- Her leadership has been instrumental in scaling CADChain from a small team to a significant player in the deeptech space, with a diverse, international team.
IP Protection:
- Violetta has built deep expertise in intellectual property, combining academic training with practical startup experience. She has taken specialized courses in IP from institutions like WIPO and the EU IPO.
- She is known for sharing actionable strategies for startup IP protection, leveraging both legal and technological approaches, and has published guides and content on this topic for the entrepreneurial community.
- Her work at CADChain directly addresses the need for robust IP protection in the engineering and design industries, integrating cybersecurity and compliance measures to safeguard digital assets.
Blockchain:
- Violetta’s entry into the blockchain sector began with the founding of CADChain, which uses blockchain as a core technology for securing and managing CAD data.
- She holds several certifications in blockchain and has participated in major hackathons and policy forums, such as the OECD Global Blockchain Policy Forum.
- Her expertise extends to applying blockchain for IP management, ensuring data integrity, traceability, and secure sharing in the CAD industry.
Violetta is a true multiple specialist who has built expertise in Linguistics, Education, Business Management, Blockchain, Entrepreneurship, Intellectual Property, Game Design, AI, SEO, Digital Marketing, cyber security and zero code automations. Her extensive educational journey includes a Master of Arts in Linguistics and Education, an Advanced Master in Linguistics from Belgium (2006-2007), an MBA from Blekinge Institute of Technology in Sweden (2006-2008), and an Erasmus Mundus joint program European Master of Higher Education from universities in Norway, Finland, and Portugal (2009).
She is the founder of Fe/male Switch, a startup game that encourages women to enter STEM fields, and also leads CADChain, and multiple other projects like the Directory of 1,000 Startup Cities with a proprietary MeanCEO Index that ranks cities for female entrepreneurs. Violetta created the "gamepreneurship" methodology, which forms the scientific basis of her startup game. She also builds a lot of SEO tools for startups. Her achievements include being named one of the top 100 women in Europe by EU Startups in 2022 and being nominated for Impact Person of the year at the Dutch Blockchain Week. She is an author with Sifted and a speaker at different Universities. Recently she published a book on Startup Idea Validation the right way: from zero to first customers and beyond, launched a Directory of 1,500+ websites for startups to list themselves in order to gain traction and build backlinks and is building MELA AI to help local restaurants in Malta get more visibility online.
For the past several years Violetta has been living between the Netherlands and Malta, while also regularly traveling to different destinations around the globe, usually due to her entrepreneurial activities. This has led her to start writing about different locations and amenities from the POV of an entrepreneur. Here’s her recent article about the best hotels in Italy to work from.
About the Publication
Fe/male Switch is an innovative startup platform designed to empower women entrepreneurs through an immersive, game-like experience. Founded in 2020 during the pandemic "without any funding and without any code," this non-profit initiative has evolved into a comprehensive educational tool for aspiring female entrepreneurs.The platform was co-founded by Violetta Shishkina-Bonenkamp, who serves as CEO and one of the lead authors of the Startup News branch.
Mission and Purpose
Fe/male Switch Foundation was created to address the gender gap in the tech and entrepreneurship space. The platform aims to skill-up future female tech leaders and empower them to create resilient and innovative tech startups through what they call "gamepreneurship". By putting players in a virtual startup village where they must survive and thrive, the startup game allows women to test their entrepreneurial abilities without financial risk.
Key Features
The platform offers a unique blend of news, resources,learning, networking, and practical application within a supportive, female-focused environment:
- Skill Lab: Micro-modules covering essential startup skills
- Virtual Startup Building: Create or join startups and tackle real-world challenges
- AI Co-founder (PlayPal): Guides users through the startup process
- SANDBOX: A testing environment for idea validation before launch
- Wellness Integration: Virtual activities to balance work and self-care
- Marketplace: Buy or sell expert sessions and tutorials
Impact and Growth
Since its inception, Fe/male Switch has shown impressive growth:
- 5,000+ female entrepreneurs in the community
- 100+ startup tools built
- 5,000+ pieces of articles and news written
- 1,000 unique business ideas for women created
Partnerships
Fe/male Switch has formed strategic partnerships to enhance its offerings. In January 2022, it teamed up with global website builder Tilda to provide free access to website building tools and mentorship services for Fe/male Switch participants.
Recognition
Fe/male Switch has received media attention for its innovative approach to closing the gender gap in tech entrepreneurship. The platform has been featured in various publications highlighting its unique "play to learn and earn" model.
