"There is no degree that you need to be an entrepreneur," says Simon, an assistant professor at Singapore Management University. Yet here he is, having built Handprint.tech from scratch—a nature tech platform that's already restored 3.5 million square meters of environment across 35 countries with just 10 employees.
Simon's journey from academia to entrepreneurship wasn't linear. After being forced to finish his PhD in just three months when his supervisor suddenly moved to Singapore, he found himself rebuilding his life in a new country. What started as an academic pursuit of corporate social responsibility eventually evolved into something much bigger—a company trying to solve the fundamental problem of making environmental action profitable for businesses.
In this candid interview, Simon shares the brutal realities of transitioning from academic thinking to entrepreneurial execution: the painful moment of laying off 16 people after overhiring, why they refuse to build any product without 10 signed letters of intent, and their audacious unofficial goal of winning the Nobel Prize for Peace.
Watch the full interview now on EO's YouTube channel! Below is the complete transcription of the interview. Minor edits have been made for clarity and readability.
Key Highlights:
"I think that's a really difficult thing to do like. There is no degree that you need to be an entrepreneur. Can you do it without? Sure. I teach business model innovation at university, so I had all this theoretical knowledge, but once you actually have to do it yourself, it's a very different thing."
"Maybe the most confrontational thing about building a company and building a team is that you're constantly realizing you can only do a very small part. You're completely reliant on everyone else to pull their weight."
"We are not building anything until we have 10 LOIs. If you build this, and it can do A, B, C, and D, I will buy it for this much money. Until you have that, I wouldn't start building a new company."
"We've kind of stated as an unofficial goal. We want to win the Nobel Prize for Peace, which is pretty unusual as a company. It won't be easy, but if we succeed as a company, it could happen. That's the goal."
"Maybe the most confrontational thing about building a company and building a team is that you're constantly realizing you can only do a very small part. You're completely reliant on everyone else to pull their weight."
"We are not building anything until we have 10 LOIs. If you build this, and it can do A, B, C, and D, I will buy it for this much money. Until you have that, I wouldn't start building a new company."
"We've kind of stated as an unofficial goal. We want to win the Nobel Prize for Peace, which is pretty unusual as a company. It won't be easy, but if we succeed as a company, it could happen. That's the goal."
From Belgium to Singapore: When Life Forces Your Hand
Can you tell us about your background and how you ended up in Singapore?
Simon: Simon was born in Belgium. From a young age, he wanted to do something meaningful. I went to study commercial engineering in Belgium. After writing my dissertation, I chose to do another degree in corporate social responsibility, so I moved from Belgium to the UK to pursue a second master's degree. However, he was told that if he pursues CSR, he wouldn't make any money because nobody in business really cares about it. But I was driven to do this and I thought, yeah, so for me, that's been the beginning of my pathway in the sustainability space.
After working at a small boutique firm, he eventually enrolled in a PhD program at Imperial College London. When I went into academia to do my PhD I was very convinced that this was going to be my pathway. Sitting in my office just thinking and writing, I really enjoyed doing this. But suddenly his supervisor told him he's leaving the college.
I was about 2 years and 11 months into my PhD when my supervisor called me into his office and said, 'You have to finish your PhD in 3 months because I'm moving to Singapore,' and I said, 'No, I still have at least 1 year,' and he said, 'Yeah, not anymore. I'm leaving, so you have to finish in 3 months, but if you manage to finish, I'll take you with me.'
I was reflecting on the fact that 6 hours before that meeting I had been dumped by the girl I was seeing and thought, 'Sure, all right, let's move to Singapore.' So I moved to Singapore at the beginning of 2015, initially as a postdoc and then from July 2016 as a professor.
After working at a small boutique firm, he eventually enrolled in a PhD program at Imperial College London. When I went into academia to do my PhD I was very convinced that this was going to be my pathway. Sitting in my office just thinking and writing, I really enjoyed doing this. But suddenly his supervisor told him he's leaving the college.
I was about 2 years and 11 months into my PhD when my supervisor called me into his office and said, 'You have to finish your PhD in 3 months because I'm moving to Singapore,' and I said, 'No, I still have at least 1 year,' and he said, 'Yeah, not anymore. I'm leaving, so you have to finish in 3 months, but if you manage to finish, I'll take you with me.'
I was reflecting on the fact that 6 hours before that meeting I had been dumped by the girl I was seeing and thought, 'Sure, all right, let's move to Singapore.' So I moved to Singapore at the beginning of 2015, initially as a postdoc and then from July 2016 as a professor.
The Problem That Became a Business
What fundamental problem is Handprint trying to solve?
Simon: When we look at why companies engage in environmental action, we find two reasons. Either they are forced by regulation or their leadership set up some type of voluntary action, pure goodwill basis. But this is not enough.
The fundamental problem that Handprint is trying to solve is making it valuable for companies to do something good in the world. Convincing a company to give money to an NGO is very hard. Why on earth would they do this? But if you can show that by doing so they are going to have more loyal customers or the cost of customer acquisition is going to go down, then it makes sense.
Matthias and I met in Singapore pretty much immediately after I landed, so we became friends. It wasn't until many years later that we started thinking about working together. In December 2019, we founded Handprint.
The fundamental problem that Handprint is trying to solve is making it valuable for companies to do something good in the world. Convincing a company to give money to an NGO is very hard. Why on earth would they do this? But if you can show that by doing so they are going to have more loyal customers or the cost of customer acquisition is going to go down, then it makes sense.
Matthias and I met in Singapore pretty much immediately after I landed, so we became friends. It wasn't until many years later that we started thinking about working together. In December 2019, we founded Handprint.
How did you come up with the name Handprint?
Simon: Initially the name of the company was the Green Company, and then we ended up going for Handprint.tech. The reason we picked Handprint as a name, Handprint is a scientific concept that is the opposite of a footprint. A footprint is all of the bad things that you do simply by virtue of living or by virtue of being a company, whereas Handprint is this idea and a construct that measures your positive impact.
I think having a tech domain, if you're in the tech business makes a lot of sense. Having a tech domain sets the balance right. We are a tech company. Most people who visit the website will see us as a tech company.
I think having a tech domain, if you're in the tech business makes a lot of sense. Having a tech domain sets the balance right. We are a tech company. Most people who visit the website will see us as a tech company.
Academia vs Entrepreneurship: A Brutal Reality Check
How has your academic background helped or hindered your entrepreneurial journey?
Simon: There is no degree that you need to be an entrepreneur. Can you do it without? Sure. I think the main reason why a degree can be quite helpful is you've developed some kind of grit. You've developed a level of persistence to do something for a prolonged period of time.
I teach business model innovation at university, so a lot of what I do with my students is to work with startups or to work with larger companies. So I had all this theoretical knowledge of how to do this or what should be done. Once you actually have to do it yourself, it's a very different thing.
I think there is a reason why there are very few academics that become successful entrepreneurs. Academia is about slow, in-depth search for truth. When you are an entrepreneur, every day has 10 deadlines.
Collaboration in academia tends to be quite simple because you work with people who are very similar, who have been trained to think and write in the same way as you. If you hire those kind of people in your company, you're screwed. You need different people. You need a lot more trust based on a lack of understanding, and that is a very big shift as well because it's hard to do as academics. We typically do everything ourselves or we work with a very small group of co-authors that are very similar to us. So I think these are really big challenges that I'm still grappling with every day.
I teach business model innovation at university, so a lot of what I do with my students is to work with startups or to work with larger companies. So I had all this theoretical knowledge of how to do this or what should be done. Once you actually have to do it yourself, it's a very different thing.
I think there is a reason why there are very few academics that become successful entrepreneurs. Academia is about slow, in-depth search for truth. When you are an entrepreneur, every day has 10 deadlines.
Collaboration in academia tends to be quite simple because you work with people who are very similar, who have been trained to think and write in the same way as you. If you hire those kind of people in your company, you're screwed. You need different people. You need a lot more trust based on a lack of understanding, and that is a very big shift as well because it's hard to do as academics. We typically do everything ourselves or we work with a very small group of co-authors that are very similar to us. So I think these are really big challenges that I'm still grappling with every day.
The Painful Lessons of Overhiring
What have been some of your biggest struggles over the past 4.5 years?
Simon: We've been around for 4.5 years. I think in a company of any size there will always be many struggles. There's been important disagreements among founders about strategic direction, but you have to deal with them. You can't just let them fester. You have to bring them out into the open, discuss, accept when you get your way or when you don't get your way, and then move on.
There was a moment that we grew too fast. We overhired. We were overly optimistic as entrepreneurs tend to be about our potential to rapidly turn one of our pieces of technology into a product that would really make revenue, and we basically overstretched and then that meant that at some point we had to let go of 16 people or something and then doing this and having the discussions with the leadership and it's like, 'OK, who are these people going to be' and then the evaluations, the emotional toll that has taken on many of us is quite painful.
In terms of the process, one of the things that we've really struggled with and continue to struggle with is that none of the founders really come out of a sales background. Developing a practice for how you sell complex technology to companies really isn't easy, and this is typically a very long term process. We've had sales cycles of over 2 years and as a small startup, having sales cycles that take over 2 years, that's not super appealing, so you need to figure out how we can accelerate this, so that's been a continuous learning.
There was a moment that we grew too fast. We overhired. We were overly optimistic as entrepreneurs tend to be about our potential to rapidly turn one of our pieces of technology into a product that would really make revenue, and we basically overstretched and then that meant that at some point we had to let go of 16 people or something and then doing this and having the discussions with the leadership and it's like, 'OK, who are these people going to be' and then the evaluations, the emotional toll that has taken on many of us is quite painful.
In terms of the process, one of the things that we've really struggled with and continue to struggle with is that none of the founders really come out of a sales background. Developing a practice for how you sell complex technology to companies really isn't easy, and this is typically a very long term process. We've had sales cycles of over 2 years and as a small startup, having sales cycles that take over 2 years, that's not super appealing, so you need to figure out how we can accelerate this, so that's been a continuous learning.
What about the technical side - any surprises there?
Simon: What for me has been a big struggle is as a non-product or a non-tech person. What would be great if we could do this and then this would happen. Then I talked to the product team and they said, 'Yeah, sure, give me $150,000 and I'll make it happen.' I was like, 'No, it's just a simple thing.' So for me that has been a massive learning that developing high quality software is costly and it takes a long time.
The One Rule That Changes Everything
What's the biggest lesson you've learned that you'd apply if you started over?
Simon: I've learned a lot about the things that I can't do. Maybe the most confrontational thing about building a company and building a team is that you're constantly realizing that you can only do a very small part. You're a small part of the puzzle. You're completely reliant on everyone else to pull their weight. My job is to maybe motivate them. But this collaborative effort is what makes or breaks the company.
The other thing that I have learned, we started building our first product too soon. We didn't do enough user research. We didn't get LOIs, letters of intent signed by customers. And if I would go back to the beginning with this knowledge in mind, this would be the one thing, we are not building anything until we have 10 LOIs. If you build this, and it can do A, B, C, and D, I will buy it for this much money. Until you have that, I wouldn't start building a new company.
The other thing that I have learned, we started building our first product too soon. We didn't do enough user research. We didn't get LOIs, letters of intent signed by customers. And if I would go back to the beginning with this knowledge in mind, this would be the one thing, we are not building anything until we have 10 LOIs. If you build this, and it can do A, B, C, and D, I will buy it for this much money. Until you have that, I wouldn't start building a new company.
The Reality of Climate Action in Developing Countries
How do you navigate the challenge of environmental action in different economic contexts?
Simon: It's impossible to convince someone with rational arguments that they should care about something. Caring for something or about something is an emotional thing. The reality, I think, is that we're never going to convince 100% of the people. You need to have a very small vocal minority, probably less than 10%, that really make decisions that can change the world.
When I look at Southeast Asia, where I've been living for the last decade, it's understandable people have very different concerns than people in Europe where I'm from. The level of economic development is not there. There's a lot of corruption.
One of the things that we are seeing in some of our reforestation work we're doing, we do a lot of mangrove restoration. Most of them are in Southeast Asia, Indonesia, incredibly important ecosystems, and they're being cut down. And even if you give them money, there will still be people cutting them down, and it's not because these people are horrible people that have as a goal, 'We want to destroy the planet.' No, they have as a goal, that if I cut 10 trees down now and I can sell the wood, then I can eat for a couple of days.
If your primary concerns in life are, 'Will I have food tomorrow,' then having these higher level goals of 'We need to protect planet and all life on the planet' sound very distant. This is not what people have in mind. The mission of educators and climate scientists is to close that gap, demonstrate to people that even within their lives they can make meaningful changes. They can do small things that actually will benefit themselves, will benefit their community, and will benefit the world.
When I look at Southeast Asia, where I've been living for the last decade, it's understandable people have very different concerns than people in Europe where I'm from. The level of economic development is not there. There's a lot of corruption.
One of the things that we are seeing in some of our reforestation work we're doing, we do a lot of mangrove restoration. Most of them are in Southeast Asia, Indonesia, incredibly important ecosystems, and they're being cut down. And even if you give them money, there will still be people cutting them down, and it's not because these people are horrible people that have as a goal, 'We want to destroy the planet.' No, they have as a goal, that if I cut 10 trees down now and I can sell the wood, then I can eat for a couple of days.
If your primary concerns in life are, 'Will I have food tomorrow,' then having these higher level goals of 'We need to protect planet and all life on the planet' sound very distant. This is not what people have in mind. The mission of educators and climate scientists is to close that gap, demonstrate to people that even within their lives they can make meaningful changes. They can do small things that actually will benefit themselves, will benefit their community, and will benefit the world.
The Nobel Prize Dream
What's your vision for the future, both for companies and for Handprint?
Simon: Large companies, if they want to be successful, they need to be sustainable. You can't be sustainable in the long run. The world that we know right now, which already has changed substantially, just won't be around for the next couple of centuries.
We are in a phase where all of the scientists, the climate scientists, are telling us that we are facing extinction level events if we are not changing the economy towards a more environmentally sustainable system. The future for our children and our children's children is going to be substantially more difficult.
We've kind of stated as an unofficial goal. We want to win the Nobel Prize for Peace, which is pretty unusual as a company. It won't be easy, but if we succeed as a company, it could happen. That's the goal. That's a stretch goal for Handprint.
We are in a phase where all of the scientists, the climate scientists, are telling us that we are facing extinction level events if we are not changing the economy towards a more environmentally sustainable system. The future for our children and our children's children is going to be substantially more difficult.
We've kind of stated as an unofficial goal. We want to win the Nobel Prize for Peace, which is pretty unusual as a company. It won't be easy, but if we succeed as a company, it could happen. That's the goal. That's a stretch goal for Handprint.
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