Professor Philip Anderson, coordinator of the entrepreneurship area and director of the 3i Venturelab, states "Our faculty are very good at helping people achieve insight, and at developing their capacity to think about entrepreneurship. However, for practical counseling and coaching--whether someone needs to find financing, figure out how to do market research, have a set of financials reviewed, recruit key executives, manage relations with a board of directors, and so on--there is no substitute for the experience a veteran executive brings. The Entrepreneur in Residence programme will allow us to leverage INSEAD's ties with a select group of highly qualified senior leaders, who donate their time and energy to the Institute because they are interested in our mission, and in working with the calibre of people we have among our students and alumni. Providing world-class advisory services to students

Professor Philip Anderson

The first three Entrepreneurs in Residence appointed under the programme are:

Steve Haslett (UK), who after 21 years in various executive positions with Hewlett-Packard in marketing and business development, spent three years with Dell as vice president of business development and then vice president of marketing for the Asia-Pacific region. Steve was tapped as CEO and chairman of Black Octopus, a Hong Kong-based mobile network startup company, before moving back this year to Singapore, where he operates his own consultancy. His office hours are conducted on the Singapore campus, to which he brings more than two decades of experience in Asia.

Claude Charles (USA), a veteran investment banker, private equity investor, and financial advisor with extensive experience in Europe and Asia. He has been Executive Director of SG Warburg & Co. in London; Chief Executive of Trident International Finance in Hong Kong, and a founder and Managing Director of Dow Banking Corporation. Presently CEO of Great Tangley Corporation, a private international consulting firm, Claude alternates his office hours between the Singapore and Fontainebleau campuses.

Peter Zaboji (Germany), who helped build Siemens' PBX business for nearly 20 years after earning his MBA at INSEAD. Peter has also been CEO of Schöller International Group, CEO of O.tel.o (a venture created by Germany’s two largest power generating companies), founder of the European Telecom Exchange, and most recently CEO of Tenovis, a Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts buyout of Bosch's PBX business. Peter is now an angel investor living in the south of France, and conducts his office hours on the Fontainebleau campus.

"We are very pleased to have attracted people of such high caliber," says Professor Anderson, "and we are committed to working with a select group Entrepreneurs in Residence who uphold the high standard represented by Steve, Claude, and Peter."