Bas Lansdorp (M.Sc.) is a serial entrepreneur with out of this world ideas. In 2008, he started Ampyx Power, which was one of the first companies in the field of ‘airborne wind energy’ – wind energy with an aircraft attached to a cable. The company is still very successful and... Read more
Bas Lansdorp (M.Sc.) is a serial entrepreneur with out of this world ideas.
In 2008, he started Ampyx Power, which was one of the first companies in the field of ‘airborne wind energy’ – wind energy with an aircraft attached to a cable. The company is still very successful and recently announced a deal with energy company RWE to build a PowerPlane in an RWE wind park.
In 2011, he started Mars One, with the goal of organizing a ‘permanent settlement’ human mission to Mars – a one way trip. Mars One designed the mission, worked with aerospace companies like Lockheed Martin to come up with realistic technical solutions, and started a selection procedure, to look for teams that could train for permanent settlement missions to the red planet. The business case of Mars One was the media value of the human mission to Mars. With the media value of the Olympic Games as a benchmark, investors were attracted to move the company and the mission forward. Mars One had very successful start, with tens of millions of website views, contracts with aerospace companies, a very successful media campaign and appearances in popular culture shows like The Simpsons and Big Bang Theory. Later on Mars One was unsuccessful in raising a larger investment round and ended its operations in 2021, but not after having had a huge impact on the discussions about missions to Mars.
In 2021, Bas started a new company called NEDPAC to revolutionize the sustainability of the Dutch electricity market. NEDPAC aims to build a 5km diameter, 70m high dam and pumped storage hydro power facility, resulting in artificial reservoir in the North Sea, just off the coast of Rotterdam. The facility can store renewable energy when there is more supply than demand and deliver it back to the grid when there is not enough sun or wind. Large scale storage is a prerequisite for meeting the Netherlands’ legal obligations for renewable energy. The concept can also be implemented in other countries with shallow water, and for that reason can impact renewable energy production around the world.
Bas will tell you how he transformed his companies from ‘crazy ideas’ to the phase where large, established organizations are coming on board. He will tell you what he did wrong and what he did right, with enticing examples around renewability and the human mission to Mars. Bas’ story can help you to inspire your audience to think bigger, outside of the box or even outside of the planet.