Paris de l’Etraz, PhD

Professor IE University

Overview

Paris de l’Etraz has spent over 20 years in investment banking and venture capital, mainly at UBS and ABN AMRO Bank. In 1999, he received his first of two patents regarding business contact networking. Since 2005, he has been in the business of raising funds, setting up new companies, and selling or buying companies through his investment banking boutique Amazing Lab in Switzerland..

Today, he runs the Venture Lab, Europe’s largest Business School Accelerator, at IE Business School where teaches entrepreneurship as well as Corporate Innovation at many of the world’s largest companies. He has accelerated over 2,500 startups in the last 12 years and also co-runs the Accelerator in Azerbaiján for the Ministry of Education as well as the FoodService Accelerator for TDF in KSA among many other entrepreneurship programs in the GCC.

Paris is presently Chairman of the Applied Innovation Institute in Silicon Valley and Singapore, Board member of Nesma technology in Saudi Arabia as well as Board member of QSTP in Qatar, part of the Qatar Foundation.

Paris received his PhD for his work in organizational behavior focusing on the relationship of professionals with uncertainty. His research today is based on the role of comfort with uncertainty in growth mindsets. He teaches entrepreneurship to MBAs, MIMs and BBAs in IE Business School and at KEIO University in Japan.

Paris is a regular speaker in the entrepreneurship circuit , having spoken in 2023 at Biban , 2024 at RiseUp Riyadh and RiseUpEgypt 2023, 2024 at LEAP,  as well as many others outside the GCC like South Summit Spain 2024 and South Summit Brazil 2023.

His topics include: the making of the entreprenurial mindset, open innovation from internal to venture building startups to Startup M&A, 12 secrets to being an entrepreneur as well as as many others.

Education and Degrees

Languages Spoken