Andy Bäcker

Entrepreneur

I want to change the world.

Couchsurfing, Avego, Groupon

Most rewarding: Knowing that one can really make a difference.
When I´m 100 years old and lay in my death bed, I´ll know that at least I gave it my best shot to make the world we live in a better place. For all species.

Most frustrating: The learning curve. Looking back and seeing how one could have made things better.

Sorry. I don´t know. There are many mistakes, but finding the no. 1?
One very unfortunate mistake that entrepreneurs could make, is, in spite of all the hardships along the way, not having fun and trully believing in what one is doing. That way, if one were to fail, there would be little regrets.

1. Find, create and grow synergies at the appropriate moment..
2. Be ambitious from the get-go (which, doesn´t necessarily mean that you shouldn´t start small, but know where you want to end up and see how every action gets you closer to that goal).
3. Read the top 3 lessons from many entrepreneurs.

Started specializing in the field of sustainable design since the first year of  BA in Architecture at the University of Manchester (UK) in 1995. After completing the Master´s in Architecture at the University of Michigan in 1999, started working for William McDonough & Partners in Charlottesville, Virginia. In 2003 became Special Assistant to William McDonough and Communications Director at McDonough Consulting. During this time worked on projects for Ford, IBM, GAP, Herman Miller, among others.

Founded in 2005 AEBdESIGN in Bilbao (Spain) offering services in sustainable design & consulting. Worked on projects for Harvard University, Guggenheim Foundation, ArcelorMittal, University of Libya, WM+P, BBVA, IDOM, Tecnalia/Labein, among others.

In 2009 founded Sustainable Reference, a company focused towards helping jumpstart the transition to a green economy at a global scale. The company´s goal is to help reduce >1% of global human induced CO₂ emissions thanks to sharing sustainable knowledge in a more effective manner and at an unprecedented broad scale (long tail).  

LEED Accredited Professional since 2002, a Collaborating Professor at ESEUNE (MBA and Exec.-MBA programs) since 2008 and an Associate Professor at Instituto de Empresa (IE) (Architecture program) since 2009. Having lived in 8 countries and speaking 6 languages has helped to approach challenges with an open and creative mind-set.