Matthew Perkins
Starting an internet company in the agriculture space. Our mission is to help growers and ag players increase crop yields both sustainably and profitably. If you are interested - get in touch!
| Headline: | Entrepreneur |
| Work status: | Employed Full-Time |
| Website: | http://www.yieldpop.com |
| Industries: | Internet |
| Skills: | Business, Editing, English, Entrepreneurship, French, German, Investment, Languages, Leadership, Management, Negotiation, Public speaking, Writing |
| Next step: | I'm a second year MBA at Harvard Business School and am due to graduate in June this year. Post-Harvard, my ambition is work for a cutting edge company that is at the forefront of business efforts to tackle climate change. |
| Location: | Zurich, Switzerland |
| Groups: | HBS Entrepreneurship Club, Ignite Clean Energy (ICE) |
| Visas: | EU, Australia, Switzerland |
| Interested in: | Finding engineers, Helping friends, Meeting new people, Professional opportunities, Raising money, Starting a company |
| Schools: | Harvard Business School, University of Durham |
WORK EXPERIENCE
| Employer: | Syngenta |
| Position: | Vegetables - Cucurbits Portfolio Manager |
| Time period: | June 2011 - May 2012 |
| Employer: | Syngenta |
| Position: | Corporate Strategy |
| Time period: | August 2009 - May 2011 |
| Employer: | BP Alternative Energy |
| Position: | Helios Global MBA Intern |
| Time period: | May 2008 - July 2008 |
| Description: | Designed a biomass fuel strategy for new alternative energy business targeting 3.5B emerging market consumers.
• Quantified the market as a $5.6B revenue opportunity and identified competitive threats. • Developed and compared different business models by evaluating the three phases of the value chain – sourcing, conversion and distribution – and modelling returns on investment. |
| Employer: | UK Department for International Development |
| Position: | Iraq Programme Manager |
| Time period: | July 2005 - February 2007 |
| Description: | Oversaw $280m infrastructure and economic development projects aimed at stabilising Iraq. Advised UK Ministers on economic, security and humanitarian issues. Led a diverse team of nine including three policy experts.
• Designed the economic and reconstruction elements of a new UK strategy aimed at stabilising Iraq; updated the Prime Minster bi-weekly on progress and bottlenecks in executing this new strategy. • Supervised major infrastructure investments designed to win support for the UK military presence in Basra such as a new $40m facility to provide water for 1 million people. • Managed the impact of the gradual UK military drawdown on civilian operations by continually assessing the security situation and winning approval for a smaller, more flexible staffing structure. • Helped Iraq’s Ministry of Finance implement the IMF’s $320m package of macro-economic and fiscal reforms by co-managing a team of economic experts in Baghdad and regularly assessing their impact. |
| Employer: | British Embassy Beijing |
| Position: | Water and Environment Programme Manager |
| Time period: | September 2003 - July 2005 |
| Description: | Day-to-day supervision of UK’s $90m portfolio of water and environment projects. Member of UK Ambassador’s team working on the UK-China Dialogue to improve bilateral relations. Responsible for two local staff.
• Supervised the early stage design of a ground-breaking $100m water and sanitation project in collaboration with the World Bank and UNICEF. • Authored a new framework for engaging China on global development issues such as aid to Africa and climate change endorsed by PM Tony Blair and PM Wen Jiabao in May 2004. • Coached two Chinese team members to supervise international consultants and manage large contracts; challenges included overcoming language barriers and exposing differences in business practises. |
| Employer: | International Trade Team |
| Position: | Policy Analyst |
| Time period: | December 2001 - November 2003 |
| Description: | Led on all aspects of the UK International Development Secretary’s participation in the 5th World Trade Organisation Ministerial meeting in Cancun, Mexico in September 2003: including detailed operations plan and speech writing. |
| Employer: | Corporate Performance Team |
| Position: | Desk Officer |
| Time period: | December 2000 - November 2002 |
| Description: | Advanced a radically new approach to assessing DFID’s performance as part of the 2002 Spending Review by designing a series of quantifiable public targets to measure the organisation’s effectiveness. |
EDUCATION
| University: | Harvard Business School |
| Time period: | 2006 - 2009 |
| Degree: | MBA |
| University: | University of Durham |
| Time period: | 1997 - 2001 |
| Degree: | History & Politics, BA |
INFORMATION
| Hobbies: | Ran London marathon in 2003 raising more than $10,000 for charity. Passionate about independent travel and skiing. |
| Memberships: | Board member of durham21, member of an HBS volunteer consulting project |
| Awards: | Fulbright Scholar |
Matthew is Following (5)
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Skipso - The Cleantech Platform
Skipso is an innovative online platform and vertical business to business marketplace that aggregates Cleantech professionals and businesses globally providing them with a new channel to carry out their business and unleash sustainable innovation.
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Opinno, Open Innovation
Opinno is a business accelerator based in Madrid, Boston and San Francisco. We bridge technologies from seed to series A funding, providing the following services: Business plan definition, IP protection, CEO sourcing, and VC roadshows
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Matthew's Contacts (3)
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Meredith Lobel
Harvard Business School, Candidate for Master in Business Administration, June 2009. Wesleyan University, BA in Sociology. Strategic Advisor to the Founder & CEO of Fee Resource Recovery.
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Maurice Gopikian
While preparing my next Start-up company, I dedicate some time to help other entrepreneurs. I have founded an International Business Angels Network, and acts as Business Angel, Business Developer, Fundraiser and Board Member.