What Happens When Entrepreneurs Think Like Scientists: Insights from 132 Startups

Building on the previous post titled "Evidence from over 700 European startups demonstrates how science can boost startup revenue," it is worth highlighting a new insight from recent research. A paper just published in the journal Research Policy shows that entrepreneurs who adopt a scientific mindset build their startup teams differently. Based on a randomized controlled trial involving 132 early-stage startups, researchers found that founders trained in the Entrepreneurs-as-Scientists framework rethink who belongs on their teams. Instead of relying mainly on technical co-founders or personal connections, these entrepreneurs increasingly recruit individuals with managerial and industry experience to fill critical capability gaps. Over a 64-week period, teams exposed to the framework became more strategically balanced. The implications are clear: accelerators, investors, and founders may benefit from treating entrepreneurship more like an experiment—where team composition evolves to match the resources a startup truly needs. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048733326000521

The two studies complement each other: the analysis of 700 startups shows that scientific thinking boosts revenue, while the experiment with 132 ventures reveals the mechanism—founders rethink team composition to better support experimentation and learning.

PS - Startup success also depends on people "shaped by risk and sharpened by adversity, and thus capable of turning uncertainty into possibilities" like those highlighted here https://19-pacheco-torgal-19.blogspot.com/2026/02/nuno-loureiro-in-praise-of-failure.html

Open positions with highly competitive salaries for graduated or soon-to-graduate outstanding Ph.D. students in Energy Science and Engineering

 

I reproduce below an email I received from a professor at a university in that country, which has recently been hiring many top scientists in Europe and the United States, as well as the reply I sent him. Regarding the Outstanding-level qualification, it is very likely that it corresponds to the one used at top universities in the United States and Europe, which I mentioned here. https://zenodo.org/records/19001905

______________________________________________________________________________

De: F. Pacheco Torgal <torgal@civil.uminho.pt>
Enviado: 7 de março de 2026 15:52
Para: w.han@yangtzeu.edu.cn <w.han@yangtzeu.edu.cn>
Assunto: RE: Yangtze University New Energy Science and Engineering Faculty Recruitment/长江大学新能源科学与工程专业人才招聘-2026

 

Dear Professor Weiwei Han,

Thank you for your email. I also take this opportunity to share a broader reflection. It is somewhat regrettable that my country—and Europe more generally—does not seem to pursue a strategy comparable to China’s when it comes to valuing, attracting, and supporting top scientists. In recent years I have been increasingly impressed by the long-term vision China appears to be implementing in science and technology, particularly its determination to position itself among the world’s leading scientific powers. This is a topic I have reflected on several times on my blog. For instance, I wrote about China’s strategic mobilization of science in contrast with Europe’s current priorities in:

2023 - "China is mobilizing science while Europe prefers to fund criminals instead"

2025 - "Science – The Persistent Disruption Metric, Nobel Minds and China’s Long Game"

More broadly, I have long advocated the idea of a scientific society and in some ways, the trajectory China is following seems to be contributing to making parts of that vision closer to reality. Check my recent post "Harvard Is Wrong: Underpaying Talent Hurts Science Far More Than High Salaries"

Best regards

Pacheco Torgal

______________________________________________________________________________

De: w.han@yangtzeu.edu.cn <w.han@yangtzeu.edu.cn>
Enviado: 7 de março de 2026 15:18
Para: F. Pacheco Torgal <torgal@civil.uminho.pt>
Assunto: Yangtze University New Energy Science and Engineering Faculty Recruitment/长江大学新能源科学与工程专业人才招聘-2026

 

Dear Professor F. Pacheco-Torgal,

Greetings!

Yangtze University, a key university in Hubei Province, China, is sincerely recruiting full-time faculty in the field of New Energy Science and Engineering, based in Wuhan. The university offers highly competitive salaries and benefits, and outstanding candidates may have spouse job placement opportunities. We sincerely invite you to recommend graduated or soon-to-graduate outstanding Ph.D. students from your team to join Yangtze University for teaching and research, and greatly appreciate your assistance in forwarding and promoting this recruitment notice.

For more details, please visit the Faculty Recruitment Announcement of the School of Petroleum Engineering, Yangtze University (2026): https://pec.yangtzeu.edu.cn/zpqs.htm

Many thanks for your support and recommendations.

Weiwei Han

Department of New Energy Science and Engineering, Yangtze University
Tel: 17353765821 (WeChat)

Um ano depois, a minha hipótese não se confirma e o mistério russo adensa-se

 

No início de 2025 apresentei uma hipótese, de natureza genética, para tentar explicar o facto de o meu primeiro blogue, que recordo, deixei de alimentar há já vários anos, continuar a receber visitas de forma regular, na ordem de dezenas de milhares e com tendência crescente. Essa hipótese partia da premissa de que a esmagadora maioria dos visitantes seria portuguesa, motivada por um certo sentimento de nostalgia pelo passado. https://19-pacheco-torgal-19.blogspot.com/2025/02/ressuscitacao-por-via-fadogenetica.html

Contudo, uma análise da distribuição geográfica das visitas ao longo dos últimos doze meses revela um quadro diferente: os visitantes portugueses representaram apenas cerca de 11% do total. A imagem acima apresenta os países com maior peso nas visitas regulares ao referido blogue. O facto de Singapura e dos Estados Unidos surgirem no topo da lista não me surpreende particularmente, já que como tive oportunidade de constatar, são países de onde também provêm muitos leitores dos meus blogues actuais. Muito mais difícil de explicar é a presença cimeira do Vietname e, ainda mais intrigante, o inusitado interesse demonstrado por visitantes russos por textos publicados há vários anos nesse "falecido" blogue. 

PS -Na sequência do falecimento do famoso filósofo alemão Jürgen Habermas, aproveito para recordar aqui a altura em que ele foi mencionado num post colocado no tal "falecido" blogue https://pacheco-torgal.blogspot.com/2020/02/university-mission-in-jobless-future.html