Meet Asger Thomsen (on the picture, to the left). He joined BCG in 2018 and early on in his career, Asger started supporting The Index Project – a nonprofit organization focused on enabling the creation of sustainable solutions to global challenges. Here, Asger provides his personal reflections on the journey he, BCG and The Index Project have been on together over the past years.
The past two of my three years with BCG I have worked with The Index Project; a foundation with a mission to improve quality of life for everyone.
As an engineer and one that wish to do good in the world, I was immediately inspired by the foundation’s mission and the thrilling companies they had supported the past almost 20 years. Some noticeable mentions are Tesla (already in 2007), Hövding, The Ocean Cleanup, Ethereum and Duolingo. All companies that use new technology to make a real positive difference for people in the world.
The Index Project undertakes numerous endeavors, but their flagship is the Index Award – the largest design award in the world. Through this award they generate an incredible pipeline of ideas from around the world, one which they also actively invest in with their micro-VF fund. In its totality, The Index Project is in the center of an incredible inspiring community.
The collaboration between BCG and The Index Project
BCG has a long history with The Index Project, supporting both the foundation itself and the award winners. While predominately done from the BCG office in Copenhagen, BCG’ers from around the world have done project with the winners.
Last year, we for example supported Solar Foods in Finland, Marsha in the US and Project Coelicolor in England. Each company worked with the local BCG office to e.g. understand market dynamics or prepare for investor meetings.
On The Index Project itself, we have focused our support on fundraising and defining their commercial strategy. In recent years they lost some of their regular funding which has required a complete rethinking of their strategy.
A memorable experience is the strategy workshop we did with their board of directors last year that has become a pivotal moment in the company’s history. We prepared and facilitated a two-day workshop with all board members to define a new direction for their fundraising and commercial strategy.
My personal growth journey and learnings
It has been two incredible years together with The Index Project, but if I have to boil it down to why it has been impactful for me personally it is, that I’ve: i) gotten inspired, ii) had opportunity to positively impact the world, and iii) have fun with both people from BCG and The Index Project.
Talking with and listening to people with such passion to positively impact the world with their products has inspired me to think outside the box and given me insights to worlds I would not otherwise get exposed to. For example, I never forget how I was blown away by Solar Foods and their ability to create protein out of air. Working with the people of The Index Project and the Award winners has been a way to support their efforts to change people’s lives.
Lastly, it has been an opportunity to build stronger relationships within BCG and creating new ones with the The Index Project team. In particular, having worked on so many different things over several years has created deep trust and friendships I would not wish to be without today.
Asger Thomsen is a Consultant at BCG in Copenhagen, Denmark. He joined BCG in 2018. Asger holds a degree in Industrial Engineering and Management from the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) with visits to the National University of Singapore (NUS), Standford University and École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland.
