We turn the experience of those who have already solved the puzzle into the advantage of those still working on it so that more businesses succeed, more economies grow, and more people share in the prosperity that follows.
Every failed business is wasted potential. The Business Puzzles exists to change that.
We combine hard-won in-market experience, insights from subject matter experts, and leading academic thinking from Europe's top business schools into simple, practical frameworks you can apply immediately.
The Platform
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Practitioners Guides
Books with proven frameworks built on decades of in-market experience. Each book tackles a critical business challenge, giving you the diagnostic tools to understand your situation and the playbook to act on it immediately.
Explore the books →02 / 03
Expert Advisory
The expertise trusted by the world's leading consulting firms when in-market depth truly matters is now available to you. High-touch, outcome-driven advisory for organisations committed to delivering measurable results.
Learn more →03 / 03
Learning and Speaking
Keynotes, workshops, (university) lectures, and executive education partnerships that bring the Business Puzzles frameworks to students and leaders around the world. Ideas that inspire action and deliver impact.
Check availability →The Business Puzzles Series
In a world of increasing complexity and constant pressure to perform, working harder is not enough. You need frameworks that help you work smarter. Our practitioner guides are practical playbooks for today's most critical business challenges, created by global business leaders, subject matter experts, and leading business school scholars who have guided organisations through the same transformations you are facing. Each book shows how real in-market success is built on repeatable structures, focus, and clear logic. Combining decades of hands-on experience, expert interviews, and academic insight, we translate complexity into simple, actionable frameworks supported by real examples. Now you can turn knowledge into action and build better businesses.
How to create a successful new business venture
Concise, immediately applicable guidance without the padding. Real-world examples and cutting-edge academic research give founders a practical toolkit to navigate the most common failure points of the entrepreneurial journey.
The toolkit every founder wishes they had on day one.
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How to build a successful innovation factory
Innovation rarely fails for lack of ideas. It fails because organisations are structurally designed for predictability, not breakthrough. A rigorous blueprint for redesigning your operating model to make real, repeatable innovation possible.
Innovation is not a brainstorm. It is a system. And this is the manual you need.
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How to drive business growth through premiumization — COMING SOON!
In flat or mature categories, the path to growth runs through premium positioning. How to build, price, and communicate premium propositions that customers will pay more for, even in cost conscious markets.
Premium is not about price. It is about perceived value.
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"Trusted by global executives, business school faculty, and leadership teams who want practitioner-grade insight, not recycled theory."
BP Consulting
Advisory built for leaders who need results, not reports. We work with executive teams, boards, and leadership functions to diagnose the real constraints on growth, design solutions that hold in practice, and build the internal capability to sustain them.
The expertise that the world's top consulting firms turn to when they need it most is now directly accessible to you.
The Consultants ConsultantEvery engagement begins with a structured diagnostic. We do not propose solutions before we understand your specific situation. We are a curated network of expert practitioners who bring precisely the right expertise to your challenge.
BP Academy
BP Academy brings the intellectual depth and practitioner authority of the Business Puzzles platform to stages, lecture halls, boardrooms, and conference programmes worldwide.
Whether your audience needs a keynote that reframes their thinking, a workshop that equips a leadership team with new tools, or a guest lecture that connects theory to practice, BP Academy delivers experiences that people act on.
Check availabilityKeynote Speeches
Compelling, content rich keynotes for conferences, leadership summits, and annual meetings worldwide.
Corporate Workshops
Half and full-day programmes designed to produce tangible outputs — decisions made, priorities set, plans agreed.
Guest Lectures
Practitioner perspectives for business school programmes, bridging theory and real-world practice.
Executive Education
Structured partnership programmes with business schools and executive education providers.
Tell us your challenge. We will connect you with the right solution.
The Authors
Robert van Pappelendam
Author — The Start-Up Puzzle & The Innovation Puzzle
After getting his Master's degree in Dutch Civil Law at Erasmus University Rotterdam, he built up over 30 years of experience in International Corporate Business Leadership roles and was simultaneously involved in various start-ups in FMCG, Luxury, and MedTech as a founder, advisor, and angel investor. He has been the commercial leader of well-recognized and awarded global brand and innovation programs. As a lifelong learner, he has always been fascinated to see organizations transform into unstoppable lions. Robert's core interest areas are Strategy, Innovation, Marketing, Entrepreneurship, and New Business Development. Robert has become a bestselling and award-winning author and lecturer with his first research and publication, The Start-Up Puzzle.
Alan Maingot
Co-Author — The Innovation Puzzle
Matriculated with a degree in Chemical Engineering from the Technical University of Nova Scotia and was awarded the prestigious Canadian Society of Chemical Industry Gold Medal. He spent 36 years in R&D at Procter & Gamble, with responsibilities across multiple categories. He was the global R&D Vice President (Chief R&D and Innovation Officer) for P&G's Global Oral Care, Global Family Care, Global Baby and Feminine Care, and Global Hair and Beauty Care, sitting on the CEO's multifunctional leadership teams leading innovation, innovation strategy, and delivery. Since 2019, he has been the Founder and CEO of Maingot & Kaw Innovation and Leadership Consulting, LLC, advising both start-ups and mid-to-large companies on innovation, innovation strategy, and effective innovation organizations.
Dr. Joris Meijaard
Academic Contributor — Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University
Academic Director of the Department of Strategic Management and Entrepreneurship at Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam. He graduated as an econometrist and obtained a PhD in Business Economics at Erasmus University Rotterdam. Joris has more than 20 years of experience in economic and business policy research. In 2011, he founded research agency MIR, which specializes in innovation and company growth. Joris focuses on the development and evaluation of innovation and entrepreneurship policy, as well as entrepreneurship and new business development.
Dr. Juan Pablo Madiedo
Academic Contributor — Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University
Associate Professor at Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University. He is a member of the Erasmus Center for Innovation and the Academic Director of RSM's MSc Management of Innovation Program. He obtained his PhD in Business Studies from IE Business School, IE University in Spain. Before joining RSM, Juan held positions at IE University in Spain and Universidad de los Andes in Colombia. In recent years, he has held a visiting scholar position at INCAE Business School in Costa Rica.
"To turn the experience of those who have already solved the puzzle into the advantage of those still working on it."