Start to scale. Startup and Scale-up Founder Stories.
75 episodes - English - Latest episode: 19 days ago -Showcasing the vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem of Rotterdam - and our journey to support the startup and scale-up founders responsible. Hosted by Lars Crama, edited by Lisette Braakenburg. (Buma Stemra licence 10682974)
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Episodes
Scaling with Mycelium: How Bob Hendrikx changes the funeral industry with Living Coffins
April 09, 2024 07:00 - 46 minutes - 31.8 MBLet me introduce Inventor, Biodesigner and Entrepreneur: Bob Hendrikx. With a background in Architectural Engineering Bob strives for a world in which we work in symbiosis with nature. In 2020 he founded Loop Biotech, on a mission to revolutionize the funeral industry - through coffins that turn people into plant food. Bob's journey received widespread attention, making headlines in Wired, CNN, The Guardian, and the BBC. VICE Media even awarded him the title of Human of the Year. His bac...
From Boxing Champion to CEO: Josefien Groot's Journey to Technological Innovation and Sustainable Leadership
March 18, 2024 11:00 - 51 minutes - 35.5 MBWith a masters degree in Complex Systems, Josefien Groot went from national boxing champion to Scale-up CEO, advocating for a sustainable future. Before reaching the age of 21, she had already established and sold her first business specializing in circular products. In 2017, she co-founded QLayers alongside Ruben Geutjens. Her significant contributions have been widely recognized through numerous accolades, including the prestigious European Rising Innovator and EY Emerging Entrepreneur O...
How to build a brand in consumer electronics with Repeat Audio founder Dorus Galama
February 27, 2024 08:00 - 49 minutes - 34 MBAfter he completed his master in strategic product design from Delft University, Dorus began to do graphic studio work together with his fellow student Delft Tom. From a deep love for music and the determination to stand up against the industry with products that produce massive electronic waste - they started Gerrard Street, in 2015, which was later renamed Repeat Audio. Today, Repeat offers a range of modular high fidelity headphones. Notable users include the Metropole Orchestra, and ...
How to build a consumer brand in consumer electronics with Repeat Audio founder Dorus Galama
February 27, 2024 08:00 - 49 minutes - 34 MBAfter he completed his master in strategic product design from Delft University, Dorus began to do graphic studio work together with his fellow student Delft Tom. From a deep love for music and the determination to stand up against the industry with products that produce massive electronic waste - they started Gerrard Street, in 2015, which was later renamed Repeat Audio. Today, Repeat offers a range of modular high fidelity headphones. Notable users include the Metropole Orchestra, and ...
Revolutionizing Urban Mobility: Bibi Jorissen's Journey with Umob and the Future of MaaS
February 20, 2024 08:00 - 53 minutes - 36.5 MBWith Master’s degrees in Strategy and Marketing, she excelled in mobility. From cutting carbon footprint at General Motors to boosting fleet growth at Greenwheels. In 2021, Bibi co-founded umob with Raymon Pouwels. They secured 8M in funding within two years. And today, umob stands as the first MaaS operator in the Netherlands to integrate all three e-moped operators (Check, GO Sharing & felyx) into one platform. In this episode, we'll talk about: The opportunities and business model in ...
Reflecting on Rotterdam's entrepreneurial ecosystem and getting up-close and personal with Lars & Lisette
December 22, 2023 07:00 - 1 hour - 49.1 MBIn the last episode of this year, Up!Rotterdam's Lars & Lisette reflect on the entrepreneurial ecosystem of Rotterdam and its development over the past 4 years. We'll talk about: How our scale-up ecosystem developed over the past 4 years; Who you found the most interesting founders this year; All you ever wanted to know about Up!Rotterdam. Links mentioned: People: Lars Crama, Lisette Braakenburg, Hans Scheffer, Friso Schmidt, Han Kleppe, Fonger Ypma, Koen Burgers, Mattijs Slee, Nalden...
Technology adoption in healthcare and care robot Tessa with Wang Long Li, founder & CEO of Tinybots
December 19, 2023 08:00 - 45 minutes - 31 MBDuring his PhD research, Wang explored robots' societal impact on the elderly, especially with dementia. In 2015, he left that and founded Tinybots, to make a tangible difference for those with cognitive challenges. Today, their care robot Tessa is a proven solution for patient self-reliance, used by care providers all over the Netherlands on a daily basis. In this episode, we'll talk about: How care robot Tessa helps clients lead more independent lives; The challenge with technology...
Negotiating a €40M deal with the EIB and reinventing yourself from a 1 man team to leading 100 people with Mattijs Slee from Battolyser Systems
November 28, 2023 12:00 - 55 minutes - 38.4 MBWith a Master in Hydraulic Engineering from Delft Technical University and an Executive MBA from INSEAD, he spent 15 years with Shell, where his latest roles included Investment Director for Shell ventures as well as Commercial Head for Shell Hydrogen. In 2021, he was asked by Koolen Industries as the first employee of Battolyser Systems, a cleantech company with patented technology. Fast forward three years, and Mattijs is the CEO of a company of almost 100 employees. We'll cover the foll...
The opportunities in a $1 trillion Augmented Reality market with Joris Biskop, founder and CEO of AddOptics
November 24, 2023 08:00 - 46 minutes - 32.2 MBJoris Biskop is the former CTO of Luxexcel, 3d printing lens specialist, which was recently acquired by Meta for €400 million. Based on his insights there, he founded Addoptics, of which he is now the CEO. Addoptics is a smart manufacturer of optics, serving an impressive list of customers worldwide from their office in Rotterdam. We'll cover the following topics: The opportunities in a 1 trillion Augmented Reality market; Pivoting from niche prototype production to scalability; The pro’...
How to clean the ocean with oyster reefs, with Oyster Heaven CEO George Birch
November 23, 2023 08:00 - 57 minutes - 39.4 MBWith a background in biology and a passion for environmental conservation, George embarked on a unique journey that led him from asset management to the world of oyster reef restoration. After completing this MBA from Rotterdam School of Management, he founded Oyster Heaven - on a mission to make marine regeneration financially sustainable. We'll cover the following topics: Cleaning the ocean with oyster reefs; How To Make Ecosystem Regeneration Profitable What George is up to in his f...
Philips Innovation Award Special: learn about nature inclusive development and how to make the most of a competition like PHIA.
November 13, 2023 10:00 - 41 minutes - 28.2 MBIn this episode I speak with Auke Bleij, Founder of Respyre - the fascinating startup that helps cities turn green through a special concrete that holds moss. Respyre is a spin-off from Delft Technical University, on a mission to create greener cities through the application of mosses. You hold a Master in Construction Management from that same University. We'll cover the following topics: Auke’s entrepreneurial journey nature inclusive development and how to make the most of a competi...
Philips Innovation Award Special: Diversity in tech and starting a startup with 7 co-founders, with Marsha Goei from Breeze.
October 31, 2023 11:00 - 30 minutes - 20.8 MBMarsha started Breeze - the worlds first offline dating app, together with 6 co-founders from the Technical University in Delft. That was 2019 and today, they are the fastest growing dating app in the Netherlands, with prominent investors supporting them. In this episode, we'll cover the following topics: Diversity in tech; Starting a company with 7 co-founders; The Philips Innovation Award Links mentioned: People: Marsha Goei, Stefan van den Berg, Thijs Verheul, Rogier Fischer Comp...
BAQME founder & CEO Souren Arakelian on the future of urban mobility.
October 23, 2023 08:00 - 53 minutes - 36.7 MBSouren's career spans across esteemed institutions such as Merrill Lynch and Rabobank, where he excelled in investment banking and M&A. Today, Souren leads the charge at BAQME, the first company globally to offer a free floating shared cargo bike service. At a young age, he moved to the Netherlands from Armenia. He currently lives in Amsterdam, but soon will return to Rotterdam. We'll cover the following topics: The future of Urban Mobility; Bootstrapping versus venture capital; Making...
WEAR Co-founder Pim Roggeveen on the business of refurbished sneakers and pivoting from service to product
October 16, 2023 14:00 - 50 minutes - 35 MBPim and his co-founder Lorenzo van Galen, are challenging the fast fashion industry. With their company Wear, they are creating the largest platform for pre-loved sneakers. Their collaborations with established players like Bristol and Bijenkorf have gained recognition, including the social impact newcomer of the year and the upcoming talent marketing award from our Mayor, Aboutaleb. Prior to Wear, Pim made waves as a freelancer, leading communication efforts for organizations like VoorGoe...
CEAD founder & CEO Lucas Janssen on product market fit in large scale 3D printing and landing a €1M EU Grant
October 09, 2023 11:00 - 45 minutes - 30.9 MBIn 2014, along with Maarten Logtenberg, Lucas set out on this journey from a garage, fueled by their dream of designing and building cutting-edge machines. Fast forward nine years, CEAD has become a global leader in large-scale 3D printing, operating from a 3,000-square-meter facility in Delft.= Lucas holds a Master's degree in Integrated Product Design from Delft, and when he's not leading CEAD, you can often find him pursuing his passion for surfing or kiting. In this episode, we'll cove...
Profitable business models in the biobased economy by Lindy Hensen, founder of Tekkoo and PeelPioneers
October 02, 2023 07:00 - 46 minutes - 31.8 MBIn 2017 she co-founded Peelpioneers, the largest producer of raw materials from citrus peels in Europe - together with Sytze van Stempvoort and Bas van Wieringen, where she now sits at the supervisory board. Next to that, she is co-founder and director at Tekkoo, an organization that helps startups and established organizations with sustainable innovation. She is also the initiator of Circular Factory, a start-to-scale-up program for circular startups in collaboration with BlueCity. We'l...
Staffyou founder Pavle Beslic on innovating the temp staffing business and getting punched in the face
October 02, 2023 07:00 - 46 minutes - 31.9 MBAs a chartered accountant Pavle Beslic started his career at Deloitte - after which he decided to go independent and stumbled into the world of recruitment. That inspired him to found Staffyou, now one of the fastest growing on-demand staffing platforms in Europe. He's been recognized as one of the Netherlands' top young entrepreneurs by Quote and has earned accolades from FD Gazellen and Deloitte Fast 50. And when he's not in the business world, you might find him on a boat or in the boxi...
Arctic Reflections founder Fonger Ypma on his bold mission to slow down global warming
September 05, 2023 08:00 - 42 minutes - 29 MBFonger is an experienced leader in the energy sector. He obtained his PhD in mathematics and physics at Oxford University, after which he worked as a strategy consultant and McKinsey and as head of a Eneco Smart Energy Lab. Since then, he was the CEO of Brainbay, and a cofounder of Blockheating - the scale-up that recycles data center energy. In this episode, we'll cover the following topics: His rather bold mission to slow down global warming The difference between Corporate venturing an...
Dekbed-Discounter's CEO Niels Verwij on growth and keeping focus when opportunities seem unlimited.
July 10, 2023 07:00 - 37 minutes - 25.8 MBNiels Verwij is a successful e-commerce entrepreneur. He started dekbed-discounter, a disruptive online duvet webshop, in 2014 from scratch. It disrupted traditional retail and soon became one of the most successful e-commerce companies in the Netherlands. Today, as the CEO of Jamani, he oversees multiple businesses, including Dekbed-Discounter, Boxspring Lease, KoopJeDeal.nl, and WoonQ. At the age of 34, Niels has built an impressive portfolio, solidifying his position in the industry and...
The Seaweed Company founder and SeaEO Joost Wouters on why we should re-align business and nature
June 26, 2023 07:00 - 46 minutes - 32.3 MBJoost is the founder and SeaEO of The Seaweed Company. A global pioneer in developing high-quality seaweed applications, with farms in the Netherlands, Ireland, Morocco, India and Greenland. After a corporate career at P&G and Pepsico, Joost worked with leadership teams allo over the world to help them create a better future, until he met Edwin Sneekes and Stefan Kraan, his co-founders in 2018. He is a frequently asked speaker and he published two books: “The 15-Minute Inbox” and “The Coup...
SolarDuck founder & CEO Koen Burgers on how to prevent rookie mistakes as a founder.
April 10, 2023 07:00 - 43 minutes - 30.1 MBKoen is the co-founder and CEO of Solarduck, the Dutch leader in offshore floating solar. He started his career as a management consultant, before he joined Damen Shipyards, where he was the Director Strategy and Business Transformation. Koen is a member of The Economic Development Board of the Drecht Cities. And although his home is in Nijmegen, his office is… in… Rotterdam! In this episode, we'll cover the following topics: Offshore floating solar; Starting a business in your forties;...
[April Fools episode - created by Chat GPT 🤗] Stealth founder Rebekah* on building better humans
March 29, 2023 07:00 - 39 minutes - 27.5 MB***Ok, we have a confession to make. Stealth Founder Rebekah does not exist. Nor does Pilar.One, the company that raised 450 million and grew the team to 500 employees in 6 months. This episode script was written by Chat GPT and read by Lisette. April fools! Enjoy Rebekahs crazy answers and the AI generated music anyway*** Rebekah is the CEO and founder of Pilar.one, a fast growing startup that creates better humans through advanced use of CRISPR, the genome editing technique. She raised ov...
Valyuu CEO Ferhat Topuz on building a multi-sided platform in the circular economy and taking investor calls on a train station floor
March 27, 2023 07:00 - 46 minutes - 31.6 MBFerhat is the CEO and Co-founder of Valyuu, the circular economy marketplace to sell and buy pre-owned goods, like smartphones and macbooks. With first hand experience from T-mobile and a first venture in b2b refurbishment, he started the company in January 2021. Valyuu joined Techstars and in March 22 they raised a first investment with ten prominent angel investors. Valyuu has been growing rapidly, so Ferhat is currently raising to support the next stage. In this episode, we'll cover th...
Techgrounds MD Abdessamad and participant Katia on opportunities in tech for underrepresented talent
February 21, 2023 07:00 - 46 minutes - 31.8 MBAbdessamad Dari is the MD of Techgrounds Netherlands. With a background in management, sales and system admin, in 2019 he joined Techgrounds. He is Managing Director of the Rotterdam based program that reskills talent in IT. Katia Ramos’ career includes several administrative roles at different organizations until she found herself out of a job. She is a participant in the current program. In this episode, we'll cover the following topics: opportunities in tech for underrepresented tale...
Parya Lotfi, founder & CEO of DuckDuckGoose, on starting a business in deepfakes
February 12, 2023 23:00 - 40 minutes - 27.6 MBBorn in Iran, Parya moved to the Netherlands at the age of twelve. She has a background in systems engineering at Technical University of Delft. There, together with Joris Mollinga and Mark Evenblij she founded DuckDuck Goose - a remarkable company on a mission to detect deepfake. DuckDuckGoose first clients included the NFI (Dutch Forensic Institute) and the Dutch House of Representatives. In 2022 the European organization IDNext awarded DuckDuckGoose won the Digital Innovation Award 2022....
Peter Paul, founder and CEO of Skoon Energy, on turning crises into opportunities and dreaming big enough
January 30, 2023 11:00 - 46 minutes - 32.2 MBWith a background in engineering and business, Peter Paul started his career at the acclaimed shipbuilder Damen Shipyards. In 2017, together with Daan Geldermans he founded Skoon on a mission to make clean energy accessible. Damen Shipyards became his first investor soon the Netherlands most prominent cleantech investor Kees Koolen followed. Today, Skoon is scaling up at an impressive rate, growing a whopping 800% in 2022. In this episode, we'll cover the following topics: How do you tu...
SocialDebt founder & CEO Jamal Oulel on helping young people to get out of problematic debt.
January 16, 2023 14:00 - 46 minutes - 32.1 MBBorn and raised in Rotterdam, Jamal has been involved in a number of social initiatives: from RefugeeHero, Edubility foundation. Starters4Communities. In 2020 he founded Social Debt, on a mission to ensure that there is no more profit on debt collection. His work has not gone unnoticed: Jamal featured in various Dutch media, which even led to questions in the dutch parliament. Social Debt is one of the first two companies to receive funding by the NN Group Social Innovation fund. In this ...
Nowi founder & CEO Simon van der Jagt on non technical founders solving a technical problem and being acquired
December 20, 2022 08:00 - 50 minutes - 35 MBSimon co founded NOWI Energy together with Omar Link, a fellow Strategic Product Design Master student at TU Delft. In 2016, they set out to design a chip that harvests energy - to replace batteries. They grew the company to forty employees, with sales teams in San Francisco and Shanghai. They raised a series A in november 2019 and in November 2022, the company was acquired by Nexperia. In this episode, we'll cover the following topics: Non technical founders solving a technical problem ...
Clinton Bemont, CEO of Maxwell & Spark on accelerating the energy transition and moving to The Netherlands from South Africa.
December 12, 2022 08:00 - 47 minutes - 32.7 MBClinton is the founder and CEO of Maxwell & Spark, manufacturer of renewable energy systems. Originally from South Africa, he has led highly innovative engineering teams, in the fields of materials engineering and renewable energy. From academics, solar car racing and the large hadron collider, to shipping lines and litigation in Africa and Europe. He is an Honourary academic at University of KwaZulu-Natal. His academic career started in Philosophy but led him to a PhD in Materials Engine...
Clint Bemont, CEO of Maxwell & Spark on accelerating the energy transition and moving to The Netherlands from South Africa.
December 12, 2022 08:00 - 47 minutes - 32.7 MBClint is the founder and CEO of Maxwell & Spark, manufacturer of renewable energy systems. Originally from South Africa, he has led highly innovative engineering teams, in the fields of materials engineering and renewable energy. From academics, solar car racing and the large hadron collider, to shipping lines and litigation in Africa and Europe. He is an Honourary academic at University of KwaZulu-Natal. His academic career started in Philosophy but led him to a PhD in Materials Engineer...
Sana Commerce's Michiel Schipperus on how the lessons from the 2008 crisis still apply today.
November 28, 2022 08:00 - 46 minutes - 31.7 MBMichiel is a b2b e-commerce veteran. He joined ISM e-company - which was founded by Jan Kees de Jager and Karel van der Woude - during his Master at Erasmus University more than 20 years ago. Later, he became Managing Partner. Since 2011, he has been dedicated to building Sana Commerce. As their CEO, he helps companies worldwide achieve e-commerce success, with a team of more than 400 people all over the world. In this episode, we'll cover the following topics: Switching from a project...
Ellen Sano from Yuki on taking over from a founder CEO and what happens after your company gets acquired.
October 31, 2022 15:00 - 53 minutes - 37.1 MBEllen joined Yuki right after they launched in Belgium, where she grew the business with more than 100% year on year. In 2020, Yuki was acquired by the Nordic Visma Group. And a year later, Ellen took over from CEO and Yuki founder, Lucas Brentjes. Today she is responsible for The Yuki Company, which includes Yuki in three countries as well as two other ventures. Ellen graduated with honors in Applied Economics at University of Antwerp, and now spends her time between Antwerp and Rotterda...
Medical-X founder & CEO Dervis Demirtas on scaling a med-tech company
October 17, 2022 11:00 - 50 minutes - 34.4 MBDervis studied Aerospace Engineering at Delft Technical University. Already in 2002 he invented an endoscopic simulator. In 2010 he became managing director of Epona medical until in 2015, he founded Medical-X, global market leader in simulation products for medical teaching and training. In this episode, we'll cover the following topics: Scaling a global med-tech business; Managing cashflow; Similarities between boxing and entrepreneurship. Links Mentioned: People: Dervis Demirtas, S...
Medical-X founder & CEO Dervis Demirtas on scaling a med-tech company.
October 17, 2022 11:00 - 50 minutes - 34.4 MBDervis studied Aerospace Engineering at Delft Technical University. Already in 2002 he invented an endoscopic simulator. In 2010 he became managing director of Epona medical until in 2015, he founded Medical-X, global market leader in simulation products for medical teaching and training. In this episode, we'll cover the following topics: Scaling a global med-tech business; Managing cashflow; Similarities between boxing and entrepreneurship. Links Mentioned: People: Dervis Demirtas, S...
Mapiq CEO Sander Schutte on selling to corporates and gearing up for growth in uncertain times.
September 26, 2022 07:00 - 44 minutes - 30.8 MBSander graduated Cum Laude in Biomedical Engineering at Delft University of Technology. Where he also did his PhD and a postdoc until he co-founded his first company Virtualock in 2009 together with Jasper Schuurmans. In 2014 this lead to their second venture Mapiq, market leader in software for optimizing office space and facilities. Under his leadership, the company has grown tremendously over the past few years, now operating in more than 20 countries, with over 115 people on staff and...
Mapiq CEO Sander Schutte on selling to corporates and gearing up for growth in uncertain times
September 26, 2022 07:00 - 44 minutes - 30.8 MBSander graduated Cum Laude in Biomedical Engineering at Delft University of Technology. Where he also did his PhD and a postdoc until he co-founded his first company Virtualock in 2009 together with Jasper Schuurmans. In 2014 this lead to their second venture Mapiq, market leader in software for optimizing office space and facilities. Under his leadership, the company has grown tremendously over the past few years, now operating in more than 20 countries, with over 115 people on staff and...
Minite founder & CEO Micky Chen on “Student as a Service”, hiring Gen Z and dealing with investors.
September 13, 2022 06:00 - 51 minutes - 35.6 MBMicky is on a mission to turn today's brightest students into tomorrow's workforce. Her first successful venture was a Harry Potter platform she built and monetized at age 7. She worked at Salesforce and IBM prior to founding Minite together with her sister Linky, in 2020. Their story has been featured across all major media, from Quote to RTLZ and has been on stage many, including MT/Sprout best performing SaaS companies, EU startup summit most promising Early stage Startup, and Most ins...
Moonback CEO Niels Meijssen on building and growing an honest booking platform
July 07, 2022 08:00 - 38 minutes - 26.7 MBEarly 2020 Niels wrote an angry post on linkedin: About large platform companies who were asking for government support while generating billions in dividends. That message went viral - and led to a 2M crowdfunding round to create a more social alternative to hotel booking platforms. In May 2020, moonback was founded in Rotterdam. Today, Niels is the co-founder and CEO of Moonback. The HONEST booking site, which won the Dutch Interactive Disrupter Award and NIels was voted most inspiring ...
Moonback CEO Niels Meijssen on building and growing an honest booking platform.
July 07, 2022 08:00 - 38 minutes - 26.7 MBEarly 2020 Niels wrote an angry post on linkedin: About large platform companies who were asking for government support while generating billions in dividends. That message went viral - and led to a 2M crowdfunding round to create a more social alternative to hotel booking platforms. In May 2020, moonback was founded in Rotterdam. Today, Niels is the co-founder and CEO of Moonback. The HONEST booking site, which won the Dutch Interactive Disrupter Award and NIels was voted most inspiring ...
PHYSEE CEO Ferdinand Grapperhaus on selling sustainability to a traditional industry and the spiritual journey of entrepreneurship.
May 24, 2022 07:00 - 1 hour - 44.4 MBFerdinand is the CEO of PHYSEE Technologies, which he founded together with Willem Kesteloo in 2014 in a physics lab at Technical University Delft. PHYSEE is on a mission to make the build environment energy neutral in an aesthetic way. With success: in 2019 PHYSEE was recognized as the most innovative SME of The Netherlands, and in december 2021, the European Innovation Council recognized PHYSEEas one of the 50 best European Scaleups in Deeptech. He made it to Forbes 30 under 30, but mor...
PHYSEE CEO Ferdinand Grapperhaus on selling sustainability to a traditional industry and the spiritual journey of entrepreneurship
May 24, 2022 07:00 - 1 hour - 44.4 MBFerdinand is the CEO of PHYSEE Technologies, which he founded together with Willem Kesteloo in 2014 in a physics lab at Technical University Delft. PHYSEE is on a mission to make the build environment energy neutral in an aesthetic way. With success: in 2019 PHYSEE was recognized as the most innovative SME of The Netherlands, and in december 2021, the European Innovation Council recognized PHYSEEas one of the 50 best European Scaleups in Deeptech. He made it to Forbes 30 under 30, but mor...
Hundo.Careers CEO Esther O'Callaghan on ending youth unemployment through web3.
May 10, 2022 07:00 - 47 minutes - 32.6 MBEsther is the founder of hundo careers - dedicated to upskilling the next generation in web3 and metaverse. Esther is a Global Tech Advocate, a digital nomad and a triathlete. Her 20+ years of experience span government, CSR, ESG, arts, culture and music. It’s impossible to summarize her achievements. Just to name a few: she is an award winning DJ/producer, Freeman of the City of London, International Woman in staffing Top 50 and part of the first all-female Decentralized Finance delegation...
Hundo.Careers CEO Esther O'Callaghan on ending youth unemployment through web3
May 10, 2022 07:00 - 47 minutes - 32.6 MBEsther is the founder of hundo careers - dedicated to upskilling the next generation in web3 and metaverse. Esther is a Global Tech Advocate, a digital nomad and a triathlete. Her 20+ years of experience span government, CSR, ESG, arts, culture and music. It’s impossible to summarize her achievements. Just to name a few: she is an award winning DJ/producer, Freeman of the City of London, International Woman in staffing Top 50 and part of the first all-female Decentralized Finance delegation...
Wouter Goedhart, co-founder of VONQ, on investing in startups and limoncello
April 26, 2022 07:00 - 57 minutes - 39.6 MBIn 2006, together with Tycho van Paassen and Remy Verhoeven Wouter built VONQ - which turned out the household name for recruitment marketing - used every day by over 1000 leading companies - including over 25 Global Fortune 500s. In 2019 Capital D acquired a majority stake of the company, and in 2021 wouter handed over the realm to the new CEO, Arno Schafer. Now he divides his time between family, running marathons, investing in startups and… starting new ventures. In this episode, we'll...
Wouter Goedhart, co-founder of VONQ, on investing in startups and limoncello.
April 26, 2022 07:00 - 57 minutes - 39.6 MBIn 2006, together with Tycho van Paassen and Remy Verhoeven Wouter built VONQ - which turned out the household name for recruitment marketing - used every day by over 1000 leading companies - including over 25 Global Fortune 500s. In 2019 Capital D acquired a majority stake of the company, and in 2021 wouter handed over the realm to the new CEO, Arno Schafer. Now he divides his time between family, running marathons, investing in startups and… starting new ventures. In this episode, we'll...
Hardt Hyperloop co-founder Tim Houter on the future of transport and finding funding.
March 29, 2022 07:00 - 44 minutes - 30.8 MBTim Houter is the co-founder of Hardt Hyperloop. Founded in 2016, the team at Hardt is working tirelessly to disrupt the transport industry with an innovative and sustainable mode of transport. With a recent 15 Million euro grant from the European Union, they are building a new test facility in the European Hyperloop Center in Groningen. Tim has a background in mechanical engineering at TU Delft, where he has been on a winning streak when it comes to fast modes of transport. He spent 2 yea...
Quan CEO Arosha Brouwer on employee wellbeing, Y combinator and traveling.
February 22, 2022 07:00 - 51 minutes - 35.1 MBBorn in SriLanka, raised in Australia and moved to the Netherlands. Arosha spent her career in Management Consulting with PwC and with companies like DSM and TNT. After a few years of consulting organizations on employee well-being, she started Quan Wellbeing together with Lucy Howie. Arosha is the co-founder and CEO of the first ever female-led Dutch to be accepted into Y Combinator, raising a million euros in pre-seed capital. In this episode, we'll cover the following topics: The impor...
Serial entrepreneur and investor Pieter Schoen about the thin line between bankruptcy and a dream exit.
February 07, 2022 11:00 - 39 minutes - 27.2 MBPieter is a well known Dutch serial entrepreneur and investor. After founding a publishing business and two IT companies, in 2005 he started NLE together with his business partner Harald Swinkels. NLE opened up the Dutch market for utilities and soon became the largest independent energy supplier in the Netherlands. In 2018, they were acquired by NUTS group, for an undisclosed amount, of around 200 million euros. In this episode, we'll cover the following topics: Disrupting markets; The t...
Graciella van Vliet, CEO and co-founder of Closure, on growing a startup in death-tech
January 18, 2022 08:00 - 49 minutes - 34.2 MBShe co-founded death tech company - yes you heard that right - Closure with Chantal van der Velde in 2017. They won the Philips Innovation Award and made it to top 3 in Sprout’s Dutch startup of the year. Graciella has a Master in Econometrics from Erasmus University Rotterdam, and she was awarded Rotterdam Business Woman of the year. In this episode, we'll cover the following topics: Death and tech; Funding your growth; The things Graciëlla does when she’s not working on Closure. ...
Graciella van Vliet, CEO and co-founder of Closure, on growing a startup in death-tech.
January 18, 2022 08:00 - 49 minutes - 34.2 MBShe co-founded death tech company - yes you heard that right - Closure with Chantal van der Velde in 2017. They won the Philips Innovation Award and made it to top 3 in Sprout’s Dutch startup of the year. Graciella has a Master in Econometrics from Erasmus University Rotterdam, and she was awarded Rotterdam Business Woman of the year. In this episode, we'll cover the following topics: Death and tech; Funding your growth; The things Graciëlla does when she’s not working on Closure. ...