TL;DR

“The internet” would be the answer if you ask me what my hobby is. But “the internet” has also been the red line throughout my career. I helped offline retailers with my web agency in the 2000s by using the power of the internet to build their first e-commerce sites. I brought the internet and, with that, access to a global market for farmers and the fresh produce industry through the first startup I joined, eFresh.com. I helped banks across the globe to better use the internet by delivering state-of-the-art digital and mobile experiences while at Backbase. Now, I am using the power of the internet (and the massive amounts of data it generates) to gain an edge as an investor at RTP. As VC, I like to be an early user and paying customer of the products the founders I back are creating.

The long story

Digitalization of the retail industry: my web agency

During high school, I started building my first websites for myself and my family and quickly discovered I could earn money by doing this. My first paid-for (cash sent via the post) project was a website for the show dogs of a proud owner, and it made me think: this is what I want to do: sit behind my computer and earn money with my hobby.

This first paid project resulted in my web agency creating websites and e-commerce stores and, later, the first mobile apps for physical stores and other retailers in The Netherlands. For the first time, the internet and, with that, the power of digital was brought to traditionally offline storefront-based entrepreneurs.

Digitalization of the fresh produce value chain: joining my first startup eFresh.com

Through my web agency, I met many other founders, enabling me to work with multiple startups on the first versions of their product and their launches. After a while, I joined my first startup, eFresh.com, a trading platform for the perishable industry, with the noble ambition to give farmers and producers a fair price for their work by cutting out the middle man and going ‘direct’ to the supermarkets. With that: bringing the internet and the power of digital to a traditional, family-run, offline business. This is a market that large buyers and auction houses dominate. This startup experience brought everything: rapid growth, raised money from one of the largest Dutch banks, the mandatory Techcrunch article (this was still cool in 2009), and the inevitable bankruptcy that followed.

Digitalization of financial services: joining Backbase

The second startup I joined was Backbase, and that journey was way more successful. I’ve seen a unicorn being created from the inside out: I was employee number 40 at Backbase and spent 10 years there, doing everything that was needed to be done (marketing, GTM, international expansion, sales, product, and engineering), I’ve lead the company through 2 pivots until we found our sweet spot in building digital banking software (bringing the internet, and the power of digital to a traditional slow to adopt industry: financial services), and that pivot enabled us to cross the chasm (1,000 people when I left, 2,000+ right now, $4bn valuation, 100+ banks using the product in production). This gave me broad experience in different functional areas, and I also got to see what type of person it takes to truly be a unicorn founder.

Digitalization of venture capital: becoming a VC

After 10 years at Backbase, I wanted to try something different, but I had no clue what, so I joined a venture capital firm. Why? As a VC, you have the opportunity to meet many different founders who are creating different products in different markets. But all with the same goal: make it a success. Something that is highly inspiring and very educational.

But what stood out to me (coming in with a romantic picture of what VC would be) was how, even though VCs win big by investing in technology companies, the use of technology is still very much under par with most VC firms. Technology and the proper use of the massive amounts of available data can give every company an advantage, especially venture capital. So, I started thinkering on data-driven venture capital and made that my main focus when switching firms and joined RTP back in 2021.

Investing at RTP

At RTP, I use tech and data to find the very best founders and startups. I like to invest in Enterprise Software, B2B SaaS, fintech (not the neo banks, but financial infrastructure), anything that is or can be big on Github, anything ‘cyber’ (intelligence, security, defense/offense), any startup going after a line item on the price list of IBM, Oracle, SAP, etc., and have a personal wish “not to die,” making me explore preventive healthcare and longevity. And do this early stage: seed and series A. As VC, I like to be an early user and paying customer of the products the founders I back are creating.