It’s used to describe someone who’s euphoric. Nobody’s actually perching on a wad of candyfloss-colored cumulus. Starting your first company feels like riding the pink cloud. Anticipation, mixed with fear, loaded with excitement and possibility. According to Techleap’s Thinking Bigger report, Dutch people place more value on starting a company than successfully growing one. The Netherlands is the only country where we see this trend – places like Germany, Switzerland, and the UK rank growing a business above starting one, which might explain their thriving scale-up ecosystems. So how do we create a culture that encourages founders to successfully start and sustain their businesses long-term? Let’s ask some serial entrepreneurs.
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it
When you’ve built as many businesses as Hans Osnabrugge, you need a reason for doing it. His latest venture, Talk360, is enabling wifi-less communications across Africa. But between the years of 2010 and 2016, Hans’ first company Brooklyn Ventures churned out 10 different startups. It was during this time Hans realized something was missing. The definition of purpose changes from founder to founder. For Camiel Kraan, founder of Convious (a SaaS platform that helps B2B businesses optimize their customer experiences), the only thing his six businesses have in common is that they’re internet-based solutions.
Friends with entrepreneurial benefits
Teams that get along do better work. That doesn’t mean a team full of your mates will be a resounding success. Dare to hire, but dare to fire too. That’s the message from Itai Gross, who had a highly successful career with Unilever, before building his home and living outlet NADUVI: It’s a sentiment echoed by Camiel:
Be careful with the pot of gold
All startups need money, but that sweet, sweet moo-lah can come at a cost. That’s not to say you shouldn’t hire people you like. But you also need to look at whether these people can work together as a team. Hans recommends giving the old bootstrapping technique a whirl. As he explains, it’s better to feel out of pocket than out of sorts: And once you’re ready to spend someone else’s money, don’t do it all in one go. Hans has a sweet little analogy for poor money management. He calls it the salami technique: His recommendation?
Timing, because let’s face it, timing is everything
Jan Vesseur was talking about telehealth before the words ‘unprecedented’ and ‘pandemic’ dominated the conversation. His current venture, Solarge, builds flexible polymer solar panels. But back in the day, Jan and four colleagues founded a healthcare startup. Unfortunately, this was in 2007. Investors and customers turned their backs a year later, during the global market crash. “We were too early,” Jan explained. That’s not to say good timing should be at the sacrifice of decision-making. The Netherlands has a remarkably low fear of failure (lower for men than women), but that doesn’t mean it’s non-existent. Jan has a gentle reminder for entrepreneurial newbies stuck in decision paralysis: From the outside, traditional employment looks more secure than entrepreneurship. As Itai points out, that’s not always true: “There’s nothing to say more established businesses won’t fire people. And just look at the impact of COVID on hospitality; it came to a complete standstill. That sense of certainty people are looking for doesn’t really exist anymore.”
Find the fun (cringe)
Is there anything worse than a listicle that ends with ‘…And lastly, have fun!’? Yes. Running a company that doesn’t energize you. According to Hans, losing your sense of fun can be doomsday for business: This is echoed by Camiel, a self-confessed ‘late bloomer’ in the startup world. The percentage of people working in entrepreneurial fields declines with age, but growth ambition remains consistent through all age groups. Camiel cites fun as the thing that keeps entrepreneurs hooked. According to Camiel, there are still benefits to being a fresh-faced founder: The Dutch startup ecosystem still has some maturing to do. Startups spring up like tulips, but scaleups are few and far between. There’s one thing first time founders need to know: it gets easier. According to TechLeap’s report, once founders have experience under their belt, the percentage of entrepreneurs who believe they can build a startup doubled for men, and tripled for women. All you need to do is start.
