What personal habit or behavior helped you accelerate your personal growth?
Being kind to everybody (even if there is no direct interest or need from that person). Sometimes you will meet people again in life and if you are kind, usually kindness comes back. Kindness and Empathy are the most important skills in my job perhaps.
What should leaders understand about their own role and responsibility?
You serve the team, not the other way round.
When times are tough, who or what is an anchor for you?
My family and especially my kids. In fact, sometimes I think I can learn more from my kids than they can learn from me. We sometimes make the world way more complicated than it would need to be.
What motivated you to become an entrepreneur?
I wanted to work in an environment well suited for technology-nerds and did not find one, so I decided to create it myself.
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When times are tough, who or what is an anchor for you?
My co-founders are my anchor in work-related topics. Having an environment where failure is welcomed with a helping hand and where weakness is valued as openness, once you are down those people will drag you up.
What's a mistake that you're happy you've made?
When I was 16 (way before the internet) I founded a travel-partner agency to connect people from different backgrounds seeking travel companions. After a year, I had to close the agency due to a lack of customers and the confusion some callers had regarding the nature of the “service.” Despite this setback, I gained invaluable insights into sales, communication and people’s needs, solidifying my desire to run a business that helps people.
What motivated you to become an entrepreneur?
After graduating, I worked for an extremely well-paying automotive company. But I always had the feeling that there was more out there. So I quit and went into research with the aim of becoming a founder.
What should leaders understand about their own role and responsibility?
There are no overnight miracles, it's very hard work: both physically and emotionally. Requires resilience, grit, strategic approach and grind.