Bijdrage van VDL ETG Switzerland

As an entrepreneur you're juggling so many balls - you deserve a medal just for trying ! 2 years after I wrote my "letter to entrepreneurs to be" for this book, these recommendations still resonate with me: - Stand on the shoulders of giants - don't reinvent the wheel - Pick your choices - you don't have enough brainpower to do deep dives for every decision you will have to take - Be selectively deaf when listening (or not) to advice. Actions speak louder than words. Follow examples/proven track records rather than advice. - Customer is not king. The customer isn't always right. And even when she is, you don't always have to dance to her tune. Dare to say no. - Collaborators are merely that. They work with you to realize your dream, and you should be grateful for that. But they are not you, they cannot do what you can. Don't let this frustrate you. - After a good night's sleep, you can conquer the world. Good luck to all entrepreneurs out there ! (coming from a now ex-entrepreneur, but who knows... maybe some day the virus will bite again)

🌐 Celebrating a Milestone: Adwise - Your Digital Brain, a Valued Customer of Novutech, strikes a Key Partnership with Strikwerda Investments Thrilling news from our long-standing NetSuite customer, Adwise - part of WiseFundaments Group! They've unveiled a pivotal collaboration with Strikwerda Investments, to take the next step along their growth path, leveraging Strikwerda's expertise and capital resources. Adwise's journey to become a leading global agency aligns with their relentless pursuit of innovation and excellence. Their strategic choice of partnering with Strikwerda Investments reflects their commitment to accelerating growth on an international scale. We are confident that their strategic vision for global leadership is fully supported by their extremely scalable and flexible NetSuite ERP platform. As a Partner, we look forward to continue to serve Adwise as they move into new countries, confidently relying on localised support by our teams in the Nordics, Benelux and France. #StrategicPartnership #GlobalExpansion #InnovationLeaders

boost your business

Let’s talk Family Businesses. Tonight the EY Family Business Awards of Excellence 2024 take place. Family businesses are known for their strong corporate identity, values, long term vision, take great importance in sustainable impact and typically they are focused on the people whether the people working in the business or the people working at the customer. One thing is certain, it requires strong leadership. As a member of a family business, you are by definition emotionally attached to the company. It takes strong leadership to put the best interest of the company at heart before one’s own. With the unfortunate story on Van Hool, I want to shed a positive light on family businesses. There are plenty of Family Businesses which are successful generation after generation. The ‘Sustainable Business Award of Excellence - Sustainable entrepreneurship across generations’ awards family businesses that stand out in corporate governance whether within the family and the company, vision, sustaining the family values, value creation, the transfer of the entrepreneurial mindset across generations, communication and societal engagement. Today three nominees set the example: Sioen Industries led by one of my most inspirational female role models Michele Sioen, world market leader in coated technical textiles and technical apparel, protecting people and their belongings. Sioen is led with a lot of ‘passioen’ by the 3rd and 4th generation, employs 6000 people with a turnover of € 730M in more than 20 countries. VPK Group is an international packaging supplier. The packaging is 100% recyclable and biodestructible and is mainly produced by paper which provides a circular businessmodel. VPK is led by the 3rd and 4th generation The team consists of more than 7.500 committed people spread over 60 plants in 20 countries with a turnover of € 1.9blln. Ziegler Group is a Leading Global Logistics Service Provider. With over 3,200 employees worldwide, Ziegler operates a close-knit global network with 156 branches in more than 16 countries and partner companies in further 80 countries. Unlike large global transport groups that operate with an aim for industrialisation, the Ziegler Group has always committed itself to remain at a human scale and family-run business. This gives a flexibility that allows to offer tailor-made services. All three remarkable companies, known by their vision on sustainable impact and strong leadership over generations. Cegeka #inclosecooperation #lifeatcegeka Stefan Olivier André Knaepen Sam Wuytens Tom Knaepen, MBA Stijn Bijnens

Nice to be in this overview of best books for startup founders!

🌟 Exciting News from our portfolio company Quan - employee well-being! 🌟 We're thrilled to share that Quan - employee well-being has raised an (undisclosed) bridge funding to invest in future growth in the Netherlands and the UK. Joanna Invests is very proud to back the founders again with their Community, together with HearstLab, 4impact capital, Y Combinator, Golden Egg Check and Knop Ventures. In addition, Quan is announcing a partnership with Zorg van de Zaak. Through this partnership, Quan will be offering their well-being software solution to more than 1 million Dutch employees. Well done, Arosha and Lucy. 🔊 Calling all women interested in investing! Are you passionate about supporting female-founded startups like Quan? Joanna Invests is open to new investors who are as passionate as us about making the world a more equal place. You can find more information on our website (link in comments). Stay tuned as we continue to champion female founders that align with our values of empathy, authenticity, and trust. Here's to building sustainable financial futures, together! #JoannaInvests #FinancialEmpowerment #InvestInWomen #femalefounders #womenentrepreneurs #femaleinvestors #girlsjustwannahavefunds #mentalhealth

Very interesting VC Breakfast today about Leadership & Conflict Resolution. Thanks for sharing your valuable insights Roelof Vos and Bart Jan van 't Hoff 🙌

Very proud to be backing Quan - employee well-being again with the Joanna Invests Community in their latest bridge funding round! We first invested in Quan in the Summer of 2022 and are happy to support them in this round as well. In addition, Quan is announcing a partnership with Zorg van de Zaak. Through this partnership, Quan will be offering their well-being software solution. This is great news for more than 1 million employees that are connected through Zorg van de Zaak. Do you also want to invest in female-founded startups like Quan? Joanna Invests is open to new investors who are as passionate as us about making the investment world a more equal place. You can find more information on our website (link in comments). #JoannaInvests #FinancialEmpowerment #InvestInWomen #femalefounders #womenentrepreneurs #femaleinvestors #girlsjustwannahavefunds #mentalhealth

Just started my internship at Sustainable Finance Lab. I'll be involved in a research project on degrowth. Been diving into the literature this week. Just read a bizarre fact on growth as a material biophysical process that accelerates the movement of more and more resources. Scientists have been measuring the weight of all objects produced by humans. This 'anthropogenic mass' has been doubling every 20 years since 1900 which was 3% of all biomass on Earth then and in 2020 has now surpassed the weight of all living things on Earth. "The mass of produced plastics alone is double the mass of all the terrestrial and marine animals, including the bodies of humans." Wrap your head around that! "Today, human-made stuff equal to each person's body weight is produced every single week for everyone alive globally." The material world we have created is swallowing us and this entire planet whole. Next week Thursday at 20:00 at Utrecht University the Sustainable Finance Lab has organized an interesting line-up of experts who will take a critical look at the short-termism shareholders pressure companies into. Can shareholders demand otherwise? Is the shareholder model even compatible with a long-term vision of sustainable production? It's an open public evening. Sign up via the link below.

More than proud of my husband and his Booomtag entrepreneurship. The following article explains in great detail what Booomtag encompasses and how it can contribute to a more sustainable use of (amongst others) extreme sports gear. A must read for anyone I have by now tired with my explanation of Booomtag (and for anyone I haven't yet told about it, of course).