Making the leap from employee to entrepreneur
Lessons from Appical founder Gerrit Brouwer and serial entrepreneur Sebastiaan Hooft (mentors of Founder Institute Amsterdam)
Considering to take the leap from a regular day job to the exciting life of tech entrepreneurship? You are not alone. And you are definitely onto something. But before you dive into this adventure, you should be taking advice from people who did it all before. So what will it bring you? The best way is to have successful entrepreneurs tell their stories themselves.
The team of Founder Institute Amsterdam asked two experienced entrepreneurs to share their entrepreneurial journey. Gerrit Brouwer (former Shell and Rabobank employee) is a serial entrepreneur, currently working on his third startup Keypatch. Sebastiaan Hooft (who took the leap from a job at Gartner) co-founded a profitable business which was sold 9 years after. Here’s what both have to say:
The reason for becoming an entrepreneur
Gerrit: “I took the leap because I have an inner drive to realize new concepts, at the intersection of technology and people. It’s an area which I always have found interesting and want to contribute to.”
Sebastiaan: “I have always been entrepreneurial. When I was 13 years old, I was making mix tapes from dance records and then I sold them to classmates in school. Later I had several ’hustles’ going on but eventually I decided to be “more serious” and work for a boss. There I discovered everyone was working for someone else. Then one of my co-workers died of a heart attack. So I told myself: “If I want to work hard, I better do it for myself.”
The best thing about being an entrepreneur
Gerrit: “It’s an exciting lifestyle. Even in bad times, you can get a satisfying feeling by sharing your concerns and to just be open about it. It really feels good. ”
Sebastiaan: “The freedom of choice in entrepreneurship is extremely important. You define your own success. Of course, as an employee you can take control over your own career, and use entrepreneurial skills in your work. But in the end, a lot is decided for you instead by you. For 25 years now, that won’t bother me anymore.”
What did entrepreneurship bring you in life?
Gerrit: “It gave me high peaks and deep lows. Entrepreneurship will give you something to learn everyday. For instance, it helped me to reflect more.”
Sebastiaan: “I feel very privileged and lucky sharing my experiences all over the world. Transferring knowledge about entrepreneurship is the best what happened to me in this context. Helping other people really feels great.”
Upcoming Amsterdam event: making the leap from employee to entrepreneur
Both Gerrit Brouwer and Sebastiaan Hooft will be sharing more of their experiences and tips & tricks with aspiring entrepreneurs on Tuesday April 9 in Amsterdam at TSH Collab West: http://meetu.ps/e/Gz8BF/1w3Wz/f
Host of the evening will be Daan Weddepohl, CEO of Peerby, a marketplace where people reach out to fellow citizens and temporarily borrow stuff. After Daan has become graduate of the Founder Institute, he raised $4.66M from investors and got invited to join the programs of Rockstart and Techstars. He will be sharing some tips of his own as well.
A little sneak peak of what they will be discussing with the audience:
Gerrit: “I will talk about the thin line between success and failure — and how to deal with that personally.”
Sebastiaan: “I will definitely talk about how you can close the gap between a formal and informal team of your starting business.”
