“The Netherlands is famous for its tulips but it has some of the worst circumstances in the world for growing them”, says Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten, co-founder and CEO of The Next Web, the international tech publication and organiser of TNW Europe, the Amsterdam-based tech conference. “The soil’s too sandy; there’s too much rain, wind and not enough sun.” But, precisely because of these conditions, the Dutch had to become innovators and find ways to overcome them. In much the same way, working in a smaller market has imbued Dutch start-ups with a great deal of versatility and resilience, helping them to flourish. “The entrepreneurs that come from the Netherlands are very tough”, he says. “They build great companies that reach the whole world.”
“Each city has its own ecosystem”, says Patrick de Zeeuw, co-founder of Startupbootcamp, the international accelerator. Whilst Rotterdam is considered synonymous with high-tech start-ups and Utrecht’s forte is clean-tech, Eindhoven’s home in the Netherlands’ agricultural heartland has seen it become the centre for agri-tech and food-tech innovation. Lastly, Amsterdam is not only home to a whole host of e-commerce and fin-tech start-ups, but it is rapidly making a name for itself in the smart cities space. “Amsterdam is quite small so it’s easy to experiment with new smart city initiatives”, he says.
However, despite these strengths, the Dutch start-up scene is certainly not without its challenges, with the difficulty of accessing technical talent topping the list. “It’s really difficult to find software developers”, says René Schoenmakers, founder and CEO of Catawiki, the online auction house for special items and collectibles. “There aren’t that many people with technical skills coming out of the universities in the Netherlands.” Because of this, the start-up community is engaged in an arms race with rival start-up hubs in London and Berlin for the technical talent coming out of places such as Ukraine and the Baltics. Fortunately, the Netherlands has a secret weapon up its sleeve: Amsterdam. With a comparatively low cost of living and a high quality of life, the Dutch capital has considerable pull in the war for talent. “A lot of people want to live in Amsterdam so it’s quite easy to attract people from other countries to work here”, he says.
Whether it’s WeTransfer, Adyen or Layar, plenty of Dutch start-ups have been catapulted to international success. As a result, the Netherlands now has plenty of experienced entrepreneurs giving back to the community. “We’re seeing more and more founders of big successful start-ups becoming active in the community”, says Schoenmakers. “They’re using their knowledge and money to reinvest in the ecosystem.” Increasing numbers of entrepreneurs are helping to fund or provide support to the newest start-ups on the scene and this is having a transformative effect on the Dutch entrepreneurial community. “As we see more and more successes coming from the Netherlands, the ecosystem is continuing to mature”, he says. “It has become self-reinforcing.”
And these kinds of high-profile wins arenot only resulting in more resources on the ground: they are redefining how the Netherlands’ start-ups define success. “Typically entrepreneurs make their dreams too small from the start, as a result of which they narrow themselves down into a sandbox where it’s harder to be successful”, says Rijvers. But as the Netherlands produces an increasing number of international success stories, Dutch entrepreneurs are steadily being encouraged to set their sights higher. “Shining more light on these successes can really help people have a different north star when they think of success”, he concludes.
Source: http://elitebusinessmagazine.co.uk