Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten — Walking Up a Mountain One Step at a Time
April 2nd, 2019. I leave the interview with Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten feeling like I have yet to connect with him. Damn. Throughout the conversation, of course, Veldhuijzen van Zanten is his dandiest-polished- disciplined-self. Damn. What else could I have done? I could have asked him to juggle seven circus balls as he is said to be able to, since his teenage years in Circus School. I could have made more jokes as he is known for being witty and playful. Coulda, woulda, shoulda. I guess I can kiss the award for best interview of the year good-bye. Wait, one of Boris favourite quotes by Sir Winston Churchill just came to mind: “Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” Damn right.
March 5th, 2019 is forever recorded as a milestone in the history of Veldhuijzen van Zanten’s business life. It is the public announcement of the Financial Times acquires a majority stake in The Next Web (TNW). A victory, an achievement, a proud moment, whatever you may call it, it is far from an overnight success.
Suddenly, I am reminded of Veldhuijzen van Zanten’s ski experience in Alagna, Italy. Struggling with heavy snowshoes under his ski boots, Veldhuijzen van Zanten was becoming frustrated with his sluggish pace while his friends easily progressed up the mountain ahead. The guide stopped beside him and told him that the mountain wasn’t against him, that he must accept the circumstances instead of fighting them, and find his own rhythm. From that point on, Veldhuijzen van Zanten focused on taking one step at a time, on breathing and finding his own pace. Soon enough he found himself passing a pair of skis, but he is so focused that he just keeps on going without hearing what is said. Then he passes another pair of skis, and the same as before, he goes on solely focusing on his movement. Suddenly, he looked up. And there in front of him was the guide, with a huge smile on his face. Veldhuijzen van Zanten reached the top of the summit. His friends were about 200 metres below. At that moment, he realized a huge lesson, not only about skiing but about life and being an entrepreneur:
“Whether you are an entrepreneur or just someone trying to accomplish a task that seems daunting, the lesson is that you need to know your goal, then find your rhythm and then keep taking one step at a time, until you get there.” — Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten.
Since its foundation in 2006, over a period of 13 years, Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten and Patrick de Laive have developed TNW to become a holistic tech media platform. Today, it includes a tech news website, an annual conference, a co-working label, a startup database and a consulting service to corporates and governments. Like an octopus with eight legs, TNW covers all aspects of start-up life, from creating the network, facilitating funding, providing co-working space and developing the communication your start-up needs. Was this the goal all along, fabricated one step at a time? Are there still new areas to cover and grow into?
“‘In 30 years’ time, we want to be bigger than CNN’”- Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten, 2018.
The world loves stories of ultra-successful college dropouts that have become millionaires. Steve Jobs. Bill Gates. Mark Zuckerberg. Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten is the Dutch version of this romanticised story. At 14 years of age, he dropped out of school determined to prove his teacher’s doomsday verdict wrong. Once he heard were he to drop out of school that nothing would become of him, his amazement and sense of mission spiked. Apparently, his teacher hadn’t considered that the way to get him to do something was exactly by telling it wasn’t possible.
Throughout his circus education and art studies, first at Artez and later at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam, Veldhuijzen van Zanten has acquired the skills that have become determinant to his success. His competitive edge, as he calls it, lies in his ability to host on stage and be comfortable around people. He credits his success to his creative thinking and ability to listen.
“When you start a business, you do everything yourself. Then, as it grows and becomes more organized, there are people in place to do the different jobs. I understand that my work today is the meeting. My talent lies in reading the room, the people, in feeling people’s energy and in being able to bring their energy down.” Veldhuijzen van Zanten says this as though he is more yoga teacher than business man.
“Feeling energy.” The words of the all-dressed-in-white-Boris echo in my head. In Kundalini yoga, it is believed that wearing white will demand people to deal with you on a higher level. In hospitals, doctors and nurses wear white to create maximum rapport with patients. Worth revering or not, it seems the value created by Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten and the role his company plays in the The Netherlands’ start-up scene is just beginning to be rightly attributed:
“The significance of TNW is often underestimated. Our ecosystem for young companies owes a lot to it.” Janneke Niessen, angel investor and entrepreneur.
When asked how he acquired his business knowledge and skills, Boris underlines that he learns by doing and that he is helped by a keen sense of discipline. Prior to TNW, he started several companies. (V3, Hubhop, Junker.nl, Preople.com, Fleck), Some were more successful than others, of course.
Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten first spelled that he wanted to be a millionaire at the age of 6. Just 22 years later, he achieved his goal the day he sold his first company to FortuneCity in 1999. Fast forward 20 years, and you’ll see that his fourth company, TNW, has been acquired by The Financial Times. An extension of TQ to include a second building was announced in the same month. With every endeavor it seems that Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten is re-writing Sir Winston Churchill’s quote to be: “Success consists of going from success to success without loss of enthusiasm”.
And he shows no signs of slowing down.
Liliana Rodrigues is a global PR & Marketing professional at international design studio Marcel Wanders.* As a passionate communication strategist and influencer, she regularly writes about brands, art and design.
*Text published April 2nd, 2019.
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