Vliegwiel: 100 Portraits of Dutch Founders
Vliegwiel revealed 100 portraits of Dutch founders to Minister Heleen Herbert. NEKOD was included. Here's what belonging to the Dutch startup flywheel means.
Last week, in a room full of Amsterdam builders, a magazine was handed to Heleen Herbert, the Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs and Climate. Inside it: 100 portraits of Dutch founders. I'm one of them.
The project is Vliegwiel, built by Robert Gaal, Wesley Verhoeve, and Sanne Koemeester. Vliegwiel means "flywheel" in Dutch, and the name is the whole thesis: an ecosystem where founders stop being isolated and start compounding each other's momentum. Robert brings the vision from his time at Google and Y Combinator. Anyone who has been around a tight community of builders knows what happens once the flywheel gets going. It spins on its own.
The list the magazine actually asks for
The 100 Portraits are the headline. The more important part is what the magazine publishes alongside them: a clear, honest list of what needs to change in the Dutch startup ecosystem.
- Fix employee equity.
- Close the growth gap.
- Reform subsidies.
- Normalize failure.
- Bring retired founders back into the ecosystem.
None of those are controversial if you've built anything here. They're structural. Read the full version on the Vliegwiel website. That's the important part.
Why the inclusion matters
I'm a foreigner. I live in Amsterdam. I'm building NEKOD with a global customer base from the first day. A global mindset is the only way I know how to build.
Being included in a project that is fundamentally about the Dutch startup ecosystem growing stronger gives me a sense of belonging that is hard to articulate. It says: you're part of this. Even if you arrived from somewhere else, even if your customers are in San Francisco and Berlin and Singapore, you're part of what Amsterdam is becoming.
I hope I can bring the outsider perspective too. That's part of what makes a flywheel spin faster: friction from different angles. NEKOD was founded in Amsterdam, and we've been backed by Techstars and Plug and Play since. Dutch roots, global posture.
Thank you
To Robert, Wesley, and Sanne: thank you for bringing wind to the flywheel. This is the kind of ecosystem work that doesn't get credit in real time and pays off for ten years.
The magazine and the 100 portraits are live on the Vliegwiel website. Read the list. That's the important part.