Latest / Women Disrupting Tech / Why Your Strategy Should Fit on a Post-It with Dorit Roest | Ep. 131

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Why Your Strategy Should Fit on a Post-It with Dorit Roest | Ep. 131 · Women Disrupting Tech

0:10
Welcome to Women Disrupting Tech.
0:13
My name is dear Kanupkas, and on this podcast, I give the women
0:16
who work in tech the platform they need to inspire and empower
0:20
each other. Join me on a journey into the
0:23
world of entrepreneurship, funding biases, and role models
0:28
to discover the strategies for success in the tech industry.
0:32
In other words, how women can disrupt tech.
0:36
Are you ready to listen? Hey, welcome back to Women
0:45
Disrupting Tech and thank you for tuning in to episode 131.
0:51
Does your strategy fit on a post it?
0:54
That provocative question is at the heart of my conversation
0:58
with Dorit Roost. Dorrit is the founder of
1:01
Strategy Sprint Company, and she believes that founders move
1:05
faster when their strategy is clear, aligned, and easy to
1:09
revisit as the world changes. In our conversation, Dorrit and
1:14
I explore what many founders discover over time.
1:18
When your personal goals and business goals drift apart, your
1:22
motivation slips long before your metrics start reflecting
1:26
this. By listening to this episode,
1:29
you will learn three things. One, alignment is not optional.
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When you lose sight of the reason you started, your energy
1:37
slips in. Your decisions lose clarity. 2.
1:42
Zooming out helps you build with intention, though.
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It shows how looking at what is happening in the world right now
1:50
helps you spot opportunities and name threats without getting
1:53
overwhelmed free. Putting your strategy on post
1:57
its with objectives and key results makes it easier to
2:01
track, reflect and adapt to changing circumstances.
2:06
And as a bonus, you will discover the visualization
2:09
exercise that shifted my own strategy for the year ahead.
2:14
So when you're ready to listen and learn why your strategy
2:18
should fit on a post it, please. Welcome to women disrupting tech
2:22
Dorit roost. Hey, good afternoon, Dorit.
2:25
Good to have you on the podcast. Looking forward to discussing
2:30
the strategy Sprint. And let's start with a big bit
2:34
of background. How did you get to build the
2:37
company that you've built so far?
2:39
Yeah. Well, this is my third company
2:42
so far, 36 years old, thirteen years into my entrepreneurial
2:48
journey and I started actually based on something that I missed
2:54
myself. I had a food blog and I this was
2:59
back in 2012 and I thought, wow, what an exciting space to be in.
3:06
And I called it bloggerting bloggers marketing.
3:09
And I figured why that? Why isn't there a marketplace
3:13
that switches supply and demand in influencer marketing?
3:16
So even back in the day with WordPress, I built it myself
3:22
within like, well, it was, it was a hell of a journey, let's
3:28
say that. But it grew, grew out to become
3:32
the biggest micro influencer platform in the Netherlands.
3:35
But my heart was not in the world of social media and
3:38
advertising. So externally I, I, I've been in
3:41
this company for seven years and I grew it to 4000 micro
3:46
influencers and we had a Co working space on the hook in and
3:49
an Academy externally. Quite big.
3:52
Yeah, but externally it felt for everyone, like, wow, you're
3:56
doing great. But internally I felt so
3:59
misaligned because the company, I'm quite the idealist.
4:03
And back then the world of social media advertising turned
4:06
quite dark, like a lot of fake accounts and, and, and, and
4:11
negativity. And I just, I just, I just felt
4:18
a little bit empty in that whole entrepreneurial journey.
4:22
And at a certain point, I had to face myself and say, OK, even
4:26
though it's a successful company, it might not be your
4:29
success, it might not be your definition for success.
4:31
So it's OK to walk away from that.
4:34
Even though I just like a year before that, I did a big merger
4:40
with another company. And it was not my time, but I
4:43
had to do it. So I closed that door in order
4:46
for another one to open. And that one led me to Silicon
4:49
Valley. So you probably know about Tech
4:52
Leap. I don't know if the listeners
4:54
know about Tech Leap. It started out as a public
4:56
private organization initiated by the Dutch government to help
5:00
Dutch tech companies skill internationally.
5:03
And the consulate in San Francisco had was on a mission
5:07
to build an organization like Tech Leap, but then only for the
5:12
US So I took the challenge to build that organization together
5:18
with Michael Doyes. He was the diplomat and I was
5:20
the builder. And that was a hell of a
5:24
journey. I lived in San Francisco back
5:26
then and to get to know so many successful entrepreneurs and
5:31
aspiring stories, it really lit my fire.
5:38
And I needed that after that whole last phase of my first
5:41
company. And it also brought me a lot of
5:46
inspiration on growth and I'm on leadership.
5:49
And I took that to to the Netherlands, where I founded
5:53
Strategy Sprint Company based on the idea that the way a lot of
5:59
startups, a lot of companies in the tech space, a lot of
6:01
successful Silicon Valley companies, the way they handle
6:05
strategy is different from a lot of companies in the SME space or
6:11
solopreneurs even. We have to check in with our
6:14
strategy more often in this world that keeps on changing.
6:17
And it has to be more simple, more fast, more true to who you
6:20
really are. And I think I cracked the code
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on how to do that with Strategy Sprint Company.
6:25
Cool. And one of the things that we
6:30
discussed upfront was that you believe that entrepreneurship
6:35
holds the key to solving a lot of the problems that we have in
6:38
the world. Double click for me on that.
6:42
Why do you believe that? Don't you believe that?
6:46
I do believe it and hopefully the listeners listeners will
6:50
believe in it. Yeah, well, it's, it's, it's,
6:55
it's mostly because I've seen the, the, the, the motivation
6:59
and the drive and the, the, the, the, the true heart for their
7:06
missions of these successful companies in in Silicon Valley.
7:10
And I've also seen that their, their ability to move mountains.
7:18
That's insane. And that's something that we we
7:21
don't really see that often in politics because the political
7:25
system luckily is built on democracy.
7:29
So it cannot be that that flexible and agile and
7:32
shouldn't. It be.
7:34
An idealistic no, no, I think luckily we we have a lot of
7:42
systems in place that protect our democracy and I think that's
7:46
very valuable. But the downside of all of that
7:48
is that things take time and that's adopting any innovation
7:53
is just a huge challenge. I mean, I as an entrepreneur was
7:58
part of the, the diplomatic system in the, in the US And
8:02
there was also a huge clash sometimes because I wanted to
8:06
move fast and, and, and, and innovate and, and, and build
8:10
things and, but I had to go through boards and ministries
8:15
and, and, and all of that. How was?
8:17
It. It was, I think I saw this whole
8:22
face in my career as a huge playground and I knew like I I
8:28
literally said turn down the offer to build back then Holland
8:33
and the valley and later skill and L twice because I was like,
8:37
no, I cannot work like that. I cannot.
8:41
That's not me. Like this is not me, but I'm so
8:46
happy that I did. Because if, if, if, if the
8:50
mission is big enough, then you're willing to be a little
8:54
bit more patience, then you're willing to for another time
8:59
explain the vision and why you want to do things.
9:02
And it learned me. It taught me a lot about
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politics. It taught me a lot about Silicon
9:08
Valley. And my, and my whole network
9:11
exploded after that. So it was definitely worth it.
9:14
And on top of all that, we held hundreds of Dutch tech companies
9:18
skilled to the US. So that was that was a mission.
9:21
So I would say worth it, but challenging.
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And when I came back to the Netherlands, I was like, OK, now
9:26
it's time for me to fly again. Now I want to spread my wings
9:31
and and and and and be the entrepreneur myself again.
9:35
OK. So it was intentional that you
9:38
chose to take on the the mission in the US also to teach yourself
9:44
how do I work in terms of if I'm, I'd say constrained by all
9:50
kinds of systems and boards and and checks and balances.
9:53
Yeah, definitely, yeah. So how does that help you in
9:57
your current venture? How does that help you in with
10:00
strategies prints but also by with designing strategy?
10:04
Yeah, well, I think we all tend to stay in our bubbles a lot.
10:10
So when I was doing my masters, I started my first company.
10:17
So I never applied for a job. I never worked anywhere else
10:23
then in my own company. Well, OK, some internships side,
10:28
but so I think it's very valuable to to see how systems
10:34
work in other organizations. And it helps me now as a
10:37
strategist because I understand internal dynamics more.
10:42
Because before that I had my seven years of being the boss
10:48
myself and building the organizational structure and
10:51
decision structure and the meeting structure myself.
10:56
But it was very inspiring to her to hear and to see how it went
11:01
in the, in the diplomatic world. But also, my husband works,
11:06
worked at, again, a very fast growing tech company, of course.
11:11
And I saw that evolving from when he was when he started over
11:14
there it was. They weren't worth like 250
11:17
people. And when he left, I don't even
11:21
know one of these right now, but it's huge.
11:25
Yeah, exactly. But I find it so fascinating to
11:28
also see how his decision structure and the way they
11:33
handle strategy, how that evolved.
11:35
So I think it's it's crucial as a strategy is that you know and
11:40
you get your inspiration and you your understanding from multiple
11:44
points. So I want to dive into the
11:48
strategy Sprint in a minute just to set the stage.
11:52
One of the things I heard you say all the way at the beginning
11:55
is we have to check in with our strategy more often and be more
12:00
agile and be more in to how we want it.
12:06
Talk to me about what you see happening that is, is that
12:11
different from that from that stage and how does it differ?
12:17
Yeah, well, as I said, we are living in a world that is
12:20
changing so fast. And also us ourselves, we are
12:24
evolving as a, as, as people as well.
12:27
And what I see and what I've seen in, in the US and in
12:32
Silicon Valley as well is that people, no, I have to say
12:38
differently that founders tend to become misaligned from why
12:42
they initially started a company.
12:45
And when their business goals are not aligned with their
12:47
personal goals, they often lack that, that internal drive and
12:53
motivation to, to bring that company to the finish line.
12:57
So, and that is crucial because I feel like the the whole
13:01
organization, it's, it has a systemic effect on the whole
13:05
organization. If the founder is not in a good
13:07
place. And I've seen that first hand
13:10
when my company was doing great, but I grew away from that.
13:18
Yes, exactly. Then you can on willpower, you
13:21
can go very, very far, but you will never get that far as
13:26
someone that is aligned with the business goals.
13:28
And I feel like we need the new definition of what a successful
13:33
company or what successful entrepreneurship looks like.
13:37
So why do we become misaligned with the business goals?
13:42
That is usually because it's too static, because once a year you
13:48
go to an off site and you decide like, OK, this is the, this is
13:53
our, our journey and these are our milestones.
13:56
But you have to move with all the changes and, and, and
14:00
evolvement, everything that happens throughout.
14:05
And I feel like a strategy has become something that is too
14:09
heavy and too big. It can also be something that
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you can just summarize on a post it.
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And if you summarize it on a post it, it becomes clear for
14:19
yourself, for everyone around it.
14:20
But it's also easy to switch, like the moment you feel like
14:25
misalignment, let's rewrite the post it and check in with it and
14:29
make sure that we are all on the same page again and then move
14:32
forward. And that is the whole mission,
14:35
to make strategy more simple and to be able to do it in a faster
14:40
way and check in with it more often so those missions can stay
14:44
true to what you really want as an leadership team or as a
14:48
founding team. Yeah.
14:50
Does it also give more freedom in terms of how you execute if
14:54
you keep the strategy a bit more?
14:58
Yeah, a bit more, let's say posted format.
15:01
Yeah, what we hear from founders that have done a strategy Sprint
15:05
is that they don't need to check in with each other that often
15:08
anymore. I've there's always a side
15:10
effect from working on your strategy, right?
15:13
The moment you work on your strategy and you are aligned,
15:16
then everything moves faster and easier.
15:21
But definitely. Yeah, and takes less
15:23
communication then what is what I'm hearing you say.
15:28
So I've done a a strategy Sprint myself.
15:31
It was a tryout for an session that you did on a bigger stage.
15:37
And one of the things that struck me is that it builds on
15:41
actually three of your own lessons from Silicon Valley,
15:45
which will get you right now. So the first lesson is to to
15:49
zoom out, maybe start with why that's important as a starting
15:56
point because usually we we dive straight into the deep end and
16:03
instead what you propose is, OK, zoom out, take a shot of what is
16:07
happening around you. Yeah.
16:09
Well, first and foremost, if you like, like a lot of successful
16:15
entrepreneurs, they have this magic momentum, right the moment
16:19
that they offer a solution exactly when people need it in
16:23
the right way. And that feels like magic.
16:26
But it's not magic. It's not a coincidence.
16:28
It's because they continuously zoom out, look around them and
16:33
see opportunities and know how to seize them.
16:37
So you have to ask yourself what is happening in the world?
16:41
What affects my industry? What role do I want to play?
16:44
And if you do that in the right way, then you can hit that magic
16:48
momentum. So that is that is the upside
16:50
for you as a person with your mission, with your company.
16:54
Personally, I also feel like there's so much happening in the
16:59
world right now and we have an obligation as entrepreneurs
17:04
because we are the type of humans that know how to build,
17:07
that know how to make change, that know how to create
17:10
something from nothing. We need entrepreneurs right now
17:15
to tackle the challenges that we have.
17:17
If we are talking about climate, if we are talking about peace,
17:20
if we are talking about community politics, there's so
17:24
much happening in the world. So I wanted to take that moment.
17:27
And also in every strategy Sprint, we also address that
17:31
moral compass of, of entrepreneurs not like to put
17:35
something else on their plate. I know entrepreneurs are busy
17:38
enough, but what keeps you awake every night?
17:41
What what are those things that you feel like?
17:43
Who my children or my next, the next generation, they they are
17:47
going to have to cope with that. And ask yourself, is there a
17:53
way? And it doesn't have to be today.
17:54
Is there a way that I can play a role in that?
17:58
And it can also be something small, like for instance, if you
18:01
don't have time but you do have the means, then sponsor a
18:06
charity with your company. But if you feel like, for
18:11
instance, my my business partner moved to South Africa and Cape
18:16
Town and she is now looking at ways to give back to the local
18:21
community with strategy spreads to help local entrepreneurs.
18:25
I mean, those kind of little tweaks that don't that they that
18:30
are not focused on making profit, but are making an
18:33
impact. I think true magic lies there,
18:36
but also true fulfilment for you as an entrepreneur.
18:40
Because success that is only based on what you think is
18:44
important and what is important in your company without taking
18:47
into account the role you want to play in the world, is is kind
18:53
of doomed to be empty as well. Yeah.
18:56
So what I'm hearing you say is, is a way to to avoid, let's say,
19:00
the overwhelm because indeed a lot is happening in the world
19:03
and we cannot solve all the problems in with.
19:06
Well, if we had a magic wand, of course we could solve it, but we
19:11
don't have that magic wand. But what I'm hearing you say is
19:15
that one way to avoid the overwhelm is to focus with, to
19:20
put what is happening in the world in the context of your own
19:25
company. Yeah, yeah.
19:27
Well, I, I always start with the question like I try to inspire
19:33
them with a couple of big, big themes that are happening in the
19:38
world right now. For instance, the developments
19:42
with AI and tech and the geopolitical shifts that are
19:45
going, going on right now. And, and then I, I, I, I asked
19:51
them and I could also ask the listeners now, like literally
19:55
what are the things that you see on the news that you feel like
19:59
that really that that hits me? Or what are the, the, the things
20:04
that when you are dooms crawling on on Instagram or on any social
20:07
media, what are the things that really touch you?
20:11
For instance, the images that you saw in in Hazap for
20:15
instance. And then ask yourself like, why
20:19
does it? Does it, does it touch you and
20:22
why does it matter to you? And what kind of change would
20:26
you like to see and can, is there a way that you can play a
20:29
little role in that? And it can also be in my next
20:32
career, I would like to do this or this or this.
20:34
But then you sort of park it, put it on a parking lot for for
20:39
for later. But don't skip it.
20:41
Don't forget about it when you are working on your strategy.
20:44
Also zoom out first because who knows, maybe you are able to
20:50
align the impact you want to make in the world with your
20:54
company goals. And that is true magic because
20:57
then you're, you're, you can, you can pull from your intrinsic
21:00
motivation and it will give you so much more fulfillment and,
21:05
and happiness and you will attract the right people.
21:10
So there's, there's, there's also a business upside in, in
21:17
involving impact topics in your company.
21:21
Yeah. So one of the steps here also
21:24
involves tracking opportunities and threats that come from these
21:28
developments. So if a founder looks to, let's
21:31
say, spot trends for that affect their business in 2026, how do
21:38
they map these opportunities and threats onto their business?
21:42
Yeah. Well, this is actually it.
21:45
It comes from the good old sword.
21:47
Yeah, trying to witnesses opportunities and threats.
21:51
And to give an example, if we have a power outage, what will
21:56
happen to your company? That's a very real question you
21:59
have to ask yourself right now. And a lot of the entrepreneurs
22:05
are, are optimists and they, they, they, they, they love to
22:09
stay away from these scenarios. But we we need to state that.
22:13
Yeah. Is that because they are
22:14
optimists though, or because they're like, oh, that is
22:19
difficult because that actually that's one of the points I
22:23
wanted to make strategy for. For many people, strategy is
22:26
sort of a big thing that you can't well, it's difficult to to
22:34
combine in in in bite sized chunks.
22:37
Yeah. Well, yes, we see that a lot of
22:40
people see that that way indeed. And and it can, it can I feel
22:46
like so in in the strategy Sprint.
22:48
So the, the original strategy Sprint is a one day strategic
22:54
workshop where you go through a series of 40 different steps,
22:58
which is like, we really, really thought about each and every
23:03
step. And, and, and this is like
23:04
version 863. We, we got so much feedback.
23:09
This is like the, we cracked the code on the most effective
23:12
strategy session in one day. And one of the exercises is an
23:17
exercise where we asked them for the what if everything goes
23:22
right and what if everything goes wrong?
23:24
And both of the scenarios, we ask them to really dive into
23:29
that. And we see so much friction.
23:32
If entrepreneurs need to go to that dark place of what if
23:36
everything goes wrong, You literally see it in their faces.
23:40
People like frowning and and, and and and they they don't want
23:45
to be there. So yeah, I do see that a lot of
23:48
the entrepreneurs try to avoid these doom scenarios.
23:55
Yeah, not only entrepreneurs, by the way, because we got this
23:58
letter from the government, this little pack.
24:02
And for contexts of listeners outside the Netherlands, every,
24:06
I think every citizen, maybe even every company in the
24:10
Netherlands got a letter from the government telling, telling
24:14
people like, hey, this is time to prepare for a very bad
24:20
situations. And here are some things you can
24:23
do. So I actually, my girlfriend and
24:27
I were supposed to have this conversation yesterday, Sunday
24:31
evening. We didn't, but yeah.
24:36
But these are the things that are easily avoided, indeed even
24:41
by people outside entrepreneurial realm.
24:47
Because that's that is also the whole magic of facilitating
24:52
sprints and being that accountability person on just
24:58
just have this short moment, like it's a Sprint short moment
25:02
to address this. And then we can continue and,
25:05
and and build that dream. But it's just one thing that
25:08
should be taken into account. Yeah.
25:10
And even if you do that, let's say indeed for, for maybe 5
25:15
minutes or so that you just try down every, what are, let's say
25:22
these are the, the bad things that could happen and these are
25:26
my plans. And maybe you have plans.
25:28
Yeah. And you know what The funny
25:29
thing is for all of the the the doom scenarios, we see two
25:35
categories. We see one is the limiting
25:37
beliefs that an entrepreneur has themselves.
25:40
Like who am I to change this industry or who am I to, to, to
25:46
scale to the US? No, that is something for other
25:49
people people or to become an investor.
25:52
But the other one is just bears on the road.
25:56
And those bears on the road, if you can see them, like I always
25:59
see the the, the iceberg from the Titanic, like you're
26:03
sailing, you see that iceberg, but if you see it beforehand,
26:08
then you can proactively move around it.
26:12
So identify those threats and make a plan on how to avoid
26:19
these risks and then move on to changing the world in a way that
26:23
you want to do with your company.
26:24
Yeah, or or decide that you want to take the risk.
26:28
Yeah, yeah. Which is.
26:30
OK too. And so sometimes it's a in need
26:32
to calculate the risk that you take and that you are like.
26:37
Yeah, yeah. But it's like this whole
26:40
exercise is, is is literally 8 minutes in the whole day.
26:44
But it's super important and it's always showing those blind
26:50
spots of the entrepreneurs. Yeah, which at the end of the
26:55
day are no blind spots then anymore.
26:57
No, no, we've shed some light on them.
27:00
Yes. So talking about light, next
27:04
stage is that we you introduce a battery check, talk us through
27:11
that process because I thought it was very useful to do also to
27:17
take stock of of yourself, but also of the company.
27:21
I think you can apply the better rejector as well.
27:24
Well, I can explain the, the exercise, but then I'm also very
27:27
curious on what, what, what you experienced in that whole
27:31
exercise, if you want to share. So the battery check is again, a
27:37
way to simplify strategy. We need more of that.
27:40
So look at your life and look at the free intrinsic drivers that
27:47
you have time, money and energy and check in with yourself.
27:52
Like how full is each battery and try to exaggerate a little
27:55
bit. So OK, right now I never feel
27:59
like I have time left, but I am doing great money wise, but I'm
28:04
always tired. So energy wise is also something
28:06
that needs to be improved. And then so we literally ask
28:11
people to, to, to draw the, the, the balance of those batteries,
28:15
those three batteries. And then we ask them to choose
28:19
and say, OK, looking at 2026, which one battery needs your
28:24
attention? One is your focus, What is your
28:26
priority? And then, and then we ask them
28:30
to, to raise hands like time or money or energy.
28:33
And that is for us, like strategy is nothing more than a
28:37
goal with a plan. And you just have to have an
28:42
idea of the direction you're going to.
28:44
And time, money or energy can be a great also like a compass in
28:49
that journey, like, OK, but is it going to help me get that
28:53
energy back? No.
28:54
OK, then you should not do that. So it's it's a powerful tool.
29:00
Yeah, and it's a way to prioritize.
29:03
Yes. Actions.
29:04
And how was it for you, dear Gil?
29:06
Well, what it did for me is, is actually is so you look at free,
29:11
their free batteries and actually my money battery was a
29:14
bit fuller than I expected it to be upfront upgrades because I'm
29:19
usually quite negative about my money situation towards myself.
29:25
But I was like, hey, but if I look at it from a bit broader
29:29
perspective, actually I'm, I'm not earning a lot of money.
29:33
It's not that I and I still want to work on that.
29:38
So it will be the focus next year because I think the, the,
29:43
let's say the energy part and the health part for me, it's
29:49
like, yeah, that, that I take care of almost like a maniac to
29:55
some. But but the money part is, is
29:59
something that needs to be worked on.
30:01
But I, I, I was a bit surprised about that.
30:05
It's the starting situation is a lot better than I actually
30:10
thought about upfront. So it's also a way to to, let's
30:17
say, to put things into perspective and to put it in a
30:21
broader perspective. Actually, that's what I did,
30:23
yeah. Yeah.
30:25
Well, that's great to hear. And also again, we also have
30:29
blind spots of these elements of our strategy like right, because
30:33
you tend to look at your strategy like OK, what are my
30:36
goals and looking into a future, but maybe it's not really
30:39
something that comes natural to you to also reflect for
30:43
instance. So that that is, I'm happy to
30:47
with the strategy spins offer all these elements of the
30:50
strategy and all pressure cooker mode.
30:53
So not too long, but still everyone finds an aha moment or
30:58
breakthrough moments in another part.
31:00
And what I what I think is, by the way, very interesting
31:04
because a lot of the listeners are from the tech scene.
31:08
And when I asked tech emperor entrepreneurs these, this
31:12
question or this, this exercise, then it's always about time.
31:17
They don't have time. Money and energy is OK, but time
31:20
is, is really the number one focus.
31:24
And two weeks ago we had a partner event with the deck
31:27
productsies. They are the leader of the
31:30
business seminars in the Netherlands.
31:32
So a lot of CE OS and, and, and corporate managers, also
31:37
entrepreneurs, but a lot of more from the corporate space.
31:40
And almost everyone said energy and then with a session with all
31:46
female entrepreneurs, everyone says money.
31:48
So that is so fascinating to me that in the all these different
31:51
sectors and and types of leaders that we see such a huge shift.
31:57
Yeah, that's indeed a huge shift because on the on the other hand
32:00
for the why do you think for the corporate people, energy was a
32:05
thing a a low battery item? Well, they, they how do you call
32:12
it the, the golden cage of the corporates.
32:15
So they, they might just be comfortable in a position that
32:19
they, they make enough money. They probably have there's,
32:22
there's more attention to work life balance in corporates.
32:25
Maybe. So the one thing they need to
32:28
tackle is energy and and maybe because they are not really
32:32
intrinsically driven always, but this is very like I'm really, we
32:38
try to remove bias rights, but this is very biased.
32:43
It's biased that I can confirm from my own experience, let me
32:47
put it that way. So I am not saying that everyone
32:50
in corporates is not driven by good intentions or by his or her
32:57
own goals. But what I do see a lot is that
33:02
people they don't burn out physically necessarily, but they
33:07
do out burn out in terms of energy over time because the,
33:14
the, the, the work that they did.
33:16
I remember for myself actually going into compliance and risk
33:21
was clearly intended, fully aligned with who I am still.
33:29
And then I found myself in a in a environment where I had to set
33:35
rules in a way that I was that wasn't aligned with me.
33:38
And so that that took a lot of energy out.
33:41
So in that sense, I I'm not surprised to to hear that you.
33:46
Recognise it Yeah, yeah. And we're talking about women
33:49
disrupting tech. I'm just personally very sad
33:56
even that all these female entrepreneurs, women
34:01
entrepreneurs that that they, they are, their focus is always
34:06
money because they're playing, they're, they're keeping their.
34:11
How do I say this? Is that because they're playing
34:14
small or? Yeah.
34:15
That's what I was saying, yeah. I was thinking, if I can say
34:17
playing small. So I, every time I ask this
34:23
question to a woman, it's usually as, as in, in, in, in
34:28
the field of entrepreneurship, it's usually focused on, on, on
34:32
money because they just take on too less salary or they and
34:39
their business is business model is too small or, and I feel like
34:46
we should really change that. So I hope to inspire a lot of
34:51
women to think bigger with those with those examples and
34:58
inspiration that I got from from Silicon Valley.
35:01
But I also feel like that change just needs to come from within.
35:06
Yeah, I think it's it's both. Yes, Dutch people especially
35:12
tend to think small compared to, let's say especially Americans,
35:18
of course, by the, by the sheer size of the, the, the market
35:24
that they're playing in. But also, and I see that even in
35:29
the US that women are getting smaller checks in funding,
35:35
they're getting lower salaries compared on an hourly basis.
35:41
So this is not, not the they work part time.
35:45
This is based on on an hourly basis they get less in all
35:51
aspects. I was wondering how do we shift
35:57
and this bit pre empting the the the end of the episode, but how
36:01
do we shift that perspective especially for women.
36:04
So they start putting themselves on the same, in the same
36:07
position as men where they can say, hey, listen, rework me
36:11
equally. Well it's very easy and easy.
36:15
Women just need to demand more. So another exercise in the
36:19
strategy Sprint is literally writing out the business model
36:24
in post Its. So what are your most important
36:27
products or pillars in your company and what is your
36:29
business model behind that? What I always do is challenge
36:34
them like, OK, can we make it twice as expensive?
36:38
Can we can we up that, multiply that by by two or maybe even 3
36:43
and then try to find a comfort zone and then get get them a
36:47
little bit beyond that. And, and they still, they still
36:53
sell their products for the higher price.
36:56
They still, for instance, a lot of speakers, Dutch women
37:00
speakers, the fees are so much lower than their male
37:05
counterparts. Just ask for more.
37:09
So I feel like that is that is the, the, the change that we
37:13
need to see and we need to talk about money more.
37:15
So, for instance, explain what your rates are and hopefully
37:20
inspire others to also ask what they're worth.
37:26
Yeah, I did. OK.
37:27
There's ask, ask what you're worth.
37:29
Is is is it toxic? One, I think, yeah, Why I read
37:34
that. I think on LinkedIn, I read
37:39
something like asking what you're worth puts you in the
37:43
position that if you don't get a deal at the price you wanted,
37:50
you'll start thinking that you're not worth it.
37:53
So it works actually counterproductive.
37:56
Yeah, Yeah. Well, in Dutch we say Putin
38:01
plazier prestige you. So money, pleasure, prestige and
38:07
for instance, like OK, for every right now, I, my company has
38:11
grown so big that I don't do strategy spins that often
38:15
anymore facilitate them myself. Not, not that often anymore, but
38:19
I do still, I still have a lot of speaking engagements, for
38:24
instance. And for every request that I get
38:29
to speak somewhere, I think to myself, OK, what's in it for me?
38:34
Is it money boom. Is it pleasure this year?
38:37
Is it prestige? And it has to be at least two of
38:41
these factors. But for instance, if there's a
38:45
big opportunity somewhere, I am super willing to lower my fee.
38:49
But first ask your normal fee. And then if they say no, then it
38:54
starts because then you can have this conversation on how to
38:57
balance out what you're offering and what they are giving you.
39:03
So just don't stop. Don't stop at the first no.
39:08
Just try to figure out where where to balance and and and you
39:13
can always find that. Yeah.
39:15
So I want to return to one of the reflection parts that
39:19
follows the battery, which is peak bit pivot.
39:24
What are your own big lessons from the past year in each of
39:27
these buckets? Yeah.
39:30
Well, I had quite a year because in April I got my second baby.
39:38
So I had my maternity leave in in in 2025.
39:43
And that was actually the fact that like, it's a huge challenge
39:49
being an entrepreneur and having a baby at the same time.
39:53
I cannot tell you like it's a huge challenge, but it was a
39:57
great way to challenge myself on how to build my company in a way
40:02
that it could move on without me.
40:04
And that process took a lot from me, from my team, from my
40:10
business partner, but it was, it went great.
40:14
Like even in my maternity leave, people applied for our strategy
40:18
Sprint Academy and when I returned, I could immediately
40:22
start with the new cohort. And above all of that, I could
40:26
really take that time to enjoy that super precious time in my
40:32
life with with my family. And I knew that the company was
40:37
in good hands. So that is 100% peak.
40:40
Even in my whole career there was a peak.
40:42
But it was the second your second, right?
40:45
Yeah, what? When What was the 1st?
40:48
Yeah, the first one was actually the the turning point in skill
40:52
NL in because when I went on maternity leave, we really had
40:58
to have the operational team working.
41:03
Yeah, working. So there was, there was also a
41:06
great moment because when I returned, I stayed on for a
41:11
little while, but I also felt like my job is done here.
41:14
I'm a builder and this organization, it's rolling and,
41:19
and now I tried to scale it a little bit further.
41:23
That's who I am. So we scaled it to seven cities
41:26
in the US already like SQL, New York or Chicago, Atlanta,
41:29
etcetera. And then there was from the,
41:33
there was an opportunity to also maybe scale it to France and,
41:36
and England. And, but then I was like, no,
41:40
this is not my battle to, to fight anymore.
41:42
It turned out to become more of lobbying instead of building.
41:46
I was like back to my own track. Yeah.
41:49
So those were the peaks and then the pits.
41:53
Yeah, I just realized that that this pit is not 2025 anymore.
42:00
In my first trimester, I just hired 2 new persons in my team
42:08
to make sure that my company would get up to speed.
42:11
So I couldn't leave with my maternity leave.
42:14
But what I didn't take into account was the factor that in
42:17
my second pregnancy, totally different from my first, I was
42:22
so nauseous, I even had to have medication.
42:27
There was literally, I could not bear anything.
42:29
So I could not, I could not manage those two new people.
42:34
So I, I, this was, I felt so, so bad because it was a very
42:40
vulnerable time in my company because I just, I was just on
42:44
the tipping point of scaling and I felt responsible for these
42:49
people, but I was also paying them without them even doing
42:53
something. I had to postpone all my
42:54
cohorts. So I was, I was bleeding money
42:58
and on the other side knowing that you don't know if it's
43:03
going to be like that for the whole pregnancy.
43:06
So it was a huge realization for me that I know that men and
43:11
women are not the same. But in this phase of life as a
43:15
woman entrepreneur, being pregnant, trying to get pregnant
43:20
after being pregnant, nursing everything, that whole face, we
43:25
are literally like we are still asking for most for from
43:29
ourselves that we are handling our companies the way that we
43:32
did before. But that is impossible.
43:35
It is just impossible. And we ask so much of ourselves.
43:38
I ask so much for my of myself. But the acknowledgement like,
43:43
OK, but in this phase, we are, we are behind 10 to 0 to our
43:50
male counterparts that can just go on with their entrepreneurial
43:54
journey. And for me, like we also have
43:58
like fertility treatments and everything like for the past six
44:02
years, I mean, I'm, I'm happy to have a successful business, but
44:05
it's despite those six years of, of this phase in my life and it
44:10
asks a lot of women. So we need to have more
44:13
compassion for that, I feel. Yeah.
44:16
Is it is it more compassion or is it also that men can do more?
44:20
Well, in the house, like literally, I'm very happy that
44:25
my husband is a great father, but it starts in, in, in the in
44:31
the relationships like have know that your partner has your back
44:36
so you can work. That's it starts there.
44:40
But we also need need a lot of systemic changes.
44:46
Yeah, I don't even know where to start on this topic even.
44:49
OK, so I want to finish off the big, big pivot with the pivots.
44:56
What are pivots that you did this year or maybe even did you
45:03
use the the the pit from that first trimester as as a as a
45:09
reflection moment to to make a pivot?
45:12
Yeah, I feel like I am a little bit traumatized by my first
45:16
company and the team. I I lost everyone that I worked
45:19
with, but I just didn't really love myself as a manager.
45:22
So when I had to build a team again with skill and now it was
45:28
also a bit challenging because I felt like, am I able to do that
45:33
in a way that is different from the first time?
45:35
And I was, but now the third time I was like, hey, but what
45:40
if I am not managing them? What if I use a couple of
45:44
elements from Holocracy and from if I work with senior
45:49
freelancers instead of people that I really hire on a full
45:53
time business basis? So I am now figuring out a whole
45:58
new way of being an entrepreneur, being a leader.
46:01
And I'd love the whole journey, but it's just, it's more of a
46:04
hybrid company and it's really serves me and and the, the the
46:09
organization very well. OK, well, that's, that's very
46:14
cool to hear. So we talked about thinking big
46:17
and difficulties we have, especially Dutch founders.
46:21
I think how can we shift that? What is there?
46:28
There's an exercise in the in the workshop that you get, which
46:33
I found really powerful because it led me to an insight like,
46:39
OK, what? What if you take this concept
46:43
that you have for your company and what if you just 10X it?
46:46
Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's, that's such a powerful
46:49
question, right? What if you have 10 times the
46:52
courage that you have right now? What if you can make it 10 times
46:56
bigger? So what we need is encouragement
47:03
for that. So in the Netherlands, we use,
47:07
we are we, we are often saying Duma no Mao Don dunya, just act
47:14
normal. That's, that's crazy enough.
47:16
Or don't stick out too much because we like to be very equal
47:23
to everyone. And in the US, we see that if
47:26
someone sticks out, we applaud, they applaud that.
47:29
And it's that, that, that that ambition and drive.
47:32
We really see that as someone that is like a hero.
47:37
So what what I feel is important that if we speak out about our
47:42
dreams and about our plans, that people around those dreamers
47:49
don't take them down, just lift them up.
47:52
So say yes, that's amazing. How can I help instead of oh so
47:58
you don't know Aldoon is that should you do that is.
48:01
That the right? Thing because that is really
48:04
we're, we're we're risk avoiding people here in the Netherlands
48:07
and we, the, the whole idea is the failing isn't bad.
48:14
Like at least you try and if you, if you feel what's the
48:18
worst that can happen and probably you will learn from it.
48:22
So I hope that that mindset gets adopted more.
48:26
I feel like it's already getting more adopted in the
48:28
entrepreneurial space as well in the tech space as well, right
48:33
experiment driven innovations. So it's going in the right
48:39
direction. Yeah.
48:40
And, and again, I think the, the, the threats and
48:43
opportunities there play a role because if you have threats and
48:46
opportunities that it also gives you a way to say, OK, and these
48:51
are the experiments that I'm going to run.
48:53
Yes, yes. And then if that works you can
48:56
10 exit. Yeah, yeah.
48:59
OK, So what you did to 10 exits is is doing a visualization
49:05
exercise. Can you take a shrew?
49:08
Yeah, of course, yeah. Your brain really responds to
49:11
images more than abstract goals and try to really shift
49:15
different workshop techniques to make sure we address all kinds
49:19
of personalities in all kinds of ways.
49:22
So 1 is a visualization and that is done quite often by people in
49:28
sports, for instance, and they literally they already visualize
49:33
like Michael Phelps did the swimmer.
49:35
And he visualizes the moment he takes off his robe and he steps
49:39
on the starting block and then he really lives that moment as
49:43
if it was already happening. So what I like to do is ask
49:49
someone to bring them like write down anything that comes to mind
49:53
about what your life will look like in five years.
49:57
And then put down the pen, put it away, close your eyes and
50:03
think about your ideal day in five years.
50:07
Imagine it's 2030 and you wake up.
50:11
What happens? Where are you?
50:12
What does your house look like? Who are you with in that house?
50:18
And if you go to work, what kind of work and in what kind of
50:22
environments and with what kind of people are you working?
50:24
What are you working on? And then like, it would be too
50:28
boring to go through the whole visualization here right now,
50:31
but maybe people already get images in their head and your
50:35
brain responds to that so much more than words and goals and
50:40
abstracts other things. So try to remove all those
50:45
filters, all those limitations, and really dream big about your
50:49
dream life in five years. And if I tell you that you are
50:53
the architect of your life and everything is possible, what
50:56
needs to change? And that is, that is also a very
51:00
powerful tool because if we're talking about your life instead
51:04
of your work and then align these two, that is.
51:09
It's really what, what it gave me was a perspective.
51:12
And in that sense it was really magical because what it did for
51:16
to me just to give people a feel.
51:19
So I'm working on, on an, on an app.
51:22
We'll, we'll discuss that in a minute.
51:24
But what it gave me is it took me back to a trip that I took to
51:31
Silicon Valley last year where I first sort of got the idea like
51:35
a, I've been talking to myself like, money is not a way for you
51:42
to shift the system. And in Silicon Valley for the
51:46
first time, I thought like, OK, but what if it is?
51:51
What if, if I can deploy? What would that look like?
51:55
So I started visualizing it, writing it down.
52:00
And what the visualization in your workshop actually did is
52:05
take me back to that moment in Silicon Valley, but also take me
52:09
back to OK. So yes, you're building an app
52:15
and yes, that's the starting point.
52:16
And that's all fine. And you should still, I should
52:20
still continue to do that. But ultimately it should lead to
52:24
a way that the money it's generating to shift to to sort
52:31
of power more shift systems change.
52:36
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And Even so.
52:40
You and to to make that like really concrete it prompted me
52:45
to write down OK, so ultimately the goal is not to build a
52:52
company that helps women get funding but also provide that
52:58
funding. So VC firm.
53:00
Yeah, yeah. And then on your own tariffs,
53:02
right, your own way, how cool is that?
53:05
I can see it in your eyes right now, people that are listening
53:08
like is I spark up? And that is what we need because
53:11
if leaders and entrepreneurs are adding that spark to the
53:16
strategy, then they will do everything to accomplish that
53:21
through doing it. Yeah, yeah, it's and, and
53:25
literally, yes, it takes me still a lot of thinking power,
53:28
like, OK, how, what is it going to look like?
53:31
But on the other hand, it having that goal makes you sort of also
53:38
give at least it gives me a lot of extra energy, a lot of extra
53:42
power to, to to work on on things.
53:45
You know, there's a saying be stopping about your destination,
53:50
but flexible on how to get there.
53:52
And I really like that because you don't need to figure out
53:56
100% your road map towards your goal.
54:00
It can be flexible, it can be vague somewhere, but you have to
54:04
know that you're already on on track towards that goal and and
54:10
the specific milestones you can figure out along the way.
54:13
But just be stubborn about that destination that you have in
54:16
mind. Yeah.
54:17
And even if you figure out like me, I still have to have those
54:21
milestones in place. But I'm, let's say, mindful of
54:24
the fact that these might change in order or in, in, in, in terms
54:29
of timing. Yeah, because your your
54:32
destination is really that shift in the way women raise funding
54:36
to disrupt Deck, right? Yeah.
54:39
Ultimately, I want to build a venture capital firm that
54:42
equally funds male and female founders.
54:45
Yeah, yeah. And the nice thing is if you are
54:48
very clear on your mission, then you will attract people that are
54:53
on the same mission or that really want you to succeed.
54:58
So that is that is super powerful.
55:01
Well, I'm happy that the visualisation played a small
55:04
role in your in your mission. Returning to and actually got
55:09
moving to the last stage of the of the workshop, which is walk
55:13
your why when I first saw the picture, I was like, oh, is that
55:20
him? So this is former Dutch actor
55:25
who's now like, really big in LA and in Silicon Valley with
55:32
building companies. But I remember looking at him
55:38
like, OK, he's such a loser as an actor.
55:40
We're talking about Arnie from Who the dad is left to die.
55:43
Yeah, so it's like one of these, The Bold and the Beautiful, but
55:48
then Dutch soap opera. Soap opera.
55:52
That was the word I was looking for.
55:54
Thank you. Anyway, I was looking at him
55:58
first, like, OK, really. I mean, the acting was at the
56:02
beginning was like really horrible, but over time it
56:06
became a lot better and he became actually really
56:08
successful as an actor but also as an entrepreneur I think.
56:12
So talking about because you set set him up as an example of
56:20
someone who talks his why? What does he do to do this?
56:27
Well, I, this was actually an introduction to a pitching event
56:35
that we hosted in Los Angeles with him.
56:40
So, and it was mostly to, to, to sort of wake everyone up like
56:45
hey, Arnie and oh, that's a big guy in tech now, OK.
56:49
But also to show that it was a prestigious event.
56:52
We had the Dutch startup ecosystem lined up, investors,
56:58
big ecosystem players, people that had a big exit before for
57:02
10 Dutch tech founders that were scaling to the US.
57:06
And we were on a trade mission sort to say one of those
57:14
founders. And we really drilled them for
57:16
the 10 weeks before that on how to how to pitch a company, but
57:21
also on their whole strategy, on their whole goal go to market
57:24
strategy. And one of them, and I really,
57:27
really like this guy started pitching and, and, and, and at a
57:32
certain moment and he started off really well.
57:34
And at a certain moment it was just crickets, nothing.
57:38
And he, he blacked out. He didn't know what to say and
57:40
he ran out. So he did not even finish.
57:45
He ran out from the prestigious group of people that we had in
57:49
front of him. So I went after him and and it
57:54
was he, he just had like a worst breakdown ever acknowledging,
57:59
wow, this is not my journey. I don't want to scale to the USI
58:04
am so grateful for everything you've done for me, but I'm not
58:08
in the right place here. And it's like climbing a ladder
58:13
that is up the wrong wall. And this is not my journey.
58:18
And it was, it was so painful because he, he gave it his all,
58:24
but he felt like if, if I, if I continue now, there's no way
58:31
back. So I need to put a hold to this.
58:34
And well, it was an example to show people that if your goals
58:41
are not aligned with you, who you are, your work, what you
58:48
want to accomplish, but also with what kind of role you want
58:50
to play in the world. So those three fixed factors you
58:53
work world and we call that the three circles of growth.
58:58
If they are not aligned, then sooner or later you will feel
59:05
you will hit this wall. And on the other side, on the
59:09
upside, the founders that do make it that do succeed for
59:13
them. It's not a it's not even a
59:16
question. Everything is aligned.
59:18
They are putting the best they have as a person, like their
59:22
skills, their capabilities, they're they're the best version
59:25
of themselves in the role that they are playing in that
59:28
company. They are making the impact that
59:30
I want to make in the world in a way that I want to do it.
59:33
And their company company goals are also aligned with all of
59:36
that. So that is, that is like one of
59:40
the most important ways to define if success will also give
59:47
you the fulfilment that you're looking for.
59:50
Yeah, yeah. I think that is, is it sort of
59:53
equal to the to what is Ikigai? Yes, yes.
59:57
Definitely. There you have to circles as
59:59
well. You have a tiny little spot in
1:00:01
the middle that that actually matches all three.
1:00:05
It's definitely aligned with that.
1:00:06
So what you love, what the world needs, what you can be paid for
1:00:09
and what you're good at. So your passion, mission,
1:00:12
profession, and vacation? Yes, definitely.
1:00:15
Yeah, that matches you world and work.
1:00:18
Yeah, and the secret to a long and happy life and A and A and a
1:00:23
successful company that will actually give you the fulfilment
1:00:25
that you want. Yeah.
1:00:26
So, So what what is a check that people can perform to make sure
1:00:32
that what they're were come to the conclusion that it's not
1:00:37
that they're not doing what they're supposed to be doing?
1:00:42
You, you just sometimes need a check out.
1:00:45
You need to, you need that moment to take a step back and
1:00:48
zoom out and look at your company and look at what you're
1:00:50
doing. Then like for instance, we teach
1:00:55
our facilitators, we really teach them to mirror what they
1:00:58
see. So the moment a founder is lower
1:01:05
in energy or you see them frowning, then something is not
1:01:11
balanced out or aligned there. And then we give that back to
1:01:14
them like, Hey, what is going on?
1:01:16
I see your energy drops a little bit.
1:01:18
And then they're like, oh, you know, I'm very worried about the
1:01:21
financial part of this, this, this.
1:01:23
So just have someone that helps you mirror what they see and
1:01:28
and, and, and, and, and make sure that you don't have the,
1:01:33
the those factors in your company or in your life that
1:01:38
you're not, not happy about. And if there are, then make a
1:01:42
plan on how to overcome those. Yeah, but usually it is checking
1:01:48
in with a feeling that will always tell the truth.
1:01:53
Is that something we don't do often enough?
1:01:56
Checking in with her the the feeling.
1:01:58
I feel like in strategy we don't do that very often.
1:02:02
And I have to say like the strategy Sprint method is not
1:02:08
spiritual or very squishy emotionally feely or whatever.
1:02:14
It is very practical and rational about all these
1:02:17
elements that are part of your strategy.
1:02:20
But the way that facilitators help you through the process,
1:02:24
that is definitely taking into account that the energy should
1:02:28
also be OK. And yes, it's, I feel especially
1:02:34
if companies scale, then you're just part of that bigger system.
1:02:37
And then a lot of founders turn out to become prisoners of their
1:02:42
own prison that they built. And that is something you want
1:02:47
to avoid because you can build that company in a way that suits
1:02:51
you. And that way is the only way you
1:02:53
will get the furthest the the forest as you can go.
1:02:57
So final touchback on, on the goals that we set, final step
1:03:02
that you do is that you let people write down this goal is
1:03:06
achieved when dot dot dot. How, how can you do that?
1:03:13
In how much time do you need to do that?
1:03:15
And how can you make it measurable without making it
1:03:19
rigid? Because actually at the start we
1:03:22
were, we talked about staying agile a bit.
1:03:25
Yeah, yeah, definitely. Well, I feel like if goals are
1:03:28
too complex, then people will lose track of them.
1:03:32
They don't even know what they were in the beginning.
1:03:35
So I've I've done a lot of Okrs and I'm also a fan of those, but
1:03:43
not too much. So just take that idea of having
1:03:46
an O objective, AKR key result and combine that.
1:03:51
So have this objective that is inspiring and use words for that
1:03:56
and then have key results, use numbers for that, that measures
1:04:00
whether you have achieved that objective.
1:04:02
And that's it. You, you should just be able to
1:04:05
write them down and post it. And if if not, then it's too
1:04:08
complex and people will not be able to keep track of it and and
1:04:12
keep it in mind, OK? So that's that's a really
1:04:15
powerful one to to if it if it does fit on the post it.
1:04:19
Yeah, it's. Too big, too big, too complex,
1:04:22
too complex. So, so, so.
1:04:24
In my case, let's say I want. They they can be big, they
1:04:27
should be big big goals, but not complex, not used many words.
1:04:32
So in my case, my goal is to for next year to build the first
1:04:38
stage of the of the company being the the app and and making
1:04:44
sure it starts monetizing. So then a key result would be
1:04:50
around the number of subscribers, the number of or
1:04:53
the the amount of money that I earn.
1:04:58
Yeah. And ideally it's a metric that
1:05:00
represents both the value for you as your end user that will
1:05:05
be even even greater. So the the.
1:05:09
So let's say the. Users, but also the amount of
1:05:14
minutes spent on the app or the amount of.
1:05:19
The amount of or the number of of people who I've helped.
1:05:23
Yeah. By giving them access.
1:05:26
Yeah, definitely. Yeah.
1:05:29
So keep it, keep it simple. OK.
1:05:34
And check in often. Yeah.
1:05:36
How how often do you recommend checking in back in on those
1:05:40
goals? Also to see if you need to to
1:05:43
pivot somewhere? Yeah.
1:05:45
Well, we recommend do one strategy Sprint each year like a
1:05:49
yearly check up on on your car for instance.
1:05:53
So I have that, that's one day a year that's doable and then
1:05:57
every quarter check in with those goals and see how how far
1:06:02
along are you. The whole goal of a strategy
1:06:04
spins is creating a road map for the next quarter, year and five
1:06:09
years. And a lot of our clients
1:06:12
splinters, how we call them, really hang that flip over in
1:06:15
their office and keep track of it that way.
1:06:19
So again, really about simplifying.
1:06:21
So there's there's a line of goals on the on the road map and
1:06:24
there's a line of projects on the road map and that's it.
1:06:28
Cool. And it also helps with
1:06:30
accountability if you have the the road map visually in your
1:06:34
office because then you are looking at the road map every
1:06:37
day. That's what I learned from
1:06:38
another business coach. Yeah.
1:06:42
And a lot of our facility. So we now we have 50
1:06:45
facilitators that are certified and in the beginning I was like,
1:06:49
no, no, it's a one day Sprint. We're not doing anything else,
1:06:53
just a strategy sprints. But like literally 9 out of 10
1:06:57
of the first facilitators were constantly asked back.
1:07:01
And then I was like, at a certain point, OK, maybe I don't
1:07:04
like it because I felt as an entrepreneur, I don't need hand
1:07:08
holding. I just need a sparring partner
1:07:09
once a year. But I'm an entrepreneur myself.
1:07:12
I know how to how to keep track of all of it and it was I
1:07:17
started out as a counter movement against all the
1:07:22
business coaching and like I felt like sometimes a business
1:07:26
coaching was also like making them dependable on the business
1:07:30
coach And I was like make sure they just one day and then they
1:07:33
can fly. But now we see that a lot of
1:07:37
people really want accountability.
1:07:39
So now we also have a Gold Springs every quarter.
1:07:42
So to just realign and just check in and so a lot of
1:07:46
facilitates also help entrepreneurs with that.
1:07:51
That's cool. Yeah.
1:07:53
On the on the on the other hand, I'm not that surprised because
1:07:56
the strategy is living thing. So there's no way to that.
1:08:01
You just said it and forget it. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
1:08:04
But I just overestimated that. I feel, I feel like they can do
1:08:09
that themselves. Is that is that, is that
1:08:11
overestimation or is that having a really good product that's
1:08:16
sort of create its own extra demands?
1:08:21
Yeah, well, what people like is that it's no bullshit and short
1:08:26
and efficient. So in for instance, if my
1:08:29
business partner and I do a strategy Sprint, because we also
1:08:32
do it on a yearly basis, we also get a facilitator even though we
1:08:37
are the method because it really helps you to do everything
1:08:41
within one day. And that is because they are
1:08:44
guarding the pressure cooker mode.
1:08:46
And so the value is really in depth, making sure that it's
1:08:52
short and efficient. Yeah.
1:08:55
And then that's when strategy works very well.
1:08:59
Yeah. Yeah, so do it.
1:09:04
I'm yeah, I've already hinted on this.
1:09:07
I am building something myself. So an AI based funding coach to
1:09:11
connect female founders and investors and later also AVC
1:09:15
that really closes the funding gap.
1:09:19
I was wondering about your perspective.
1:09:22
What is 1 functionality this tool should have to support
1:09:27
female founders in getting more and better funding for their
1:09:31
start-ups? So what I feel is missing is the
1:09:35
informal etiquettes. So for instance when I was
1:09:40
seeking funding I just did not really know like am I?
1:09:46
Can I? Can I also WhatsApp an investor
1:09:49
or is it only e-mail? And when should I get back to to
1:09:56
them or should I wait for them to respond?
1:09:59
And I feel like a lot of men maybe get these hints and and
1:10:04
ideas from just from their friends or or whatever, but the
1:10:08
way of the way that things work, that was something that I was
1:10:12
very unsure of. OK, I understand that.
1:10:21
The hesitation, let's say especially, OK, should I push on
1:10:26
this, yes or no? Or should I just wait for that
1:10:29
person to come back to me? That that's something that I've
1:10:32
heard before and that it's also, let's say, a dilemma that I
1:10:38
struggle with quite often. It was especially in the
1:10:41
beginning because I didn't want to come off as a rookie.
1:10:44
I was a rookie, but I wanted to wanted them to have the idea
1:10:49
that I was very experienced in talking to investors and in
1:10:54
pitching my company and I just so I I felt like they might.
1:11:03
See me see you for less than you are.
1:11:06
Yes, yes. And I also, I feel like I feel
1:11:09
like the the most common things you probably already picked up
1:11:13
on. So I feel like this might be out
1:11:15
of the books thing that is not on your radar yet.
1:11:17
Yeah, well, it is. Let's say that the informal
1:11:21
etiquette, as you called it, is something that the informal
1:11:26
rules of the game are what making life, particularly for
1:11:32
women because they're wired differently, a lot more
1:11:38
difficult than it needs to be. Yeah.
1:11:40
And and equalizing that players are levelling the playing field
1:11:43
is is for sure one of the objectives I have.
1:11:46
Yeah. And I've, I think that the
1:11:50
moment that, so it's going to be an AI tool, right?
1:11:53
Yeah. So the moment they pick up on
1:11:57
someone needing some emotional support, ask them to find a
1:12:02
woman that has been in your shoes before because there's
1:12:05
nothing that gives you more energy and more support than
1:12:11
talking to women that have gone through what you're going
1:12:15
through at that time. And I myself, I had an amazing
1:12:19
group of 15 female founders that were in the same stage as I was.
1:12:23
And I was like the best support group ever.
1:12:26
But if you don't have that and the tool picks up on it, make
1:12:32
sure that you forward them. Like go have a cup of coffee
1:12:35
with another female founder. Oh, that's a that's an
1:12:38
interesting one because I was actually sort of thinking or
1:12:40
solving it through providing warm connections with investors
1:12:46
also. So, so like really putting
1:12:51
people one-on-one in contact with each other and by doing
1:12:55
that, establishing, let's say, an early layer of trust, which
1:13:01
makes it easier to communicate about these things And maybe
1:13:06
also include those preferences like, hey, you can approach me
1:13:10
via WhatsApp, LinkedIn and mail or no, you can only call me at
1:13:15
these times of day or. But then there's, there's always
1:13:19
a a conflict of interest, right, with investor and a founder,
1:13:24
because the the the investor has never been in the shoes of the
1:13:28
founder and the founder might need something from the
1:13:31
investor, right? OK, Fairpoint.
1:13:37
I, I would, I would say that that especially for female
1:13:42
founders, support from peers is the fuel that you need to keep
1:13:48
on going. That is a really wonderful place
1:13:51
to close. Yes, do it host.
1:13:54
Thank you very much for an amazing conversation.
1:13:57
I always say that, but really, I mean this.
1:14:00
I really had a blast recording this.
1:14:04
If people want to learn more about you, about the strategy
1:14:08
Sprint, maybe book you or one of your facilitators to do one in
1:14:14
their offices or for their company.
1:14:16
Where can they find you? Well, we are launching a new
1:14:20
booking tool on strategy Sprint dot company in two days.
1:14:24
So if you feel like, Oh my God, it's the end of the year and we
1:14:28
still need our strategy for the next year and you want to handle
1:14:31
all that within one day, then go to our website.
1:14:35
And we're also opening a cohorts in January, end of January, both
1:14:40
in Cape Town and in Amsterdam to become a certified strategy
1:14:46
Sprint facilitator yourself, which is the coolest job in the
1:14:49
world. Yeah, absolutely.
1:14:51
So we'll include those things in the show notes and just to make
1:14:55
sure, so this is going to be launched, new booking tool will
1:14:59
be launched on December 3rd. Yeah, exactly.
1:15:02
Cool. So then it will be live by the
1:15:04
time this episode airs, which is December 11th.
1:15:08
Yeah. And then you can just search and
1:15:10
click through the 50 different facilitators that each have
1:15:14
their own background and personality and the.
1:15:17
And and choose one. That they are available.
1:15:19
Yeah, and choose one that matches yours.
1:15:22
Yes. Well, again, Doritos, thank you
1:15:25
very much. Thank you for an.
1:15:27
Amazing conversation, listeners. Absolutely, listeners.
1:15:33
Thank you very much for listening.
1:15:34
And until the next episode, as always, keep being awesome.
1:15:43
Well, that's a wrap. Thank you for tuning in to
1:15:46
episode 131 of Women Disrupting Tech with Dorit Roost, titled
1:15:51
Why Your Strategy should fit on a post it Dorit.
1:15:56
And I hope that you found our conversation as strategic and
1:15:59
clarifying as we intended it to be.
1:16:02
And if you have any questions for Dorit, please share them in
1:16:05
the comments on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube.
1:16:10
When you want to connect with toilets, book a Strategy Sprint,
1:16:13
or be part of the new cohort of Strategy Sprint facilitators,
1:16:18
please check out the links in the show notes.
1:16:20
As usual, you can find the show notes at Women Disrupting
1:16:23
Tactile Blog via the link in the caption.
1:16:26
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1:16:30
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1:16:35
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1:17:29
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1:17:33
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1:17:35
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1:17:37
And until then, as always, keep being awesome.