I'm still feeling the echoes of last week – two events already foreshadowed my party mood. I visited the final module of the first year of my PhD programme, and the week’s loud crescendo was the yearly DDIM Kongress, the get-together event for the interim scene.
For me, being at both events last week is one of the reasons why I’m so deeply grateful that I decided to create Verarius in the first place. It allows me to intertwine my academic interests and my business aspirations – both united by the passion and desire to create an impact.
Without pretending that we are celebrating the 300th (and not the 3rd) anniversary of Verarius, I would like to use this opportunity to outline three things I’m grateful for, what I’ve learned so far, and what I envision for the next year.
So, without further ado, grab a mug of coffee and a piece of birthday cake – and let’s celebrate together!

Gratitude

Opening a whole new dimension of opportunities – to make acquaintances that can start as short, pleasant discussions, turn into useful business contacts, or even true friendships in the making – is definitely what I’m most grateful for when I think about this step I took three years ago in creating my own company. Obviously, there are great people everywhere, yet I soon realised that in the area of my main activity I connect and click much faster with a lot of folks based on us sharing similar values, going through (and growing on) parallel experiences and gathering insights that are coded in a related way in our brains and souls. This feels great. It feels fulfilling, inspiring – and yes, sometimes also challenging. But that sense of being challenged, yet not in competition with others (if at all, then with yourself), is very strongly pronounced. As a good friend of mine once put it: “Keep in mind: this is an individual sport.”

Learning

My biggest and most fascinating realisation, which bridges both my Verarius adventure and my PhD journey, is the understanding that starting to move is more important than knowing the exact direction. Yes, having a clear picture of what the final product will look like helps – but reality shows that a lot of the time, you discover new things, themes, and ideas along the way that will alter the final destination. And that’s actually a good thing. You’ll be validating and recalibrating your assumptions. You’ll inevitably discover the delta between how you thought things would work or feel — and how they actually do once they materialise. You’ll also realise that some theoretical thoughts or impressions were only the first layer, the first step. All in all, the last three years have definitely taught me to be more open – to give everything a go, to try things out, to see how they pan out, to become more experimental in my approach, and genuinely open to the outcome. I do believe that the road starts appearing under your feet once you start moving.

What’s Next

Looking at the year ahead, I think two things will be different (yes, I know I promised to restrain myself to one – but please indulge me on the occasion!). As my last visit to the DDIM Kongress showed — the more connected you become, the more curious and thirsty you get to explore new connections, to learn, and to really get to know people through in-depth conversations. On my way back home on Saturday, I realised that while I wasn’t returning with a mountain of new business cards this time, I was extraordinarily happy about a few deep talks I had with existing acquaintances. That was incredibly rewarding! Now that I’ve just completed final module of my PhD programme in Amsterdam for this year – with my first article conceptually finished and a good understanding of what my academic work will focus on in the next years – I’m very keen on finding more ways to integrate the two worlds: to make sure that whatever I discover in academia will find application in the business life of family-owned companies, who are growing more dear to my heart the more I read about them. Yes, I had planned early on that my dissertation would fit into my business activities – however, as I alluded to earlier, that was just a general direction a year ago. Now this direction is starting to take real form and shape and look like an actual path, and I’m very excited to be on it!