Living in different countries from a very young age, such as the U.S., South Africa, Germany, and, of course, the Netherlands, taught me to be comfortable in embracing different cultures. I still find it amazing how it pays to listen deeply to people with different backgrounds and understand other views.

I am convinced that teams who aspire to exceptional impact and change should be diverse so they see, question and better understand the related opportunities and implications, drive change and deliver meaningful results.

Contributing to a greater cause and achieving positive change have been my passion for as long as I can remember. As a lawyer, as the founder of a biological wine company, at the Central Bank and as a Director at Adyen, the FinTech I helped to scale from a payment company to a bank and towards a very successful IPO in 2017, impact has always been the single most important factor throughout my career. 

After Adyen, the best plan for me was contributing to society as an angel and VC investor – and has proven to be the right choice. 

I transfer knowledge and experience about financial technology, growth strategies, integrity, governance and sustainable finance to purpose-driven founders, and I support them to set and achieve tangible impact goals. One of my special – and perhaps slightly peculiar – interests lies in creating opportunities from regulation.

At the beginning of my career, I drew a strict line between my personal and my professional life, but I soon learned that bringing myself to work was a lot easier because it allows for new synergies.

At some point in my career, this resulted in the decision to say goodbye to the work I was in. Sometimes, embracing the unknown leads you to the next step and you find yourself where you are needed the most.

Later, this ability served me very well in a dilemma that some startup founders might also be confronted with throughout their entrepreneurial journey. I introduced a friend to the biological wine company I founded, Daxivin. In addition to founding the company and getting it off the ground, this introduction has proven to be one of the best things I have done for the company. My friend now runs the company and has expanded the business, selling natural wines to top restaurants. He does this probably far better than I could have done myself.

I will open my network for our portfolio companies and support founders to keep working on building and strengthening relationships and to not be afraid to ask for help or feedback. 

At LUMO Labs, we respect and value each other’s expertise. But we also consider challenging each other is the norm to strengthen each other and to keep moving forward together. I enjoy the uplifting and positive culture. I also enjoy the LUMO workspace for our portfolio companies and our team. You can ask questions you might not ask when you’re sitting behind a desk alone, and it increases our sense of community and willingness to help each other.