Leonardo Saroni

Founders Mesh Fam!💙 Our upcoming event at Chateau Amsterdam on June 27th, 18:30 is getting close. We've sold out all our Pioneer's Privilege (Early Bird) tickets – thank you for the wonderful response.💘 Regular tickets: https://lu.ma/jxxow2q9 👥 What’s Next? We’re preparing for an intimate evening packed with insights, networking, local wine, and pitches. Join over 120 founders, VCs, and facilitators who are all about making genuine connections and sharing knowledge. If you’re in the startup scene, this is your chance to mingle, learn, and maybe even spark a new collaboration. 🌟 Special Thanks to Our Partners: A big shout-out to StartupAmsterdam and Startupbootcamp for joining forces with us. With their support, we're set to make this an unforgettable experience for everyone involved. 🎟 Still Need a Ticket? We currently sell Risk Taker Access aka Regular Tickets—grab one of the remaining tickets before they’re gone: https://lu.ma/jxxow2q9 Let's make this a night of meaningful connections and breakthrough moments. Can't wait to see you all at the wonderful Chateau Amsterdam!💙 If you have any questions, feel free to ping me!💌 Luis Galdamez Echeverria Sabina Basariyeva StartupAmsterdam Startupbootcamp Chateau Amsterdam #FoundersMesh #NetworkingEvent #StartupLife #Innovation #Entrepreneurship

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I called David Kijlstra about my plan to buy a small hotel in Portugal and my frustration of not finding any good opportunities. He advised me to approach independent hotels that are not officially for sale. David identified that ratings on Bookingcom can tell you quite precisely where the opportunities are. So, the ideal hotel to approach has on Booking these ratings: - Bad overall rating - Excellent location rating - Bad “value for money” rating It forms a nice triangle, so I gave it a name: "David's Triangle" 🔺 This way, you can find hotels with massive potential because of their location, but they need to be managed better. The owners will likely talk with you about a potential sale. We recorded this brainstorming with David, if you want to listen to it.

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Want a free website performance audit? I’m looking for a website to use in my https://perfnow.nl/ talk. What I need is a site with: • A fair number of third-party scripts • An owner willing to let me experiment on a dev server to see the relative impact of perf improvements • An owner willing to either help validate that third-party scripts are still work or willing to give me access so I can check myself • An owner that will let me publish the results of my tests and talk about them at the conference The site owner would benefit from the following: • Free performance audit with an emphasis on how to speed up third-party scripts • If the experiments are successful, they can deploy them and speed up their site • Publicity at the conference and on our blog • Answers about their site performance and what they can do to improve it (beyond just third-party scripts) Does anyone have any suggestions on good candidate sites?

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As one chapter closes, another begins. After more than a decade deeply immersed in the world of startups and scale-ups, I am embarking on an exciting new journey. My focus now lies in empowering B2B SaaS companies through tailored Go-To-Market (GTM) strategies. Are you considering a transition from PLG to SLG, or perhaps the other way around? Are you looking to integrate PLS into your existing PLG motion? Have you recently revamped your pricing strategy and are eager to explore new markets? Or perhaps you've just secured investment and are struggling to align your marketing strategy with your business objectives for optimal success? Maybe you find yourself in that crucial stage of transitioning from startup to scale-up and are seeking guidance on your next growth moves? This summer, I will be offering my expertise through advisory or fractional leadership roles. If you're driven to propel your company toward the next stage of growth, let's connect over a virtual coffee. Drop me a DM, and let's delve into how I can navigate your business toward success. https://lnkd.in/ernCNguv

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My summary of the first keynote at WordCamp Europe 2024 with Juliette Reinders Folmer and Joost de Valk about sustainable open source. Key Topics: - Dependency Risks and Business Impact - Funding and Supporting Open Source - Maintainer Responsibilities and Challenges - Corporate Social Responsibility and Open Source #WCEU2024

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What an honor for TAIWA® to have been selected by an independent jury as an #UnleashWorld Startup Award finalist in Europe. #Paris here we come. The #FutureOfWork is both collaborative and hyper-personalized. If you want a better way to reach, connect and support your people during these transformative times give TAIWA® a try. #humandevelopment #aicoaching #personaldevelopment #professionaldevelopment #organizationaldevelopment #nachaltigkeit #scale #futureofwork

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🔄 Time to Turn the Tables: Meet the Investors Pitching at Ghent Slush'D! 🔄 It’s time for the Reversed Pitching! 💼✨ These impressive investors are ready to take the stage and show startups why they are the perfect partners for success. 🚀 From renowned VCs to leading angel investors, these experts are here to convince promising startups that they have the network, expertise, and resources to fuel their growth. This is their chance to shine and make a lasting impression! 🌟 Entourage | TCD Capital (ex TheClubDeal) | Pitchdrive | Early-stage VC 🚀 | Seeder Fund | Smartfin | Volta Ventures | Noshaq | Fortino Capital  Curious to hear them pitching? Get your ticket now through the link in the comments!  #GhentSlushD #ReversedPitching #Investors #StartupFunding #Entrepreneurship #Innovation

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Big news for bol sellers! Channable is the launching partner of bol's new Advertising API!🎉 Here's what you can do with it: ✅ Create (advanced) campaign setups in bulk ✅ Keyword targeting & harvesting ✅ Product targeting & harvesting ✅ Manage bids and budgets at scale ✅ Track automated changes ✅ Get product Insights ✅ Segment products based on performance (Yes - Performance labels for Marketplaces! 👀 ) This comes as an addition to our existing Bol offerings (listing creation & optimization, data enrichment, inventory management, fulfillment & order management, repricer) which are already used by thousands of customers.   The first 50 customers get beta-access next week. Just send me a message if you want to test it! I promise, it will save you a lot of time if you advertise 20+ products and works standalone, so no worries if you’re using another or no tool for your listings. 😉 Big thanks to Marinus Snyman, Martin Finkenflügel, Linda van Laar (and in the past Quint van Gils & John Lin (林镇宇)) from Bol! It feels like working with colleagues. And about my knee.. The picture with Jaume and Ties Jan (the ones who built this with their team) is from last year. Luckily my knee (torn ACL) has healed, and the Channable football team won the championship without me! ⚽️🏆

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Dutch Digital is partnering with a Dutch fintech startup to promote their app that transforms smartphones into payment terminals, simplifying transactions for businesses. We're focused on boosting iOS app downloads and optimizing landing pages for user engagement. If you're a startup needing digital marketing or brand strategy, reach out to Dutch Digital for expert guidance and effective solutions. #startups #DigitalMarketing #fintech

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A New Era of Dating 💘   In 2012, we launched Inner Circle at The Butcher, a speakeasy cocktail bar in Amsterdam. Back then, online dating was often frowned upon, and the idea of meeting singles online seemed ridiculous to many friends.   Fast forward 12 years; every 4 seconds two people go on a date via Inner Circle. We've hosted over 500 parties, and what I’m especially proud of is all the friends who met their partner through Inner Circle.   However, the online dating landscape has shifted over time. Headlines like 'dating app burnout' reflect the frustration many feel with endless swiping, ghosting, and time-wasting. Dating apps have become a necessary evil.   We realised that dating apps, including ours, had to evolve to meet the changing needs of singles. So, we decided it was time to redefine dating on Inner Circle. We listened to the feedback of hundreds of users and embraced the challenge.   I am incredibly proud of our team for launching Inner Circle 5.0. This marks the foundation of a platform where you meet similar people, with similar lifestyles, who move in similar circles. Our mission is to create a community-focused environment that goes beyond swiping and small talk.   I am excited to share our fresh new brand identity, rooted in journalistic storytelling and aspirational, of-the-moment editorial. We believe dating should be about people and their lifestyle, not just mindless swiping.   A big thank you to all Insiders for embracing the uncertainty that came with this journey and putting in the grind. It wasn't easy but you did it! 🥇   Now it's time to celebrate this new chapter 🪩

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'Don’t trust, verify' is the bedrock of crypto. But who verifies market makers? A year ago, Jelle Buth and me came up with a clear answer. Slightly more than 12 months ago, we co-founded Enflux. We were troubled by the perception of market makers as orchestrators of pump-and-dump schemes, exploiters of retail investors, and generally untrustworthy market players. This reputation exists because market making remains a 'black box' to most. We decided Enflux would open that box. Jelle Buth repeatedly says that token adoption is a function of three: - Fundamentals - Marketing - Markets Unfortunately, many founders are completely alienated from trading markets. Just a few understand how market makers use their funds, leaving them with no choice but to blindly trust. 'We've had 100 clients, so you should trust us' becomes the standard pitch. And the premium founders pay solely for reputation is TREMENDOUS. Opaque markets drive the need for reputation, which in turn inflates market making costs for smaller projects. Imagine what happens to price and quality of services when anyone dictates a monopoly for too long. To sum it up, Jelle Buth and I spotted a discrepancy between what token projects need and what they actually get. We've seen too many projects rise and fall, too many charts tank, too many unethical actors... We decided 'no more' and founded a market making company where transparency and awareness are priorities. Market makers should empower projects with both the knowledge and the tools to verify performance. Trust, but verify. Always. #market #marketmaker #crypto #trading

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scale up: The Systematic Approach to Breaking Growth Barriers for High-Performing Companies Recently, I came across a post that questioned the innovation behind frameworks like the 4D Scaleup Framework. Here's a quick summary of the post: "The framework consists of four steps: Direction, Design, Delivery, and Development. While this sounds familiar — goal setting, strategy, execution, and continuous improvement — is this really innovative? I’ve approached challenges similarly before." I love this kind of discussion, so I wanted to share my take, particularly in the context of how we help companies at scale up. While the steps themselves may seem familiar, the real innovation lies in how we execute them at ScaleUp. Our approach isn’t just theoretical—it’s practical and designed to help already successful companies break through the barriers they face when scaling. We focus on: 1) Data-driven diagnostics to pinpoint exactly where the bottlenecks are and prioritize impactful actions. 2) Live interaction with experienced entrepreneur coaches who have faced the same challenges and provide real-world insights. 3) Turning strategy into daily operations, ensuring that it’s not just a leadership conversation, but one that’s lived by the whole team. 4) Building scalability into your core, making sure your teams, culture, and processes grow smoothly, without friction. Sustainable, long-term solutions, so you don’t just fix today’s problem, but create lasting growth without constant fire-fighting. At ScaleUp, we work with businesses that aren’t failing—they’re successful, but they hit a ceiling. Our process helps them break through that ceiling with a systematic and repeatable approach that works across industries. It’s not about intuition alone; it’s about executing growth through a structured, proven method.

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💡 Why AngelForge? 📍The idea for AngelForge emerged in 2017, during a period when I was actively working and developing within the industry. I was organizing my own events and participating as a speaker in others when I witnessed the growing hype around raising funds for projects through the ICO (Initial Coin Offering) mechanism. The initially promising advantages of free funding searches turned into an unhealthy practice of extracting funds from retail investors, where the main goal became fundraising itself, without the intention of creating the final product that investors were funding. ☝️It's important to consider the psychology of both startups and investors, which I'll touch upon in subsequent posts.👀 ✅Being immersed in the market and interacting with the community, I continuously encountered the dissonance and problems that the industry was facing. This gave rise to the idea of AngelForge, which combines solutions aimed at improving the health of the market. https://lnkd.in/dNS6mFYN #beanangel #AngelForge #Startups #investors

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What are the main differences between trends in Food Service and Food Retail? 🤔 I just got back from the Gastvrij Rotterdam exhibition, which focuses on the food service industry, and here are my top takeaways: 1️⃣ There was an entire section dedicated to plant-based and sustainable products (for the 4th year in a row). It got me wondering: when will we stop needing separate stands for these? I can’t wait for the day when they’re no longer a "separate" category. 🌱 2️⃣ Convenience, convenience, convenience. Chefs are busy. Mise-en-place starts earlier and earlier. Chefs are constantly looking for ways to save time, and it’s clear that in the food service industry, one key innovation pillar is focused on simplifying their lives—without compromising on "quality". Think pre-chopped and pre-carmalized onions, pre-smoked fish and meat and portioned packed everything. 3️⃣ Forget weird flavors—think more format play. The trend is about taking traditional flavors like mozzarella and tomato and presenting them in new forms like empanadas, corn into corn-ribs and of course cruffins everywhere 🥐. 4️⃣ Less emphasis on sustainability claims in food service than in retail (maybe also therefore the separate section needed?) Maybe also not that bad looking at the many weird "green" claims at PLMA International Council - Amsterdam (Private Label Manufacturers Association) earlier this year. 5️⃣ Lastly, the rise of customer questionnaires is very real, even in food service. While quality and sustainability teams in retail have been buried under paperwork for a while now, food service teams are just starting to feel the pressure. EcoVadis , Sedex , "code of conducts" and "customer questionnaires" are becoming "normal" language among account managers and quality teams in food service. 👀 In food service, the focus is on convenience and creative formats. less sustainability claims, also still seen as a separate theme. Meanwhile, customer demands for ESG, quality, and safety are aligning more with retail. Did I miss anything? Would love to hear your thoughts!👇 #Food #FoodService #Retail  

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𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝟏𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞 - 𝐖𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝟐 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝟑 🥁 Progress 240/1000 The journey to talk with a thousand people continues. After last weeks discussion with Tim de Kraker I decided it would be fitting to also call this journey "The Product - Market Fit". So if you know someone who's also navigating the early stages of a startup, feel free to share these insights! 🔔 So what did I actually learn in the 2 weeks and talking to 150 people? Well I managed to hone in on more specific target groups. Imagine, after a year of doing a startup only now did it become clear to me 💡 For Note-Bridge, this realization reshapes everything—our marketing approach, product design, and even the specific events we plan. Initially, I aimed to reach the entire music community. While that's still the dream, starting with a focused group seems the smarter approach. So, now it's time to test and see if the these are the right target groups! 📏 I have a question for you more seasoned entrepreneurs: Do you share insights about your target groups, problems, solutions, and experiments on social media? I learned in the beginning that you shouldn't to keep your ideas hidden, but what about sharing these types of discoveries? Curious to hear what you think! 🎶 Jorg Wellink Gabriel Costa Ties Verberne Mahmoud El Wakil Shayan Shokri Christoff Heunis Kaspar Rothenfusser

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A quick look into Zien's in-app journey > Visit: https://thezien.com/ > Explore the Home page > Search & Check out different business profiles > Open Profile and view Community, Impact, Culture & Hiring Scores of Businesses. >Explore Impact-driven jobs and apply for positions that promote impactful businesses and practices. If you are an employee or a talent feel free to check out our basic version of Zien here: https://thezien.com/ Do you have any feedback about the site? DM me or feel free to email me at [email protected] #impactjobs #startups #businessinsights

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Today HolyWater turns 4 years old! 🎉 The story behind the jar (pic in comments) and company name will come later; first, a quick 'previously in HolyWater '😎 4-year startup hero journey: ✝ Experimentation. Tested a lot of MVPs (launched 10+ mobile apps) ✝Growth. From 0$ to $1M/month in 9 months. 3 apps, including interactive stories, became top 1 by downloads in their niches ✝Crisis. Went through a crisis and learned the hard way that profitability must be our core focus. (Survive to evolve. Evolve to survive) ✝Pivot and exit. Sold the non-content apps to shift our focus to building a content ecosystem ✝Defining the Vision. Made strides in building synergy between AI’s efficiency and authors’ creativity. Our book platform, Passion, is growing 2x quarterly (top 1 in 10+ countries) ✝Expansion. Launched audiobook feature and video series platform to adapt our best IPs into new formats ✝Opened offices in Portugal and Poland We are still young and learning (and always will be) 🤓 Increasing retention, organic traffic, and cracking paid social are at the top of our list. We will also work on public communication to expand our network and create partnerships and synergies with great people and companies. Exciting news will be announced very soon🤞 I started HolyWater to empower great Ukrainians to unlock their full potential through a culture of growth, result-orientation, curiosity, persistence, and self-awareness. My team inspires me daily by turning this mission into reality and empowering me to unlock my potential. Now HolyWater is extending this mission to hundreds of writers around the 🌏 Now the Jar story 💡 In 2020 (a noname project back then) we launched an app that struggled to achieve positive ROI (still struggling sometimes🤣). Our marketer brought a jar of holy 💦 from her local church (picture attached). After blessing our ad accounts with it, we achieved a positive ROI within a week (100% causality 🍀 ). This is how we became HolyWater 💦 I'd like to thank: -HW team. I'm inspired and humbled to be part of this journey with you which wouldn't have been possible without you -My Co-founder Anatolii Kasianov for always being there for HW and me -Vitaliy Reshetnyk Vladislav Danilochkin Yevhenii Hnatiuk Kristina Tsapko Valeriia Kropyva Vitalii Shevchuk Ziong Le Julia Smirnova Maja Skvorc Maria Kuiejor for constant growth and high standards -Vital Laptenok Alex Fedorov Anton Pavlovsky Andrew Skrypnyk Misha Galian 🇺🇦 Galyna I. Bogdan Govorun, CFA Eugene Kostenetskyi 🇺🇦 Yaroslav Morozov Mykhaylo Grynets Inna Maksymenko Anton Tokarev Oleksii Yermolenko 🇺🇦 for showing me what I don't know I don't know and for being joyful in any situation -To Vladimir Mnogoletniy Vasiliy Ulyanov and Genesis Tech for assembling the highest talent/m2 ratio I've ever seen, tackling the toughest challenges, and building the invaluable community Year 5 is on. Grateful to the past. Enjoying the present. Excited about the future🕉 🔬 🦄

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Ralf Hodgson, one of the Founders we invested in last year, is the perfect example of the type of founder we like to back. He started Tidal Services, a window cleaning service, after Googling: ‘How to get rich quick.’ There he came across a video from a YouTuber who talked about ‘How to make $500 a day washing windows’. The video was about the US market which asks for much deeper cleans than in the UK  but he realised he could make money cleaning windows in his local area, Darlington.  He spent £200 on some equipment and started. His first job was cleaning a whole house of Georgian windows… It took him 2 days. After a while he could see the business had legs and was making him more money than his current job. Soon he had a van and began to gain more and more customers. Then Ralf decided to put tech behind the business, to go from a business that uses tech, to a tech business that helps both window cleaners and people who need their windows cleaned (that’s where we come in !). Ralf had been out in all weathers cleaning windows himself for many years. This means he knows the problem, pain points and customer base inside out, plus how to talk to and resonate with other window cleaners. We love working with founders like Ralf who have built a “proper” business that can be scaled further with technology ! #funding #investment #digitaltransformation

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Only 49 days left until the new year! Since last November, I have: made a lot of loyal customers for my platforms. One word: strategy. Now make your last 49 days count for your business with these tips: 1⃣ Prioritize customer connections: Building relationships isn’t just a year-round thing – use this time to connect and understand their needs. 2⃣ Streamline operations: Cut out inefficiencies so you’re not only ending the year strong but setting up for a faster start in January. 3⃣ Push your best products: Highlight the offerings that are already successful. Keep the momentum going into the next year. 4⃣ Boost team morale: People drive results. Show your team appreciation for their hard work. 5⃣ Reflect and plan: Take a moment to assess what’s worked well and what hasn’t, and use these insights in the new year. These 49 days are your chance to close the year with impact and purpose. Every move counts. Happy New Year in advance ✨ #strategies

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