It’s been almost two weeks since I’ve landed in the Netherlands, and the days have flown by! For a country that is quite relaxed in attitude towards drinking, chaotic bicyclists and drug use, the country is almost overregulated in terms of spending money and residency requirements, amongst others. Or as my roommate (and landlord) Drew likes to say “They make it incredibly difficult to spend money!” Thus much of these first two weeks have been spent getting everything in order, so that we can call the Netherlands home.
Back in the original Red, White and Blue!
As I walked out the terminal at Amsterdam Schipol, I was shocked to find friends Maureen and Siu Lien standing at the gate waiting for me, along with my eldest brother Rick! We had a beer and went on our ways. After being dropped off at the apartment by my brother Rick, Drew and I set out immediately to discover our surrounding, and what I mean is find some close by bars! Luckily we live close to the centrum of Den Haag, and “het plein” was ready to receive us. The next night, we’d find ourselves there again on invitation of an alumni of my MA program at Leiden University, who wanted to know more about Silicon Valley, and gave me a bit of the lay of the land. A good first couple of days in The Hague, were followed by a trip to Vinkeveen to see Oma. Train delays did not stop Oma from receiving me in Abcoude and having me over for the night.
Startup Ecosystem
Last Monday came around to give me a full day in Amsterdam, walking almost the entire outer ring for various meetings at StartupDelta, Rockstart Accelerator and more. While I stay in the Netherlands, I will continue to keep an eye on the Dutch startup ecosystem and work with Laanen the Brand, to help Dutch companies wishing to go out to Silicon Valley. Additionally, I want to know what needs to be done to make the existing Dutch startup ecosystem even better for all involved. So when I asked Oscar Kneppers at Rockstart Accelerator what he thought needed the most improvement to improve the Dutch Startup Ecosystem, Oscar gave it some thought, but responded briefly with this: “We’ve just got to do it.” Essentially it comes down to getting your hands dirty and creating the demand for improvement via the market of supply and demand. This is certainly the hand on approach I’m used to, and is very characteristic of an entrepreneur such as Oscar.
For me one of the biggest improvements I’d like to see in the Netherlands is an improvement in the quality and maturity of the investor scene for startups. With Oscar’s answer the realization hits me that that maturity and similar quality compared to Silicon Valley hasn’t arrived yet simply due to a lack of strong demand for it from the startups. Though that demand is certainly here now, and is certainly to grow in the coming time, the investor scene will have to catch up. Indeed this story is very similar to that of Silicon Valley, getting the first investors over from the East Coast of the United States wasn’t a simple process.
Beginnings of Leiden University
To finish up, I spent the rest of my time last week busy with Orientation Week Leiden, in preparation for the Master of Arts in International Relations. Recently I reported that I’d be study within the European Union specialization, however with some thought and review of the syllabi, I decided to switch to International Studies. To do so, I had to write a thesis proposal of 1200 words to be approved by the director of the study. Today, I’ve received approval and gotten the reading lists. In any case I have quite some catching up to do already!
Last but not least, the weekend saw brother Eric and his girlfriend Mody for dinner at our apartment, and some drinks afterwards. It’s good to have so much family close by again, though I do miss the parents and younger brothers back in California.
Til next week!
