Auteur: Liesbeth Vijfvinkel

Reacties uitgeschakeld

Onder het dak van Epicenter werkt een community van start-ups, scale-ups en gevestigde bedrijven samen door elkaar te inspireren en van elkaar te leren, met snellere innovatie en groei als…

Onder het dak van Epicenter werkt een community van start-ups, scale-ups en gevestigde bedrijven samen door elkaar te inspireren en van elkaar te leren, met snellere innovatie en groei als gevolg. Ruim een jaar na de opening vragen we ons af hoe het werkelijk is om hier te werken. Wat brengt dit ‘digital innovation house’ de bedrijven concreet? Vier members over de meerwaarde van Epicenter.

“De eerste keer dat ik hier binnenliep, was de verf nog nat. Maar het voelde al als de lobby van een vijfsterrenhotel. We besloten ter plekke dat we hier wilden zitten”, herinnert David Kat zich over zijn kennismaking met Epicenter. Hij was op zoek naar een werkplek omdat hij drie maanden eerder met een compagnon was begonnen om de in Israël opgezette startup Wasteless in Nederland te laten slagen.

“Deze locatie is perfect: dicht bij Schiphol en aan de binnenkant van de ring. Met een leenfiets sta je vanaf hier binnen 10 minuten in de binnenstad. En het gebouw is enorm duurzaam. Wasteless biedt supermarkten, door middel van kunstmatige intelligentie, dynamische prijzen voor hun producten. Via digitale prijskaartjes geeft het een slimme prijsprikkel op het product met de kortste houdbaarheid. Zo kan de 500 miljoen euro aan goede producten die supermarkten in Nederland jaarlijks weggooien, omgezet worden in winst. Doordat die producten niet op de vuilnisbelt belanden, vermindert de CO2-uitstoot. Wij brengen onze klanten winstgevende duurzaamheid, dan klopt het natuurlijk wel als je zelf in een duurzaam en slim pand zit.”

Zitkuil

Zoals veel anderen, begon David in de open ruimte. Hij en zijn compagnon werkten vanuit de zitkuil, met als groot voordeel dat hij allerlei interessante mensen ontmoette. Inmiddels is Wasteless – met een team van vier personen en vaak bezoek van internationale collega’s – doorgegroeid naar een studio.

De flexibele mogelijkheden op dat gebied zijn voor veel members een enorm pluspunt, vertelt ook Michel Spruijt van Brain Corp Europe. “Wij kijken steeds 90 dagen vooruit en sturen waar nodig de koers bij voor Brain Corp Europe. Nu zit ik hier alleen, maar aan het einde van dit jaar zouden we zomaar met twaalf mensen kunnen zijn”, vertelt hij. In juli begon Michel met het opzetten van de Europese tak van het Amerikaanse bedrijf, dat software ontwikkelt voor machines die autonoom navigeren in publieke ruimten, zoals schoonmaakrobots.

Flexibiliteit

“De ontwikkelingen gaan hard en we zijn constant aan het bijstellen. Snelheid is geboden, omdat wij de Microsoft van het autonoom navigeren en robotics willen zijn. Als ik morgen extra mensen heb, sluit ik voor hen een abonnement af en kunnen ze beginnen. Die flexibiliteit heb ik nodig.”

Voor Antler, een startup generator en venture capital fonds dat wereldwijd de missie heeft om gedreven mensen zo te helpen dat er baanbrekende bedrijven ontstaan, is de schaalbaarheid zelfs een vereiste voor de werkwijze, vertelt Kim Oreskovic. “Ons basisteam bestaat uit 11 mensen, waarvoor we een meeting room huren en de open co-working space gebruiken. Als er een programma begint, werken er twee maanden lang 100 mensen extra. In die tijd helpen we ze om teams te vormen en hun business vanaf nul op te bouwen.”

Positieve vibe

“Deze teams pitchen voor het Antler investment comité en vervolgens blijven er ongeveer 40 founders nog drie maanden in Epicenter werken voor het vervolgtraject. Dat past hier, omdat er veel open ruimte is en er zijn besloten ruimtes van verschillende groottes. Wat extra fijn is, is de positieve en creatieve vibe die hier hangt. Er is veel plek voor ontmoeting, maar tegelijkertijd is de akoestiek zo goed dat toch overal een goed gesprek kunt hebben zonder dat anderen het horen.”

Opschalen zonder rompslomp is ook een van de voordelen die Katinka de Korte van DEARhealth noemt. “We begonnen drie maanden geleden met vier, nu zijn we met vijftien en voor de Kerst zouden we met 25 mensen moeten zijn”, verklaart ze haar nood aan flexibiliteit. Maar ook de internationale vestigingen van Epicenter zijn voor haar een groot pluspunt.

“DEARhealth is een digitaal platform dat alle zorgverleners van een patiënt en de patient zelf aan elkaar koppelt. Daarnaast stelt het door middel van Artificial Intelligence het meest accurate zorgpad voor de patiënt voor, onder andere door de patiënt weg te navigeren van te voorspellen risico’s. Zo krijgen medische teams ondersteuning in het nemen van behandelbeslissingen, is de patiënt gezonder en zijn de zorgkosten lager”, legt Katinka uit. Na de ontwikkeling door een team van medisch specialisten in Amerika is DEARhealth, gesteund door investeerders, de komende twee jaar bezig met schalen in de US en het starten van implementaties in Europa.

Epicenter Stockholm

“Deze zomer zijn we gestart in Nederlandse en Belgische ziekenhuizen, vervolgens staat Zweden hoog op het wensenlijstje, vanwege het innovatieve nationale zorgsysteem. Toen ik dat vertelde tegen de medewerkers van Epicenter, ben ik gelinkt aan de vestiging daar. Dat heeft me enorm geholpen, er werd een hele kaartenbak opengetrokken, ik werd voorgesteld en gelinkt. Ook ben ik meegeweest op een visit van Epicenter Amsterdam naar Epicenter Stockholm, waar start-ups uit beide landen pitches aan elkaar gaven. Het is uniek van Epicenter is dat ze je deze kansen geven. Het team kent alle members persoonlijk, ze weten wat je ambitie is en komen heel vaak met de vraag: heb je iets aan deze connectie? Dat helpt je echt verder.”

Ook David Kat is erg blij met het team. “Ik vind het heel leuk dat ze niet alleen ontzettend aardig en professioneel zijn, maar ook met je meedenken. Als er gasten binnenkomen, worden ze op een aardige en betrokken manier ontvangen, dat schept vertrouwen.” Michel Spruijt voegt daar nog aan toe dat dat de sfeer in het gebouw en onderling nog beter maakt. “Het is hier altijd druk op een goede manier, het buzzt.”

Douwe Dirks, manager van Epicenter Amsterdam, is blij dat Epicenter een aantrekkelijke partner blijkt voor zo veel bedrijven. “Innoveren en groeien gaat een stuk gemakkelijker als je onderdeel uitmaakt van de juiste community. Wij zijn die community die er alles aan doet om de mensen te koppelen, aan elkaar en aan kennis. Zo bouwen we graag aan een sterker Amsterdam waar lokale bedrijven kunnen leren en nieuwe digitale kansen ontstaan en groeien.”

Epicenter Amsterdam biedt:

Knowledge Memberships
Flex Memberships
Community Events
Office spaces
Top-of-the-line event spaces
Vergadermogelijkheden
Innovation Labs & Digital Safaris
Hackathons & Ideathons
Management Days

Epicenter Amsterdam
Fred. Roeskestraat 115
Amsterdam

W www.epicenteramsterdam.com

Lees verder

Reacties uitgeschakeld

Economy

Epicenter: professional workplace with a real buzz

Liesbeth Vijfvinkel

18 november 2019 18 november 2019

Reacties uitgeschakeld

Under the roof of Epicenter, a community of start-ups, scale-ups and established companies is working side by side, inspiring and learning from one another, pushing innovations and growth. Epicenter opened its doors more than a year ago, so we were wondering what it is like to actually work there. And how do companies benefit from this digital innovation house? Four members tell us about the added value of Epicenter.

“The first time I walked in here, the paint was still wet but it felt like the lobby of a five-star hotel. We decided on the spot that we wanted an office here”, David Kat remembers his first encounter with Epicenter. He was looking for a workplace in Amsterdam as three months earlier he and his business partner had decided to introduce their Israel-based start-up Wasteless to the Dutch market.

“Epicenter is perfectly located: close to Schiphol Airport and within the A10 ring road. From here, it’s only 10 minutes by bicycle to the city centre. And the building is very sustainable. Wasteless uses artificial intelligence to provide supermarkets with dynamic pricing for their products, with digital tags displaying a smart price incentive on the product with the shortest expiration date. This way, the 500 million euros worth of goods that Dutch supermarkets discard on a yearly basis, can instead be sold and turned into a revenue stream. As these products don’t end up in a landfill site, this leads to a considerable reduction in carbon dioxide emissions as well. We bring our customers profitable sustainability, so it makes sense that we hold office in a sustainable and smart building.”

Sunken sitting area

Like so many others, David started in the open office space at Epicenter. He and his business partner worked from the sunken sitting area and this really helped them to meet all kinds of interesting people. In the meantime, Wasteless has grown into a team of 4 people and often gets visitors from abroad, so they decided to move into a studio.

The flexible staffing options are a big plus for many members, confirms Michel Spruijt of Brain Corp Europe. “We look 90 days ahead and adapt our staffing plans for Brain Corp Europe accordingly. At the moment, I’m the only one here but by the end of this year we could well have 12 people at this location”, he says. In July, Michel started setting up the European branch of American-bases Brain Corp, a company developing software for machines (e.g. cleaning robots) navigating autonomously in public spaces.

Flexibility

“Developments are going very fast and we’re adjusting our plans all the time. We need to be able to act swiftly as we want to be the Microsoft of autonomous navigation and robotics. If I need more staff tomorrow, I simply get a subscription for them and they can start working right away; that’s the flexibility I require’.”

For Antler, a start-up generator and venture capital fund with a global mission to help driven people set up ground-breaking businesses, scalability is a requirement and crucial to the way they operate, explains Kim Oreskovic. “Our basic team consists of 11 employees; we rent a meeting room for them and use the open co-working space. When a new programme starts, we’ll get in another 100 people for two months. In that period, we help start-ups form teams in order to build up their business from scratch.”

Positive vibe

“These teams pitch their plan to the Antler investment committee and then around 40 founders will stay on at Epicenter for another 3 months during the follow-up phase. That works out very well here, because there is a good mix of open and confined spaces of various sizes. What’s extra special, is the positive and creative vibe in this place. There is so much room to meet people, but at the same time the acoustics is so good that you can have a good conversation without others hearing what you’re saying.”

Scaling up without any hassle is also one of the advantages Katinka de Korte of DEARhealth mentions. “We started out three months ago with four people, now we are a team of fifteen and before Christmas there’ll be 25 of us”, she explains her need for flexibility. The international Epicenter locations have proved a big bonus for her company as well.

“DEARhealth is a digital platform that connects all carers of a patient with the actual patient. And using Artificial Intelligence it presents the most accurate care path for the patient by, amongst other things, steering the patient away from predictable risks. This way, medical teams are getting support in their decision-making regarding treatment. As a result, patients are healthier and care costs are significantly lower”, Katinka explains. This system has been developed with the help of a team of medical specialists in the US. With the support of its investors, DEARhealth will be scaling up in the US and will start implementing programmes in Europe in the next two years.

Epicenter Stockholm

“This summer we started in Dutch and Belgian hospitals, and the next priority on our list is Sweden because of the country’s innovative healthcare system. When I told that to the staff here at Epicenter Amsterdam, they immediately put me in contact with their branch in Sweden. That helped me tremendously as the Swedish office opened a box with index cards and I was introduced to various companies. Moreover, together with people from Epicenter Amsterdam I went on a business trip to Epicenter Stockholm, where start-ups from both countries were pitching plans to each other. Offering people these opportunities is what makes Epicenter so unique. Their team knows all Epicenter members personally, they know what your ambition is and they often ask: ‘Is this connection useful to you?’ That really helps.”

David Kat is also very happy with the Epicenter team. “I appreciate the fact that they’re not only very nice and professional people, but they also think along with us. When our guests come in, they are welcomed in a pleasant and dedicated manner; that builds trust.” Michel Spruijt adds that the atmosphere in the building and between companies makes it even better. “It’s always busy here – in a good sense, the place buzzes.”

Douwe Dirks, the manager of Epicenter Amsterdam, is happy to hear that Epicenter is such an attractive business partner for so many companies. “Innovating and growing is a lot easier when you’re part of the right community. We are that community and we do everything we can to connect people and help them share their knowledge. We like building a strong business environment for Amsterdam where local companies get the chance to learn and new digital opportunities arise.”

Epicenter Amsterdam offers:

Knowledge Memberships
Flex Memberships
Community Events
Office spaces
Top-of-the-line event spaces
Meeting room facilities
Innovation Labs & Digital Safaris
Hackathons & Ideathons
Management Days

Epicenter Amsterdam
Fred. Roeskestraat 115
Amsterdam

W www.epicenteramsterdam.com

Lees verder

Reacties uitgeschakeld

Architectuur Economie

Zuidas versus The City

Liesbeth Vijfvinkel

6 mei 2019 6 mei 2019

Reacties uitgeschakeld

Natuurlijk is de Amsterdamse Zuidas niet te vergelijken met haar grote Engelse broer in Londen. Alleen al het tienvoudige inwoneraantal van de metropool maakt dat de financiële sector daar geen…

Natuurlijk is de Amsterdamse Zuidas niet te vergelijken met haar grote Engelse broer in Londen. Alleen al het tienvoudige inwoneraantal van de metropool maakt dat de financiële sector daar geen vergelijkingsmateriaal is. Maar toch, het imago van de Zuidas wordt steeds internationaler en – geholpen door de naderende Brexit – vinden steeds meer bedrijven hun weg naar Amsterdam. Reden om drie ervaringsdeskundigen te vragen naar verschillen, overeenkomsten en kansen.

Lees verder

Reacties uitgeschakeld

Lifestyle Reside

You need to know what expats want

Liesbeth Vijfvinkel

6 juni 2018 6 juni 2018

Reacties uitgeschakeld

Ruben Feenstra (39) grew up in the Zuidas area. When he was young he spent a lot of time playing tennis on the courts that made way for the current…

Ruben Feenstra (39) grew up in the Zuidas area. When he was young he spent a lot of time playing tennis on the courts that made way for the current offices and apartments. These days he helps expats find suitable housing and he advises various parties on the kind of living space expats are looking for. After fifteen years in this business he’s become quite an expert.

“This area means a lot to me as it’s been my playground for such a long time”, Ruben says. “You could find me on the tennis courts here every day as I played top-level tennis from age 10 to 21. So you can imagine this place is full of nostalgia for me.”

When he was twenty-three, Feenstra called time on his tennis career and started working for Rotsvast Amstelveen, a real-estate agency specialized in long-term rentals to expats. Six years ago, Feenstra and his business partner Ewoud Cossee took over Rotsvast Amsterdam-Zuid and Amsterdam-Centrum.

Budget for housing

Rotsvast rents apartments and houses to expats looking to stay here for a period of one to five years. “Not too long ago expats would stay for five to seven years, but companies are rotating staff quicker between countries. What used to be one period of five years has now been cut into two sections of 2.5 years.”

When he was twenty-three Ruben Feenstra started renting apartments to expats

Another big chance is the other party he is dealing with. “Fifteen years ago, our clients were mainly multinationals looking for living space for their employees. These days the rental market is much more transparent due to websites such as Pararius. It is more and more common for employees to arrange their own housing using a budget allocated by their company. On the other hand we do a lot of advisory work for home owners wanting to rent out their property and for investment companies building apartment blocks.”

Advising property investors

Ruben Feenstra PHOTO: DONALD VAN HASSELT PHOTOGRAFIE

Ruben likes his advisory role. “In this market an investor or developer needs to offer a competitive product. This means we can work with nicer rental properties that are better tailored to the needs of the market. And that makes our job more dynamic and fun.”

He talks to other parties about development and lay-out of a property or an apartment block, what kind of services should be offered and what people expect for their money in a particular area. “We love working together with leading property investors. For example, we’re involved in 50 high-end design apartments at various A-locations in town belonging to investment company Prowinko.”

“We also participate in the De Terrassen complex in Amstelveen, a new development with 134 luxury apartments owned by the RJB Group. De Terrassen is tailored to expats and will open in July this year. We manage the whole rental process of these projects together with Eefje Voogd Makelaardij. We’re really happy working with them. We complement each other and it’s a fun clash of company cultures.”

Far-reaching service

The building management department of Rotsvast is going to take care of all services for De Terrassen. “That involves the entire daily management of this complex but we’ll also be the point of contact for other property owners. At the moment, we have three people working full-time to manage services for around 300 apartments. Sometimes we are asked to fix a vacuum cleaner that doesn’t work because the bag is full or we get a call in the weekend urging us to please come over and explain how the dishwasher works”, Ruben says with a smile.

After fifteen years in this line of business, Ruben knows what expats want. There is not a big difference between expats and locals but there are a few cultural things to take into account. “Japanese people want a bathtub in their house; they won’t even look at a property that doesn’t have one. Indian and American expats are genuinely surprised that Dutch houses have so few bathrooms and toilets. The Japanese want a rice cooker, Indian expats need a powerful blender to make curry.”

‘Japanese people won’t even look at a property that doesn’t have a bathtub’

Another big difference are the housing prices. Generally, housing for expats is more expensive although the difference is getting smaller. “The apartments of the new projects we work on are in principle available for everybody. We see more and more often that Dutch young professionals are willing to pay 1,800 euros for 60 sq.m2 (645 sq.ft) if this means they get a nice apartment in a good location. Whereas ten years ago, only expats would pay these prices.”

Liesbeth Vijfvinkel

14 oktober 2017 14 oktober 2017

Reacties uitgeschakeld

As a PA to expats and VIPs, Audrey Mezas offers practical guidance to people from all over the world who settle at or around the Zuidas. Her clients range from…

As a PA to expats and VIPs, Audrey Mezas offers practical guidance to people from all over the world who settle at or around the Zuidas. Her clients range from CEOs to musicians and from start-ups to Olympic athletes. Mezas’ agency, Expat in Amsterdam, helps them with anything they need. “When a request comes in I often don’t know who the actual client is. Not that it really matters as they all receive the same high-quality service.”

“As far as I know, I’m the only one in the Netherlands in this line of business”, Audrey Mezas explains. There are relocation advisors, but the real stress for many of her clients actually begins after being handed the keys to their new home. “Make a phone call over here and the standard message you get is “all our lines are busy at the moment.” Moreover, many websites still only offer information in Dutch only. That’s why I offer this high-end personal service, ‘Executive Lifestyle Management’, for both private and business customers.”

After mapping her client’s needs, Mezas starts looking for the specialists to take care of the various tasks, such as real estate agents, chauffeurs, builders, mortgage advisors, doctors and bodyguards. Over the years, she has built a network of 64 professionals. “Recently, I collaborated with a team of specialists on an assignment for an American company; within 7 weeks we managed to find a suitable location for them and helped with the necessary paperwork to buy the property”. While leaving specialized tasks to the qualified members of her team, Mezas is in charge of the entire process and acts as the ‘quality controller’: “I’m there when the real estate agent carries out the technical inspection and I’m also present when the keys to the property change hands.”

Saving time and money
The above is just one example of the service she offers as every client has unique requirements. Mezas helps CEOs who only spend 24 hours in the Netherlands to finalize a business take-over but she also assists Olympic athletes who want to buy a house and stay here for 5 years but who need to be able to focus on their training and their families. She won’t mention any names since confidentiality is key to her profession. She can draw from personal experience when it comes to living in a foreign country with a language you don’t speak and a culture you don’t know. Her father was a banker who was transferred to another country every two years.

“My mother, my younger brother and me followed my dad wherever he went: from Holland to Tahiti and Australia and from the Middle East to the United States. Every time we were facing a new culture with different rules. My mother was brilliant in finding out how it all worked’. To save other expats these troubles she started Expat in Amsterdam®in 2012. ‘With my help my clients save valuable time and money as I have the expertise and the contacts expats do not have.”

Respect for etiquette
Apart from all the differences between the 17 places she lived at in her youth, Mezas also saw a lot of similarities. “Wherever we were living, business people came around to our house and deals were negotiated during a dinner party or a poolside barbecue. And the same principle applies here in Amsterdam: deals are finalized over breakfast, lunch or dinner. ‘So I need to go to the gym a lot”, she smiles.

Her parents taught her the importance of etiquette and this still helps her to this very day. “You always need to respect the way things work in a different culture, especially being a business woman. Information on unwritten rules in other cultures I often deduct from The New York Times and the The Financial Times: they are full of stories on business life in virtually every country. Sometimes I call my dad to ask him about a culture I don’t know. That is if I there is time to call him because it does happen that I need to act on very short notice.”

Raising the bar
No matter how difficult a request or how quickly it needs to be done, Mezas will always try to find a solution. “I don’t like saying ‘no’. If the assignment is really impossible I’ll accept that but it hardly ever is. One day, a client wanted to build a music studio so I decided to call Armin van Buuren’s office. I spoke to his right hand who referred me to the person who constructed their studio. That’s the way I operate; if people ask me something, they expect me to do it perfectly.”

Mezas believes that knowledge is power, therefore she always uses the best experts in their field. “I’m a connector, I want to bring people together. My experts are very professional but above all they are very fine people and I trust them completely. I have no choice because this job never stops. Normally, I work from 8 till 8 but when a project is running my client can contact me 24/7.”

And this doesn’t bother her at all. “I’ve never been so happy. I know I’m made for this and I feel privileged to have found my niche. The best part of this job is people giving you their trust. When a request comes in I don’t always know who the actual client is. Not that it really matters as everyone receives the same high-quality service. When the job is done and the client is happy, I feel a sense of relief that really gives me a huge kick! At the same time I have to keep raising the bar for myself: when I’ve managed to find a house for a client really quickly, the next one will have heard about and will demand the same service.”

Growing with global allure
Audrey Mezas enjoys the fact that her work is mainly centered around the Zuidas and in Amsterdam-Zuid. “Some of my clients are located as far away as Wageningen, but 90 percent of the expats live in this area. And that’s great because this is my home turf. “Zuid” is booming and things change quickly here. That Expat in Amsterdam®, that’s me: an urban kameleon. I love Amsterdam and I’m proud of this city and the Netherlands. It is wonderful to see it developing but I do feel it’s important to do it with global allure. That’s my style; I sell expertise with attention to detail and focus on quality. You need that if you want to achieve something. My dream is to offer this service on a large scale but always with personal attention.”

In 2012, Audrey-Lynn Mezas started Expat in Amsterdam, an agency offering PA services to expats, executives and VIPs. Her clients include professional athletes, bankers, CEOs, start-up companies and musicians – some only staying here for 24 hours, others spending 5 years or more in the Dutch capital.

www.expatinamsterdam.com

Lees verder

Reacties uitgeschakeld