Geert-Jan de Steur : Entrepreneur Meister

Interview with Geert-Jan de Steur, CEO of Drawbridge 54

Entrepreneur Meister is a column that focuses on the lives and ventures of entrepreneurs. We take a close look at the entrepreneurs behind the vision, strategy, passion and action in ventures across all sectors.

Geert-Jan de Steur is not an easy name to pronounce if you don’t speak Dutch. I’m desperately trying to learn Spanish as my third language but I seriously doubt Dutch would be my fourth language to cram into my little cranium.

Entrepreneurs are entrepreneurs no matter where they reside.

The entrepreneur journey of Geert-Jan and his company, DrawBridge 54 in Utrecht, The Netherlands, is a classic case of an entrepreneur “productizing” a service and his intellectual capital. However, it’s easier said than done sometimes.

For all the ADDE (Attention Deficit Disorder Entrepreneurs) entrepreneurs out there, DrawBridge 54, in short, is a consulting methodology transforming itself into a web-based platform that enables corporations to take their strategy and turn it into actionable results.

After I spent a minute trying to pronounce his name correctly, Geert-Jan was kind enough to say, “Just call me Jerry. For the English audience it might be easier.” Having a European background myself, and becoming Americanized, it is fascinating for me to hear a European entrepreneur’s point of view. In America, entrepreneurs chase the ‘American Dream.’ In Europe, the entrepreneurs chase the ‘European Dream?’ Hell, what would that be?

Geert-Jan told me he became an entrepreneur because, "It was some kind of an internal urge, and probably also an evolution in time.” His father worked for Shell for 36 years. Initially Geert-Jan followed in his father’s footsteps and worked for large companies including AKZO, Kodak, Nedlloyd and Tyco.

“Working for huge companies like Shell,” explained Geert-Jan, “you’re in there forever because you’ve got your pension funds, your social security, etc., but your job’s kind of boring.” I think most Fortune 1000 executives-turned-entrepreneur would agree. Entrepreneurs leaving their corporate jobs because they got bored… hmm, I’ve seen that more than once.

Boredom breeds entrepreneurship.

Working for those larger companies, Geert-Jan was in sales, marketing and project management with an emphasis on organizational structure. I’ve interviewed thousands of entrepreneurs, as a venture capitalist and a media publisher, and I’ve seen the same entrepreneurial pattern: the past and the present prepare the entrepreneur for the future.

After leaving Kodak, Geert-Jan was with a mergers and acquisitions (M&A) company called APM Venture Capital, for five years. He explained how this company had a different concept than most M&A companies. They wouldn’t just buy a damn company and sit on their ass and wait to sell it later. APM actually bought other companies that they believed in, for a low price and then spent a lot of money improving and recovering the company. They even brought in their own team to make shit happen. “They had this concept that made it one family so everyone was working for the best results,” said Geert-Jan. (continued)

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