Derk van der Grijp
Co-founder Foodies First
Derk is a very friendly mentor and it was a wonderful conversation with him. He helped me discover some channels in my marketing strategy which are very important and I walked away with a roadmap on how to implement them. I recommend having a session with Derk, he's very knowledgable and has a passion to mentor entrepreneurs.
Derk is an incredibly friendly person who was more than happy to share his ideas and experience with me. He was patient as he listened to my case and provided me with helpful follow-up steps to get me moving forward. Thanks for the session, Derk!
I just had to share my experience of the brilliant 1-2-1 mentoring session I had with Derk. It was absolutely amazing and helped me so much on my project! The mentor's expertise and dedication were top-notch. He has a deep understanding of the subject and tailored his advice specifically to my needs and goals. I learned so much from their his aluable insights, and he explained things in a simple and clear way that made it easy to understand and apply. If you're looking for a mentor to help you on growth, I highly recommend Derk. Trust me, you won't be disappointed!
Bio
While some people are all about music, cooking or football, I'm all about startups and innovation. I could talk about 'em all day, no joke. I'm currently working on my company called Foodies First which is a virtual restaurant business and I've launched multiple startups in Europe and Africa (most of them failed:-). I also had a YouTube channel where I shared stuff about startups and innovation in Eastern Africa. If I had to choose just a topic to help someone on, it would be helping early-stage startups grow. I am deeply passionate about this area as it allows me to utilize my experience in launching and scaling companies and share my knowledge with others. Here are some examples of topics we can brainstorm: - Early stage growth strategies - Product market fit - Go-to-market strategy - Funding - Branding
Expertise
Advice on funding
First-time funding is often the hardest because investors are taking a risk on a new and untested founder. I've been there and it took a lot of hard work to get the first investment over the line. I can help you with feedback on your pitch deck, the investment process, and the approach. Please keep in mind that a funding round is not always the right answer.
Bootstrapping
Currently, I am in the process of bootstrapping a company with a GMV of over 1 million euros. This involves building the company from the ground up with minimal to no outside funding or resources. This is a challenging task, but also an exciting one as it allows me to have full control over the direction and growth of the company. It also allows me to create a sustainable and profitable business model.
Email marketing
I have discovered a tool that has helped me to effectively execute cold email outreach for my company. Using this tool, I was able to achieve a conversion rate of 10% with a product that is traditionally difficult to sell. Cold email outreach can be a challenging task, but with the right tools and strategies in place, it can be a powerful way to generate leads and increase sales. I am excited to share this knowledge with others and help them to set up a similar system for their own businesses.
Go to market strategy
Throughout my career, I have been involved in different stages of product development, from research and development to launch and post-launch. This experience has given me an understanding of the market and customer needs.
Idea validation
I have experience in evaluating the potential value of ideas, and I just love to chat about it. I enjoy the process of taking an idea, breaking it down, and analyzing it from different angles. I have done this process many times for my own startups and companies that I've worked for.
Toolkit
Hubspot
8 years of experienceHubspot has been my holy grail for quite some time to help automate and streamlining sales processes, have a better overview of what's in the pipeline and help close deals faster
Mailchimp
10 years of experienceWorked some time with it for cold emailing and outbounding but transitioned to Lemlist since that has worked really well for me and the conversion is tremendous.
Industries
E-Commerce
I worked as a Partnership Manager for Mollie, a European payment service provider that allows businesses to accept online payments through various methods such as credit card, bank transfer, and iDEAL. Mollie also provides other services such as recurring payments and subscriptions, fraud detection, and chargeback management.
E-Commerce
Worked for Mollie (one of the biggest PSPs in Europe) so I know my way around Ecom ;). Mostly I consulted E-commerce companies in de mid-market around the conversion of their own website.