Interview With Robin Geers: Robin’s Newsletter

Robin Geers is a Founder and Co-Author of the book Start-up Survival. From the age of 20 to 25, he was lucky enough to meet hundreds of founders, CEOs and investors from all over Europe. Now, he writes about how founders recruit, grow sales and go global in Robin’s Newsletter. Founders and startup enthusiasts read this newsletter to compare how other startups are growing.

How did Robin meet all these interesting people at such a young age? Well, Robin met many founders when he worked on his first book, “Start-up Survival”, with Jeroen De Wit (Founder & CEO Teamleader) and his Masterclasses with Vlerick Business School. He spent about two years on the road interviewing 50 top founders for their book so that founders could make better decisions.

At the time, he didn’t own a car, so you can imagine how many trains and busses he took to interview these people…

Once the book was published, he went back on the road to convince the world’s best experts to teach in his Masterclasses. That’s how he developed an obsession with sharing knowledge, and it got him into some special places: meeting founders and top experts from Hootsuite, Cloudflare, Onefinestay, Showpad, Collibra,…

What Is It About Startups And Founders That You Are So Intrigued By?

Founders are eager to learn, always open for feedback and extremely passionate about their product or service. Every day, they ask themselves: “How can I do it better today?” This mentality is one that many people can learn from.

What Makes A Founder And Their Business Truly Special?

It’s super interesting to listen to a founder’s vision because they attempt to predict how the future of their industry will look like in the next 25 years. By meeting hundreds of founders, CEOs and investors from all over Europe, I heard many exciting visions. That’s how you get a better sense of how the world’s evolving.

What Makes A Startup Successful?

After meeting hundreds of interesting founders before the age of 25, I noticed many success factors and pitfalls. The most successful startups that I saw are the ones with a world-class founding team and market size. The cleverness of the founding team allows them to seize the market with their product or service across different industries.

What Is Your Favourite Startup Of All Time?

Teamleader CRM, of course. I co-authored my book with their founder and CEO, Jeroen De Wit. They are growing amazingly fast, and when they won the Deloitte Fast 50 award, they were growing at a pace of 2097% over four years.

What Piece Of Advice Would You Give To Anyone Looking To Start Up A New Venture?

In a humble manner, I always say that I’m not an expert, but I meet many experts. I experienced their number one piece of advice myself, and that’s to surround yourself with people who are smarter than you. Having smart people around you allows you to learn how to make better decisions and grow your startup.

Why Do You Think The UK Is Such A Hub For Startups?

The ecosystem in the UK is a very mature one because of the presence of many interesting people, startups and investors.

What Does The Future Hold For Startups In The UK, Europe And Wider World?

You see many interesting trends happen in the “remote working software industry” because of the COVID-19 pandemic. But after meeting hundreds of founders, I have seen with my own eyes that the opposite or a more hybrid approach to working will be a reality in the next few years. Sure, people are eager to come back to the office, but they also experienced the benefits of working remotely.

So, because of the pandemic the talent pool of many startups expanded. Suddenly they were able to hire much more abroad, and they will continue to do that. But now, they will come together with the entire global team more often to work offline or for teambuilding. Facilitating this approach with the right product and service creates an interesting opportunity for many startups.

How Do We Find You?

Founders and startup enthusiasts can always reach out to me personally on LinkedIn. And, subscribe to my newsletter, of course, to get in the front row seat of all the practical advice that I’m getting from many European founders, CEOs and investors.