Meet The Board '20/'21

Although COVID made this year a bit different from recent years, the Board members at ASIF Ventures have made the most of their year: recruiting 19 fellows into a revised ASIF Fellowship program, one successful P!TCH event with 2 more on the agenda, a bunch of new event formats, exciting investments coming up, the (near) launch of an elaborate content platform, (virtual) coffee’s and a lot of fun. But there is even more to come!

As fellows, we get to see the Board members on a weekly basis. We were curious about their day to day activities at work, but also outside of work. Also, time seems to be going even faster than pre-COVID, because this board has started to recruit for the board year 2021-2022. Let's take a small deepdive into ASIF as an organization, and the people behind it.

LIFE AS BOARD MEMBER @ ASIF VENTURES

What would you like to tell people about ASIF as a company and the opportunities it gives?

Niels: ASIF Ventures holds such a unique position in the ecosystem. As the only full-time recent-graduate led pre-seed VC fund in the Netherlands, we have quite a unique deal flow and get to speak to inspiring young entrepreneurs on a daily basis. The stage of the companies we are looking at and the image we portray makes us approachable and enables us to provide the help start-ups need in order to grow their business to the next stage.

Lena: I always saw ASIF as the unique ‘springboard’ it is. ASIF will allow you to access opportunities you never dared to dream of at this stage in your life. It is an unbelievable privilege to be given such a learning opportunity, in which you can truly develop your skills set, network and knowledge by taking on the responsibility to run a full-fledged VC fund for an entire year. You are thrown right into the world of venture capital and startups, and accelerate your personal and professional growth within a year. The best part for me was meeting so many inspiring, young founders who taught me how to be more bold, daring and JUST GO FOR IT.  

Kyra: ASIF is a young organisation and holds a special place within the ecosystem, which is what makes it such an interesting and exciting opportunity! With the events that we host and the partnerships that we set up, we have the possibility to (in)directly influence the deal flow which funnels back one to three years down the line. ASIF is of course first and foremost a VC, and directly spurs entrepreneurship by investing in talented teams. However, we also have the platform to democratize the knowledge around raising (VC) funding and to make this knowledge accessible for all young aspiring entrepreneurs. This combination makes the work at ASIF so inherently valuable!

Especially now, since COVID thought us that work can be done in a different way, how do you think ASIF influences your personal life? 

Hidde: Obviously, balancing my work- and personal life is a challenge when you work at ASIF. Because there are so many cool things to do and achieve throughout the year. From the beginning of the year I was devoted to take a deep dive into VC, startups and get to know the rest of the board. At the start of the year, we worked quite a lot. That being said, I think we have found a very nice balance between hard work and making a lot of fun. From time to time we go golfing, take trips to my family home in Goeree, go out for dinner and drinks. Also, we tend to have a lot of discussions between the 5 of us.

Niels: A board year is also started out of passion and affiliation with the sector, this creates an overlap between work and life, since this is where interests overlap. Therefore for me personally, work-life balance is not as challenging as it might seem at first glance, although it is important to get your mind off work and have some fun too. Besides ASIF Ventures I’m interested in things like sports, cooking, Pink Floyd, golf, de Kopstootbar and arguing with Hidde. The latter has become a real new hobby of mine!

Kyra: I luckily have enough energy to sometimes lose the balance aspect out of sight, and the workload comes in waves. I also believe that you get so much responsibility as a ASIF Board member that you want to put some extra hours of work in to bring the organisation to the next level in your given board year. Overall, ASIF is a very flexible organisation, which allows you to work remote and from different locations (even more so because of COVID, and the whole world is working remote). When I am not working directly on ASIF I love to (still) talk about innovation and entrepreneurship, be busy with photography and film, cook nice dinners with friends, do some Wim Hof breathing exercises and ice baths haha, and go for runs.

Jeroen: I think ASIF has opened my eyes, up to an extent where I think it has influenced me forever. By talking to so many start-ups, entrepreneurs, investors and other interesting people in this ecosystem, I started to realize that there are so many sectors to innovate, even sectors I didn’t know existed. Of course this influences my personal life up to some extent. Apart from that, to be honest not much has changed. From studying and hanging out with my friends 8 hours per day, I now work every day and enjoy myself doing so. I’m almost sad that we are doing this interview, because this means that ASIF will come to and end sooner than I would want it to be. I think we as a board got so close to each other, which I really like. They also inspired me to view upon things in a different manner. I think the 5 of us will remain in touch for the years to come!

Lena: In this role, there is a lot of flexibility given that you largely determine when you do what and how. On the other hand, it also feels like being the parent of a baby called ASIF. It can get extremely busy during some weeks if you want to make the most of every opportunity coming your way. I have a hard time with setting personal boundaries in work environments and prioritising, which is why I had to learn how to find a healthy life-work balance by tracking my work hours and knowing what to do first. At the same time, ASIF became some part of my personal life, which I think is such a cool thing to experience with your colleagues.

Looking back at the past months, tell us about some special moments or highlights!

Lena: I think the introduction week will always remain a special memory. I remember being enchanted by everything I was learning during our handover period because the world of venture capital was so new, foreign and thereby unbelievably exciting to me. I love learning new things which is why I really enjoy moments when the learning curve is the steepest, which keeps happening throughout the ASIF board year because you do so many different small and big things for the first time.

Niels: Hitting a 220m bomb with my 3-wood. Work: raising followup funding for BlueTick and Bringly. 

Hidde: I think as Lena said, the introduction weeks were very special to me. Getting to know ASIF, the world of VC and the rest of my board was super exciting. At the same time, celebrating Sinterklaas and Christmas with the board was so much fun. Also, I’m looking forward to the summer and our first investment, which will be announced very soon!

How did you imagine life at ASIF Ventures before you joined? What did it turn out to be?

Niels: In terms of responsibility it is quite similar to what I expected, I enjoy the freedom we have as a board and the ability to change and grow the fund and our companies. I came to realize ASIF Venture’s has an interesting proposition and plays a crucial part in the Dutch ecosystem, where we invest and help companies grow towards later stages of funding. This puts us in touch with a lot of interesting startups and investors in order to connect both worlds. At the moment we see the Dutch VC landscape mature and the possibilities for Amsterdam to grow into a central hub for startups in Europe are clearer than ever. More importantly, ASIF Ventures has the opportunity to contribute to the development of this hub and become a major player in this international ecosystem.

I did underestimate the amount of little tasks that always find their way into your agenda at the last minute. Part of running this fund consists of dealing with last minute changes, requests and/or needs, which makes for an interesting agenda every single day.

Jeroen: I didn’t expect to have so much autonomy and responsibility at such a young age. Investing serious money into serious start-ups just out of university is something many people could only dream about, we have the privilege to be working on this on a daily basis. 

Lena: I worked with ASIF Ventures as an external consultant on gender diversity topics before my board year, which is why I had a pretty good idea of how it functions. My biggest shift in perception was going from this external role to someone who is leading diversity & inclusion work in the organisation and thereby realises how much patience and resilience it takes to create change when something is a historical, ecosystem problem. I never expected this work to be so challenging from a personal and emotional perspective, which has been one of my biggest learnings throughout my ASIF board year. 

Do you have any tips or advice for those that are applying to become a Board member and more importantly, why should they apply to become a Board member of ASIF Ventures?

Lena: Is the world of venture capital and startups new but highly fascinating to you? Do you think you might not have sufficient experience and/or knowledge to take the steering wheel into your own hands? But are you curious, super excited to learn and feel your heart beat faster as you read this piece? Well, that's how Kyra and I both felt when we applied. Swallow your imposter syndrome, get people you value to give you constructive feedback on your applications and start reading everything there is to know today. Practice for your interview and speak to people in your surrounding about why you want to do this until it feels clear in your head. As an ASIF Board member, all you need is to be someone who learns fast, is highly creative and dedicated and who has an affinity with the world of risk-takers. So just take the risk and apply! :)

Jeroen: Applying at ASIF Ventures is a must for everyone who likes to become an entrepreneur or an investor. Being able to assess start-ups from an investor perspective will provide you with insights you could use in both your VC, as well as your entrepreneurial career.  

Kyra: Anybody that has affinity with innovation, entrepreneurship, or VC and who wants to have one of the steepest learning curves one can have after university should apply for a Board year.  There is no other organisation in the Netherlands where you will get the full responsibility, together with four other highly motivated individuals, to run an investment fund from A to Z. I recommend everyone applying to think about how you can bring ASIF forward in the coming years, what your value add would be in that, and what differentiates you from the other applicants. 

Niels: Keep an open mind, in the end your capability to ask questions is what helps both the fund and founders. You don’t need to have all the answers from the get go, being curious and learning are powerful tools in obtaining experience and optimizing your time at ASIF Ventures. As stated before, there is nothing that compares to ASIF Ventures in terms of learning opportunities and gaining experience  at this stage of your career. Through ASIF Ventures you have the opportunity to contribute to and develop an ecosystem as it is transitioning to an international stage. If you want to make an impact on the world of tomorrow you have come to the right place.

Hidde: My mum always told me that you only regret the things you didn’t do, rather than the things you did. Although this might sound a bit pessimistic, it is so true. Why wouldn’t you take a shot at becoming a venture capitalist, fresh out of university. It’s hard to put it into words, but this is such an amazing and unique opportunity. It’s incomparable with an ‘average’ board year. You will need resilience, skill and a lot of energy, but you will push yourself ahead of everyone in your age group, and probably even ahead of yourself. It really is the most amazing and inspiring year so far!

My tips: be enthusiastic and try to make us laugh with smart answers, it’s okay if you do not have a lot of experience, because who does at our age? If you really believe you are the right match for this position, try to amplify this in the conversation! Also read into some exciting content here !

HOW DO I APPLY?

Applications for the ASIF Board are now open. The final deadline is on March 31st. If you are interested to become a part of the ASIF Board please don’t hesitate to contact Hidde via email: hidde@asif.ventures or for more info you can also check asif.ventures/were-recruiting-board and the information content we made, which is available through the website.