November 2010
1 post
5 tags
Umbraco Gold Partner: Open Source just died
Yesterday one of the weirdest messages I have had in recent years came flying into my mailbox. Umbraco - the popular open source CMS software - was announcing the Gold Partner status. Being one of the most certified (Dutch) companies this was good news. Having experience with being a Microsoft Partner, that program really adds to your status and helps your developers work with the tools they...
September 2010
1 post
4 tags
When Time is Up
As an entrepreneur you will encounter all different stages with your company, but more important also your own. As your company grows you will find yourself with more work and less time at the same moment. That’s not a bad thing, just something you have to cope with and reorganize within your own work process.
The next step you take is usually getting the tools to work faster, know more and...
August 2010
3 posts
2 tags
Golf is good for business!
Last week I had an amazing golf experience. With two tournaments lining up on Thursday and Friday, this would be the end of the summer events and one last shot to see how much has been improved in my game this year. Then it happened… due to bad weather both tournaments were cancelled.
This left me back at the office with time to spend, two days in a row. You have to know that is a scary thought,...
4 tags
Second half 2010 a (Google) Wave for IT companies?
2010 has been an interesting year so far. Recession can still be felt, although some companies - like my own - seem to thrive during this period. Traditional sectors seem to be caught by the distress much worse, which will cause them to cut back personnel and expenses. Next to that, they seem to increase spending on IT for more flexibility and efficiency.
The IT companies are on a wave right now,...
8 tags
Project Management 2010
Ladies and gentlemen, I have seen the future. Being an EPM Live partner we got to see the early scoop of their new 2010 project management solution called WorkEngine.
Sure, you’re a partner you will say, so you have to sell it whether you like it or not. Wrong. As an Independent Software Vendor (ISV) we seek to implement the very best 3rd party products for our clients and will not be...
July 2010
13 posts
1 tag
Losing My Virginity
Book review of the biography of Richard Branson titled ‘Losing My Virginity’.
Everyone knows Richard Branson and his brand Virgin. Sure, he’s a billionaire and writing a book when you’re one makes it easy to become a bestseller. What surprised me about this book was its depth about his thoughts and down-to-earth manner which is was written in.
Taking the first 43 years of...
1 tag
Break your own rules
Getting comfortable with the uncomfortable can be quite a challenge. Ever since you start being an entrepreneur there is a lot of things that will have to be done outside your own comfort zone. Will this ever stop?
Some people thrive outside their comfort zone. Apart from the adrenaline junkies that build a lifestyle out of this there are a lot of people out there who are at their best when a big...
1 tag
What I learned from my toilet
Last week was the first time in many years that I was really sick. Being an entrepreneur you can’t afford to have a cold and you just work by it, but with sick I mean flat down fever in bed and having conversations with your toilet. That kind of sick.
I haven’t experienced it in a long time and I wouldn’t recommend such a day to anybody, but the days after were like a...
3 tags
Disqus Thing
Please don’t prenounce this post too fast, it wouldn’t give Disqus the credits it deserves.
Disqus is a commenting service you can add to your blog or post so people can comment. Behind this service is your network of own comments you made using Disqus all over the web, so you can trace back any comment and website you visited. Setting up my blog two months ago, this might be the most...
1 tag
Entrepreneurial Dad
There is a fine line between being an entrepreneur and being a dad. For sure, they don’t work at each other’s advantage when your kids are young. Sleepless nights will eventually break you down during the day. Working long hours at work will make you miss some of the most wonderful years of their lives.
One of the most important things to do when you have little ones is to make an...
1 tag
I need a break...
One of the things I hear entrepreneurs say is that they will have to work like crazy in the weeks before their vacation. For me, it is no different. When somebody tells you how much fun it is to go on a Holiday, don’t listen be fore you’re actually there. Getting a break is hard work.
Looking for answers why we - the entrepreneurs - always have to work double shifts to get some free...
4 tags
EPiServer Commerce
Last week we had the opportunity to get a presentation from the guys at #episerver holland on EPiServer Commerce. To be honest, we were expecting another OS Commerce promising everything and ending up to be another shop add-on. We were proven wrong.
Sure, my company is an EPiServer partner, but we won’t use an add-on or module when we think it’s crap; our primary concern is our...
1 tag
Watchnewrichproject:
Cameron Herold: Let’s Raise Our Kids To Be Entrepreneurs
There’s a reason why so many entrepreneur’s do poorly in school…The education system in North America SUPPRESSES creativity and entrepreneurial skills!
This video lays out how an entrepreneur REALLY goes through life. How they take advantage of the system, see the big picture first, and how they use creativity to make...
1 tag
1 tag
Woodstock 2010
Tonight’s the night. Holland will play Spain for the World Championship of the biggest sport on earth, soccer. We have waited 32 years since our last final, which we lost. Having seen those moments over and over again, while only being 31 years old, made me realize how big this is. This is once in a lifetime.
So how do people react on this? We have seen Holland become European Champions in...
3 tags
The Energy Process
Everyone knows what it’s like to be left without energy and just looking at your mailbox where mails pile up to even more work. Some days you just can’t seem to find the button as there was not enough sleep, something bad just happened or you’re just trying to postpone a job you don’t like. Been there, done that.
No matter how much you like your job, these moments will...
3 tags
Scrum vs. Scope
Hi there, my name is SCRUM. If we’ve never met before, you can describe me as an agile project management method which always gets you the things you need most. You might miss out on some less important things like that little shiny dot in the corner that the not-so-important-mister-at-the-meeting wanted, but in the end the produdct should be good. I care for the people who work with me, as...
5 tags
Who am I?
The Musical Les Misérables is the epic battle of Jean Valjean with himself and police officer Javert. Is he the man who he thinks he is or is het number 24601 as labelled by police for stealing a bread? As the musical goes on, ofcourse, Jean will find himself. But it didn’t come easy.
So what has our friend Jean got to do with websites you may think. Everything. A lot of companies and...
June 2010
22 posts
1 tag
We need a World Cup every year!
This soccer World Cup tournament has brought a lot of changes to the people at work. Playing regular games at 13:30 GMT+1 makes the fanatics wanna watch the games. With Holland playing games at 13:30 and 16:00 during work days this has been a huge challenge to a lot of companies; this is the epic test for flexibility.
At my company, we had a tv screen for the daily matches. During work, most...
6 tags
Partner ships
A partnership is easy to setup; just grab a phone, call the company which gives out the partnership, sign an agreement and off you go. Now that’s the easy part.
A good partnership sees both companies which are part of it investing time and effort into the product and partnership itself. Some people might see reselling as retail business, but the key to success lies in applying the product...
4 tags
Software Development 2.0
Being a software entrepreneur for over 10 years now, I have seen the development landscape change a lot. Ofcourse, the 10 years before that period have changed a lot as well, but we’re seeing a different change coming on. Where the previous era of software development focussed on getting to grips with the latest tools, frameworks and basically just keeping pace, the next decade will not only...
5 tags
Websites aren't what they used to be anymore...
You remember the days? You made some HTML, let it run on Netscape and voila! You’re a tech wizard and people called it a website! Well, this example might be a little prehistoric for most people but this is how it went in 1997. I just completed my first course ‘How to do websites in 20 minutes’ at college.
Thirteen years later, developing websites and the standards it has to...
3 tags
Umbraco 4.1 RC1 - A marketing WTF
The new Umbraco release is bound to be a huge improvement over the latest version (4.0.something). 18 months of work has been spent on this huge improvement and loads of new features and enhancements are there. You want all the details? Click on the following link:
http://umbraco.codeplex.com/releases/view/42419
As good as programming goes at Umbraco, as bad marketing goes. Don’t get me...
2 tags
“Excellence is the unlimited ability to improve the quality of what you have to...”
1 tag
WatchShort introduction on myself and my blog. I always knew I was better at writing than on video, especially when having a cold, but being online is not about being perfect. This is about sharing thoughts and getting connected on subjects that you care about, and that is my intention. It really is. Really.
If you have any comments or want to contact me just put in on my blog or send me an e-mail at...
2 tags
It's not a blog, it's a feature
When I tell people I have a blog they ask me why I am blogging. Isn’t that so early 2000? Then I have to tell them: “No, I am not blogging. I am sharing my thoughts with the world and anybody who reads it can comment on it and share his thoughts back.”. Ah, now that is something different, right? Wrong. The word ‘blogging’ is just overused and anybody who makes a...
“If everything seems under control, you’re just not going fast enough.”
– Mario Andretti
2 tags
To all the girls I've loved before
Did you know singer Julio Iglesias was actually bound for the first team of Real Madrid, before an accident cut off his career? He started writing songs to ease his way back into life and well, you might know how the story went on. He became the best Spanish artist all-time. OK, at least at selling his records, I would prefer his son’s music (Enrique) before his.
This poses an interesting...
6 tags
Converting products into solutions
Having a great product is not enough anymore. All the products my company sells - umbraco, episerver and epm live - all have great features that most of the time fits to the requested business needs. Then why don’t we sell 100% since it’s that good?
Today’s businesses don’t expect to figure out working with a product anymore. They expect you to figure out how it works for...
4 tags
Epic #Fail?
Yesterday late at night, one of the most improbable playoff runs in sports history ended. Actually, I should have been minding the Dutch elections more, but when it comes to hockey, you have to set priorities. My mind chose the Flyers unconsciously I guess, as that was the first thing on my mind when I woke up.
To all of those that missed it (I think most of you), here’s a recap. The...
1 tag
Social crap
Social is hot. Even when it doesn’t mean anything, social makes it cool. But how social is this thing? I might be blogging this post from the toilet and update my Shitter (Twitter on toilet) at the same time. For blog’s sake I can guarantee you it’s not :-)
More of our daily lives is moving online and people spend most of their travel time staring at their laptops, iphones or...
4 tags
Project Management arrives at Gartner
People like Gartner. Can’t blame them, ‘cause they make very nice quadrants with all kind of dots on it. When you’re one of those dots, that means you do business with the big boys. Unless when you’re hanging out to dry at the bottom left.
On Monday, EPM Live arrived at the magic Gartner Project and Portfolio Management (PPM) Quadrant. We have been a partner for that...
1 tag
“If yesterday still mattered, we wouldn’t be here today.”
– Me
4 tags
Ayo... technology?
Rapper 50 Cent (prenouce FIT-TY) actually was singing about CMS developers when he rapped his ‘Ayo Technology’ together. Eventually, Belgium was catching up when Milow graveyarded the song to some ballad, so I think most of you know it. ‘I’m really tired about using technology, I need you to sit in front of me’ is what they were singing and boy… they were...
2 tags
“I can buy the same golf clubs as Tiger Woods, but I can’t play his game....”
2 tags
I don't wanna grow old with you, I wanna stay...
Yesterday I sat in the plane with an older couple next to me, somewhere in their fifties. Ok, some of you might say, that’s not old. I’m 31 so that’s old to me. Strange thing was, I was the one feeling the senior here…
As soon as the couple sat down in their seats they got hold of their notebooks and kept on jamming the keys until take-off finally caught up with them....
2 tags
CMS is dead! Long live CMS!
I’m not going to lie about it, yes, my company is an EPiServer partner. But then again, if the product was crap I’d change to another one. So here’s my post:
CMS is dead! It is? You might wonder. Most companies are investing right now to get their website up to speed with a friendly CMS to support it. Totally true. But that doesn’t mean the CMS you’re using is a...
2 tags
“Being an entrepreneur isn’t work, it’s being yourself.”
– An EPiServer Partner