Jaap van der Spek and Dirk Tuip meet the 'greats' of the earth in IT
FacilityApps was selected a few months ago for 'Ready2Scale', a growth acceleration programme specially for IT companies with great ambitions that are ready for the next growth step. One part of the programme is an 8-day trip to Silicon Valley. Last week Jaap van der Spek and Dirk Tuip travelled to San Francisco with a delegation of twenty IT entrepreneurs from the Netherlands. It became a week full of surprises, inspiration, innovation and even business opportunities.
'It's really a totally different world in the Valley,' says Dirk Tuip, CEO at FacilityApps. 'For me, the culture that prevails there makes the big difference. They don't settle for a nice company here, they all strive for the highest achievable. It's also not crazy to shout that you're going for an IPO or that you're successful. In this culture you're forced to improve yourself every day, in every way. I think it's very much like a top sports culture,' Tuip continues.
Facility and cleaning not sexy?!
One part of the programme was to give a pitch to investors, the so-called venture capital companies. Jaap van der Spek, operational director of FacilityApps, gave a pitch to Tim Chan, who has earned billions in the gaming industry among others. Jaap: 'It takes some getting used to. Making clear in 1 minute what we do. We also thought that the area we're active in – Facility Management, Cleaning and Landscaping – wasn't highly valued. Tim gave us feedback however that investors love 'undervalued markets', where not everyone is focused. He was also surprised by our concept and vision and saw definite opportunities. That gives a kick!'
'Like Volendam'
Tuip adds: 'In a relatively small area there's an enormous network where everyone knows each other. In that respect it's a bit like Volendam, where I come from. At Starbucks or in a bar during an event, the most surprising conversations take place. And people are often willing to help you if you tell them what you do or are looking for. It's wonderful how as an outsider – once you're in the area as a local – you're absorbed into that culture and make appointments. We – aside from the excellent programme facilitated by Ready2Scale – ourselves realised appointments with Cisco, Intel, Philips, Google and some startups. Unbelievable in 1 week!'
Making Facility Management visible and sexy
'We still have to process this trip, but we can already say we've been inspired,' Jaap van der Spek continues. 'The ambition and vision to grow FacilityApps into a global player in 'mobile workforce solutions' has become much stronger, that's for sure. We're going to work hard to help our customers with more efficiency on the work floor, more customer satisfaction and longer customer relationships, with more visibility and impact for people on the work floor. IT can change the world. We want to make Facility Management visible and sexy.' concludes Jaap van der Spek.