Meet the Entrepreneur: Thierry Maasdam

Q: Thierry, could you introduce yourself and your company? 

A: Hello, my name is Thierry Maasdam. When I was sixteen years old and still in high school, I registered Vallonic with the CoC as a sole proprietorship, offering all sorts of creative digital work. Not all too long after founding my business, I started to specialize in web development.  Fast forward to this day and age, Vallonic is a web development studio that designs and develops online experiences and platforms for SMEs, large enterprises, global corporations such as Les Mills and Danone, and, lastly, the Dutch educational landscape (high schools, secondary education). It's quite an interesting mix, especially because of the latter. 

Q: What is your life motto?

A: "It is what it is." Being slightly stoic by nature, as well as training myself to be emotionally detached from any outcome in any situation, helps me perform at my best for my projects and clients, for example during outages or security-related cases. Apart from that, it also makes me better at learning lessons as my view is not troubled by emotions. Of course, when developments are in a rather favorable direction, I celebrate these with my neighbors at the IQONIC Incubator, as well as friends and loved ones. But until then, we keep it cool!

 

Q: What is the most important lesson you learned as an entrepreneur?

A: Karen Lanning and Mark van de Pol taught me to no longer fall in love with individual products, but instead with target audiences and their problems. This was a hard lesson: my first ever SaaS, the one that I built during high school, lacked some fundamental market research and was far from the big hit I expected it to be. At the time, I spent my entire summer holiday in developing it. At least, I learned how to navigate myself in the world of education. And it was the project around which IQONIC and Braventure helped me reshape my thinking patterns.

Q: Who inspires you the most?

A: It depends on the field. My mom already owned an online store since I only just learned how to read and write — that's how I got into web development — and really inspired me to pursue entrepreneurship ever since I understood what it was. My uncle is a master in sales and taught me the ropes of sales and negotiation. My best friend from high school doesn't own a business, but has an amazing ability to spot deals in the real estate market and he's a natural at negotiating. There is an amazing girl in my life that inspires me to be more mindful and enjoy life, instead of working all the time. My neighbors at the incubator have become my friends; we hold each other accountable, we bundle our networks, and light each other's fires to aim higher. I could name so many more. In other words: I'm really blessed with such an inspirational environment, regardless of where I am.

Q: What is your advice for people who want to start a business themselves? 

• Start while you're still young — not when you're paying a significant amount of rent, have a mortgage, a family of your own. Now you still can learn the hard lessons.
• Know your stuff. Do the homework. Presenting and pitching becomes easier that way. And you also can connect the right dots more easily.
• Being healthy is the underlying requirement for letting the good ideas come to you and enter a state of flow. Go to the gym, opt for nutritious food and get enough sleep.
• Remove TikTok and Instagram from your phone, or anything that has a "reels" or "shorts"-like feature. 
• Be mindful of what you consume. Not only in terms of nutrition but more importantly: information. It might be a bit controversial, but for example, skip the news entirely. 
• Sell emotion — a vibe, a lifestyle, anything — rather than a product and its specifics alone.

Want to know more about Thierry or Vallonic? Visit the Vallonic website.