PWS#7: The postcard set webshop – to have a card on hand for different occasions FAILED

Another idea that failed! What was the plan? Set up a webshop for postcard sets, selling babycard sets, or non-babycard sets with various designs to people who love sending personal cards a lot, and have trouble finding nice postcards. However, the card business as we know it from the old days is pretty dead. How […]

PWS#5: The social business that would connect Indian sewers to Dutch socially responsible women FAILED

Problem After telling some of my colleagues about my new year resolution of testing one idea a week ( this turned out to be a little too ambitious, it’s rather one idea a month), a colleague from the IT department wanted to talk to me about an idea he had had for a while. He’s […]

PWS#4: The Kids Card Game that will improve your kids’ communication skills FAILED

ProblemIn Tokyo I met a Danish guy at Startup Weekend Tokyo who told me about his friend playing a communication game with his kid. Once a week, he and his family would sit together to discuss the week’s challenges, and give each other tips on how to tackle issues. The parents did this to develop […]

PWS#3: The SmallWorld for Travel that prevents you from having to plan your next holiday ever again FAILED

Problem I hate planning holidays. I will book plane tickets for a 3-week backpacking adventure and a few days before departure realise that I really need to book a hostel for the first night and make sure I have an airport pickup. From the moment that I’ve booked my flight until the moment I leave, […]

PWS#2: The extra-healthy-smoothie that would prevent colleagues from eating too many cookies at work FAILED

Problem At work I eat too many cookies. Around 09:30AM they are placed next to the coffee machine, and every time I get tea I’m confronted with them. What usually happens is that I start with half, and then all of a sudden have eaten five cookies. I end up eating so many that at […]

PWS #1: The premium Marktplaats resell service to help busy people sell their valuable items FAILED

Let’s kick off my Problems Worth Solving challenge with an idea I tested extensively in 2017: ‘the Marktplaats for busy people’. How it all started During a random conversation with one of my friends mid 2017, my friend mentioned that she wanted to sell some of her clothing but didn’t feel like taking the trouble to […]

PWS #0: Reintroducing a hobby I’ve left aside for too long: problem testing!

I once made a product nobody wanted. Physically and mentally drained and lacking another real problem to solve, I decided to get into digital consulting to pay the bills. It didn’t take me long to find out that advising other people what to do wasn’t exactly my cup of tea. I’d rather implement my own […]

The 8 things I’ve learned from my first startup failure

During a university course of the master programme Business Information Management a couple of years ago, me and my teammates had to come up with an idea for an app. What started as a uni assignment turned into a great startup adventure. The pitch: do you hate waiting all alone for your friends to arrive […]