We are very excited that two very successful and experienced people have joined Rockstart to provide our 10 teams with coaching on a daily basis. We’d like to take a moment to present them to you here.

Sebastiaan Hooft (Entrepreneur in residence)

Serial entrepreneur and advisor

A pioneer in the Dutch internet retailing starting in 2003, Hooft built a string of successful internet, fashion and media firms that engineered ground-breaking e-commerce in The Netherlands. Hooft advised leading venture capital firms on their internet investments and worked on a director level at a successful venture listed in the Deloitte Technology Fast 500. Since 2011 Hooft focused his skills on charity and serves on advisory boards of growing companies.

Hooft is a guru in operational efficiency and specializes in helping startups find focus, raise funding and in a later stage, exit their company.

Joris van Heukelom (Expert in Residence)

Co-founder MakerStreet, Chairman IAB

Currently Partner in MakerStreet, Joris was one of the first to kick of a start-up related long term initiative in the Netherlands in 2011. Joris has got a decade of digital knowledge, amongst others as CEO at Sanoma Digital, and will be a source of information towards the Rockstart-entrepreneurs concerning product development, how to work out the ideal pitch and smart ‘ to-market’ -strategies.

Joris also has deep inside knowledge on the workings of large corporations and can help the startups on how to establish partnerships and do sales with big companies.

Lucien Burm

co-founder and CEO of Kimengi

Lucien Burm is the co-founder and CEO of Kimengi, a Dutch recommendation technology company, that launched the groundbreaking news service, nine connections. With more than 16 years of experience, Lucien is a veteran in the still nascent online media space. Currently, he oversees Kimengi’s daily operations, investor relations, and new product launches.

Prior to founding Kimengi with partner Christian Vogel in 2008, Lucien worked with many web, new media, and cross-media companies after founding an internet consulting business in the mid-1990s. While his work during this time covered a wide range of account management, sales, and marketing disciplines, it focused on managing business development and cultivating online strategies for his companies. Lucien worked for four other startups, before co-founding Kimengi.

Lucien also likes to create some time to work as a mentor to other aspiring startup entrepreneurs and is involved in several incubator programs. He also plays guitar and pretends to know a few things about authentic Italian food and quality coffee.