Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten, The Next Web

Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten

The Next Web

Amsterdam, NH, Netherlands

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Recent:
  • Unknown
Past:
  • The Next Web

Past articles by Boris:

In business and in life, experience isn’t everything

Some things get better when you do them a lot. And with other projects, you better give it your all the first time because there's unlikely to be another. → Read More

Don’t blindly follow rules as an entrepreneur… and buy more flowers

Challenge the rules, mainly when they're not based on logic. Don't just accept it when people tell you 'that's how we've always done it.’ → Read More

Why being a ‘Swiss army knife’ hurts your business

Never forget there’s a cost to transmission, a penalty for taking a broad approach, and meaning can be lost in translation. → Read More

Why professionalism is boring AF

On Monday, I received the draft of a new marketing campaign for a company I follow. It looked professional, but not in a good way. It was easy to imagine what kind of conversation ... → Read More

Even your ‘good’ decisions might be bad — so learn to rectify them

You'd like every single decision to be perfect — but most of your choices will be mediocre, many bad, and only a few will be good. → Read More

Don’t be perfect, people hate it

Users are often more satisfied with a worse, slower experience. I'm not even kidding. → Read More

Being 'successful' is a state of mind — so adopt it

You can't change your nature, but you do have a choice in how you walk into a meeting, approach a new employee, or present yourself to the world. → Read More

Screw mindfulness, play with clay

Weirdly, exercises to help with coming to terms with retirement are incredibly helpful to get more out of the job you currently have. → Read More

Stay focused by always asking yourself one key question

Every time a rowing teams needs to make decisions, they just ask themselves: Does it make the boat go faster? → Read More

The problem with looking happy at work

You shouldn’t need to act like George Costanza to be taken seriously at your job — smile, laugh, and be yourself no matter what. → Read More

Play to your strengths and DON’T forget them

TNW's story shows you can go a long way with some creativity, defiance of the rules, and enthusiasm... and that you need to keep reminding yourself of it. → Read More

TNW’s CEO?

After 15 years of serving as CEO, Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten, founder of TNW, introduces Myrthe van der Erve as the company's new CEO. → Read More

Tell your story like a fruit vendor

Boris is the wise ol’ CEO of TNW who writes a weekly column on everything about being an entrepreneur in tech — from managing stress to embracing awkwardness. You can get his musings → Read More

Distractions aren’t bad for your productivity

Maybe there’s a reason you let some things distract you, while you ignore others. Perhaps you let the things through that might help you in the long run? → Read More

The smartest management trick is knowing your not smart

I recently did a management exercise with my team called "Lost at Sea" which taught me that everyone should listen to me! But I was wrong. → Read More

The best career advice: Be yourself… and don’t tell jokes?

We have all heard the general advice 'you should always start with a joke' — but I'd say it's much more nuanced than that. → Read More

Your team isn’t slacking off… they’re thinking

I think empowering your people to do their best work is a more enduring and scalable strategy than treating them as soldiers in your imaginary army. → Read More

3 semi-useful tips on office ‘conversation pieces’

This is how I 've learned to have great discussions with my management team and engaging one-on-one conversations with my employees. → Read More

The ‘five whys’ will make returning to the office less awful

If you want to solve a problem, you need to stop looking at it superficially and look for its root cause — which is where the ‘five whys’ come in. → Read More

The secret to personal growth? Be scared and show up

Don't let fear stop you. Why? Because the truth is everyone else is also afraid — or that's at least what my mother told me. → Read More