There she is, Iris Zonneveldt (CEO Treams) for the second year in a row in the list of NextWomen to Watch (2018). A list by NextWomen Netherlands that includes the most ambitious, growing and bold entrepreneurs they think these women will be in TheNextWomen100 in the next three years. Some are new, some have been on the list before. Among that second group is Iris.
"I think it's strong of the organization that they put people back on the list. By doing so they show that they really want to keep following these people and that they really trust you," Iris says when we speak to her. She therefore considers it a huge honor to be in this list again. Iris characterizes not only herself but also the rest of her team as ambitious, growing and bold. "The growth we have experienced in the past year we have really done together. On your own you won't get anywhere."
Treams has grown rapidly recently and has shown a lot of daring. They have made quite a few radical decisions that have worked out well, and you can see that directly in the growth. For Iris Zonneveldt, this is truly a model of successful entrepreneurship. "Last September we sharpened a number of problems with each other in our quarterly meeting. For example, that the sales process was taking too long or that the implementation of our software was not always running smoothly. You can take a year to solve those problems, but why not do it right now? Locking ourselves away for four days resulted in big changes, both for our product and for our services. We implemented these changes right away, and you saw that immediately in the revenue growth of quarter 1 of 2018," Iris says proudly.
Treams has a continuous focus on growth. According to Iris, that means thinking big. Stepping out of your comfort zone and asking critical questions. That's something the employees at Treams are totally used to by now. Looking for the discomfort, challenging people around you, doing things you've never done before and just go ahead and try. Because of this ambition-focused approach, Treams grew over 60% in revenue last year and they expect to grow well above that this year.
Iris herself is at her greatest when she is being herself and taking space for her ideas, speed and energy and being able to pay attention to them instead of holding it in. "It's always a challenge for me, though, to break free from certain patterns and think big again. To then see the next step again and work very actively toward that. And even if the team continues in a certain way, I always have to make sure there's a slant upwards instead of a straight one. For me, there is no set recipe that helps me break free from those patterns. Sometimes I talk to people, but other times I take a few days off to get back to myself. Sometimes it means switching gears and going even harder, but sometimes it means doing nothing at all. One moment I get a lot of energy from a day with the team or a meeting, but at other moments not at all. It is something you have to do very consciously. Consciously find out how you can continue to learn and where there is room for you. You can also learn, for example, by going to a seminar or listening to other entrepreneurs. You never stop learning!"
For Iris and Treams, the past year was all about taking risks. The full focus was on implementing the new strategy. "Financially, it was very exciting to keep making ends meet. For example, hiring people. You know it's fine, but it is and remains exciting," Iris says. In areas other than finance, Iris sees little risk. "You can learn from your mistakes, but it is a risk if you can no longer pay salaries. That's quite painful and really annoying. Fortunately, I've never experienced that. Other than that, you can really only learn from anything that goes wrong."
"From taking risks you learn a tremendous amount, but you also really grow through it. It sounds very cliché, but you really have to get out of your comfort zone because that's where the magic happens." For Iris, it was truly a magical moment to see that Quarter 1 had brought exactly the boost they needed. Rewarding to know you're on the right track. "But it was definitely a risk to change course," Iris adds.
Iris doesn't really see herself as a role model yet. "I think I'm still too young and inexperienced for that, and at the same time we have had girls from a high school who wanted to join us for a day because they want to do something with technology. People around me sometimes say that I really inspire them with what I do and that I am an example to them. Usually that example is as an entrepreneur or as a woman in technology. In that sense, I think I might be a role model after all, and secretly that's really nice!" Iris inspires those people by sharing her personal story. For example, she has regularly given presentations about her path from attic room to hard-growing business. In those presentations, she also talked about her investment round. "Through a strategy process, it came up that for how big I think, and the plans I had, you really need money. At first I thought that was a very dirty word. I just wanted to do it myself. But as I started linking numbers to the things I actually wanted to do, I did figure out that I really needed financing. Then I started thinking about that. In doing so, I mainly thought about what form. Do I want to sell shares, or do I want a loan? And in what way do I want this company to grow? My biggest lesson in that is ultimately that you have to stay close to yourself again and you can only multiply when you share."
When I ask her if she will be in TheNextWomen100 three years from now, she answers a resounding "Yes. "If we keep growing this fast and more than double every year, I'm sure I'll be in that list soon."