Seenons and Beyond!

In this episode of Building the Dream, host Leopold interviews Jorn Eiting, co-founder of Zenance and now an investor at RomInvest. Jorn shares his entrepreneurial journey, starting with an early career in car sales, where he learned the art of persuasion. Encouraged by a mentor to pursue further education, he studied Technical Business Administration and launched his first venture—a student-focused marketing agency—which became profitable quickly.

After selling his first business, Jorn traveled the world, working in France and the U.S., where he experienced both opportunities and setbacks. Returning to the Netherlands, he explored several business ventures before co-founding Zenance in 2019. The idea for Zenance emerged from observing waste management inefficiencies—Jorn and his co-founder, Joost, noticed waste containers overflowing while collection trucks passed by, indicating a broken system. Determined to bring innovation, they conducted over 100+ interviews with potential customers, a crucial step that shaped their approach.

Zenance quickly gained traction, benefitting from a strong product-market fit, a growing customer base, and successful funding rounds. However, as the company scaled, Jorn faced an internal challenge—his role as a co-founder started to feel less aligned with the company’s needs. He realized that his entrepreneurial instincts clashed with the structured, corporate-like operations required for scaling. Instead of forcing himself into a role that no longer suited him, he made the difficult but mature decision to step aside, ensuring the company's long-term success. His departure was so smooth that even investors were surprised—it’s rare for a founder to exit on good terms without internal conflict.

Now at RomInvest, Jorn advises startups on funding, growth, and strategy. He highlights a recurring mistake among founders: they often jump straight into building a product without deeply understanding the problem. He stresses that conducting thorough customer validation interviews is essential, as initial assumptions often prove wrong after speaking to enough people.

Looking ahead, Jorn remains deeply passionate about entrepreneurship. While he enjoys mentoring startups, he acknowledges that his entrepreneurial spirit will likely lead him to start another venture in the future. His journey offers valuable lessons on validating ideas, adapting roles in a growing company, and making selfless decisions for long-term success.