Let’s be brutally honest: starting a startup in the Netherlands instead of the US feels like fighting with one hand tied behind your back. The numbers don’t lie. US startups raised $285B in venture funding in 2023. The entire European startup ecosystem? Just $45B.

Add to that the American advantages that really sting: a unified market of 330M people (versus navigating 27 different EU markets), a deep pool of experienced startup talent, and customers who are willing to buy from startups. In Silicon Valley, being a startup is a badge of honor. Here in the Netherlands, it can feel like a mark against your credibility.

When I look at our US competitors, I see them scaling 3x faster, hiring 2x more engineers, and landing customers with minimal scrutiny of their financials or market position. Sometimes I lie awake at night wondering if we made a massive mistake building here.

The Unexpected Advantages of Being the Underdog

But here’s where it gets interesting. In the past 3 years of building our GRC automation platform, we have noticed some unexpected advantages of being based in the Netherlands:

• ‘The Poverty Advantage’ - Dutch startups are forced to be profitable earlier. Our financial discipline gave us an edge when the funding market cooled. While our US competitors are now scrambling to cut burn rates, we’re focused on growth and making the best product we can.
• ‘The High-Touch paradox’ - We felt forced to combine software with hands-on service - something VC’s condemn as ‘less scalable’. But it became an edge we have over the competition: And when pitching against pure-software plays, this often tips the scales. The best thing? We learn from each project and build that into Tidal. It may be slower than ‘move fast and break things’, but it makes our software solve problems (instead of just doing stuff).
• The most unexpected advantage? - we call it the ‘The Dutch Early Adopter Paradox’ and it refers to the Dutch ecosystem of Dutch companies, ISO auditors, and consultants. They’re remarkably open to innovation and partnerships, probably because they’re in the same boat. We’ve built partnerships that would take years to establish in the US, where these relationships are more commercialised.

The ISO 27001 Challenge

Speaking of ISO 27001, I know many of you reading this are probably putting off your certification. The traditional consulting route is expensive, slow, and feels like throwing money into a black hole. (Try staying certified when your staff was not involved enough in the implementation to know how - it hurts.)

If you’re curious how we’ve helped other Dutch startups cut their ISO 27001 certification time in half while spending 60% less than with traditional consultants, my calendar is open. I promise no sales pitch – just a frank discussion about what worked for us and what we’re seeing work for other founders in our ecosystem.

We might be building in a harder market, but we’re making it work by playing to our strengths. The US advantage is real, but so is ours – it’s just different. Send me a DM if you want to compare notes about building in the Netherlands or chat about making compliance less painful. My LinkedIn DMs are open, or grab a spot on my calendar.

And yes, that last part was a sales pitch. I told you Dutch founders have to be profitable earlier.

- Written by Dennis van de Wiel, Founder