Honest funding partner
When the bank is stalling and the numbers are getting personal, that's when I step in.
I work with founders and SMB owners whose business has real value, but where money, structure, or decisions have got stuck. I look at what's actually going on with you, structure the real options, and stay next to you until it's done.
No pitch. No generic advice. 30 minutes on what's actually going on.
Track record
- €8M+
- total raised across multiple engagements
- €3M
- for Cley Distillery via asset-backed reframe
- ~€5M
- for Buyproxy, a fintech I built from zero
- 6
- documented engagements
- 10 / 30
- days to clarity and movement
Who
Who I work with
Founders and owners of operating SMBs who can feel something stop adding up. Not idea-stage. People with a real business, revenue, people, assets, customers, where something has shifted that you can't fix on your own anymore.
Concretely: you're probably here because one or more of these is true.
- Cashflow has become tight or unpredictable. You no longer know how long you can hold this.
- The bank is stalling, asking for things that don't exist, or "still looking at it", for weeks.
- Your previous round is running out, and the next one isn't closed.
- The business model no longer works the way it used to. The margin doesn't add up, growth has stalled, or the investor story isn't credible anymore.
- A previous advisor sold you a product that doesn't fit. You feel it every month.
- You've got value on the balance sheet, inventory, IP, receivables, assets, that the bank can't price.
- The decisions are starting to feel personal. They weigh more than they did a quarter ago.
If one or more of those is recognisable: you're in the right place.
Misfit, not non-delivery
Most advisors do deliver. They just deliver the wrong thing.
Banks, brokers, financial advisors, they close deals. They tick boxes. The problem isn't whether they deliver. It's what they deliver. They sell you the product they happen to know: a standard term loan, a generic equity round, an off-the-shelf grant application. They mold you to the funding instead of fitting the funding to you.
Eighteen months later you're stuck inside a structure that looked right on paper but pushed your business into the wrong shape. The cashflow cycle doesn't match your product. The covenants squeeze. The investor wants an outcome you never promised. By that point it's too late to redesign.
I work the other way. First, look at what's actually there, cash, assets, people, what the business can carry and what it can't. Only then look at what shape the financing needs to take to support this instead of breaking it. Sometimes that's an asset-backed structure. Sometimes it's restructuring before financing. Sometimes the honest answer is: don't raise right now. Fit first. Money after.
Method
How I work
No reports. No slide decks. No advice from a distance. I step in and stay until it's done.
- 01
First call (30 minutes)
We cut through the story to what's actually going on. By the end, we both know whether there's something real to do and whether we're a fit.
- 02
Diagnosis (week 1)
Facts on the table. Cash, deals, stakeholders, assumptions, where it holds and where it doesn't. Not symptoms; the actual cause.
- 03
One-page plan (within 10 days)
Options, scenarios, decisions. Cashflow, value, risk, on one page. A decision document, not a report.
- 04
Movement (within 30 days)
A concrete financing option on the table, a restructuring direction, or a decision that holds. Not "somewhere in the next six months".
- 05
Execution (1–6 months)
I sit next to you in conversations with investors, banks, partners. Don't negotiate from a distance. Stay until it's done.
Track record
What's been raised so far
- €8M+ total raised across multiple engagements.
- €3M for Cley Distillery in roughly three years, by reframing the business around asset-backed value (casks, maturing inventory). Banks couldn't price the structure. Investors could.
- ~€5M for Buyproxy, a fintech I built from zero. Regulated by De Nederlandsche Bank (payment institution licence). Patented IP. Loans, grants, and subsidies stacked. Filed voluntary bankruptcy in 2024 to protect creditors when the political window closed, not the comfortable call, the right one.
- 6 documented engagements spanning distillery, fintech, food security, financial inclusion, public-private SPVs, and livelihood security.
- Clarity within 10 days. Movement within 30. No quarterly plans. No half-year reports.
What clients say
Voice of customer
"He makes the real problem unavoidable, and forces you to deal with it."
"He cuts through the story and gets to what is actually going on."
"He stays calm and clear when things get difficult, and helps you make decisions instead of postponing them."
"Working with him is confronting, but it leads to real progress."
Named attribution pending formal approval. References available on the first call.
Boundaries
First check the fit. Work comes after.
The first 30-minute call has one purpose: figure out what's actually going on and whether we're a fit. No pitch, no generic advice.
I don't work loose hours and I don't take on engagements without a clear shape. An engagement has a defined goal, an agreed scope, and an end we both recognise.
My attention isn't a side effect. I sit next to you in the room and stay until it's done.
A 30-minute conversation.
You tell me what's going on. I listen. I ask follow-ups. By the end, we both know whether there's something real to do and whether we're a fit. If the answer is no, I say that too.
Book a 30-minute call+31 6 14699752 · [email protected]